With technology compounding and the ability to work anywhere in the world increasing, web-based applications such as Gmail offer convenient bases from which to centralize your correspondence and documents. Gmail offers all of the basic administrative functions of desktop organization programs, as well as document and spreadsheet capabilities. Google Drive is designed to work in collaboration with Google Documents, the tool provided with all Gmail accounts to save documents and spreadsheets. Users can store up to five gigabytes information for free.
Free web-based email such as Gmail does not offer local storage, so it is important to back up emails. Data can be lost via app misuse, or simply user error. For example, if you delete an email from your Gmail account, you may find that you need the information on it later. Many people store important information via email messages, such as login information and important documents. In addition, many businesses rely on Google’s applications, and need to retain copies of all client and internal correspondence.
Gmail Drive Backup is based on a Google Apps script that allows users to set up their Gmail accounts to save directly to Google Drive, even though Google Drive is designed primarily for attachments within a Gmail account. For this to work, you must first be signed in to your Gmail account.
Here’s the step by step procedure to take Gmail backup using Gooogle Drive:
To begin, click on the Gmail backup drive link here. A Google Sheets file will open, with an option called “Gmail Drive Backup” at the far right of the file menu. Click on this to access the drop-down menu, and select “Setup Gmail Label”. A pop-up will appear asking for authorization to run the script, and to allow it to access your emails, documents, and spreadsheets. Click “ok”, and select the blue button stating “Grant access” on the screen that appears. Click “close” when the screen changes to tell you that the authorization has been successful. This has created a new label called “Backup to drive” in your Gmail account.
Next, return to the Google Sheets file, click on “Gmail Drive Backup” again, and this time select “Setup Gdrive Folder”. Click “Ok” in the pop-up window that appears to tell you that the authorization has been successful. This has created a new folder called “Gmail Backup” in your Google Drive.
Now go into your Gmail messages, and select the messages you want to back up to your Google Drive. Under the “Labels” option at the top, select the newly created label, “Backup to drive”. Go back to the Google Sheets file, click on “Gmail Drive Backup”, and select “Test Gmail Drive Backup”. If the fields fill with listings of the emails and their attachments, your script setup was successful.
Now, you will need to set up a trigger that will automate the daily launch of the script, so you can back up your emails quickly and easily in the future. In the Google Sheets file, click on “Gmail Backup Drive” again, and select “Create trigger”. In the window that opens, enter a time that you want the script to run. This must be inputted using the 24 hour clock – for example, “13” as opposed to “1 pm”.