Emails come in many forms. Some people use it to keep their peers and employees updated, while others use it as the basis of collaboration or to send links.
If you use Gmail, you likely attach files on a regular basis. Like every other email client, there’s a limit to the size of files you can attach however. Gmail has recently introduced a new feature that gives you better attachment options.
The latest Gmail feature is something many Google and Gmail users have been asking for. It allows you to add files from Drive directly into a Gmail message, without having to navigate away from Gmail.
This is how it works:
- Create a message as you usually would using Gmail’s new overview.
- Hover over the + and click the Drive icon.
- Navigate to the file you would like to put into the document.
- Select the file and select Insert.
What Gmail will do is add the doc, picture, or file into the message. This is kind of an interesting way to attach files, as the file is in the message, but it’s still hosted on your Drive. So, when recipients click on it they are taken to the file. What’s interesting about this new feature is you can add the attachment where you want, by clicking where you would like to add it in the body and following steps two through four above.
A cool thing Google did with this feature is that when you add a file from Drive that hasn’t been shared with the recipient(s), you will be asked if you want to share the file with the users when you hit send. This will be done directly in the message, no need to go to Drive and change the settings from there.
But wait, there’s more One of the major downsides of email is that many programs – Gmail included – have an attachment size limit. This can make it a bit bothersome if you have to send files that are over the limit. With the update, you can now attach up to 10GB of files in one email – only if you attach them through this Drive option though. This means you can attach files up to 400 times larger than previous limits.
One caveat is that this option isn’t available to you if you use the older style of Compose – clicking Compose takes you to a new page. So, you will have to use the new layout – emails are composed in a chat-like window. If you would like to switch to the new version of Compose, you should be able to do so by clicking on Compose and looking to the right of the email window, near the cog. There should be an option that allows you to switch to the new version.
If you would like to learn more about integrating Gmail, Drive or any of Google’s other services into your company give us a shout, we can help.
