How to Attach an Email in Gmail – 3 Different Ways

There are many reasons people attach previous emails when composing a new one. It could be referencing a prior message or connecting it as proof of their claims in the current email. Whatever your reason is, you can do this cleaner, faster, and more conveniently than copying and pasting previous correspondence. 

Just follow these three methods on how to attach an email in Gmail. Among them, you’ll find some suitable for desktops and others for mobile devices.

Can You Attach Email to Another Email in Gmail?

Attaching an email to another email in Gmail is possible. You can do it in various ways, but in this guide, we’ll focus on the three easiest and quickest methods. These include forwarding it as an attachment, dragging and dropping it, and attaching it as a PDF file.

In the next section, we answer the question, “How do I attach an email to another email in Gmail?” in more detail.

Attaching an Email in Gmail – 3 Ways

Attaching an email in Gmail is easy once you get the hang of it. This also depends on the method that works best for you. For example, some ways work better when you’re already composing the email, others work better before you start writing a new message, and in some cases, there’s only one way to do it.

Let’s take a look at three ways of attaching an email in Gmail:

Method 1: Forward as an Attachment

You can use this method to attach an email to another email on the desktop. It’s significantly more convenient if you plan to attach more than one email. To see how it works, just follow these steps:

Step 1: Select Emails

When you move your cursor on top of the emails in your inbox, the pictures or avatar icons on the left change into a box; click on that box to select each email you’d like to attach to the email you’ll be composing.

Step 2: Select “Forward as attachment”

When you’ve selected emails, click “More” at the top, and you’ll be presented with more options. Click “Forward as attachment,” and the emails will be attached to a new message in EML format.

Step 3: Compose and send the message

Compose and send your email as usual.

Method 2: Drag and Drop

Drag and drop is the best option when you’ve already written the body of a new email and remember that you need to attach other messages. Follow these steps to drag and drop emails into a new email.

Step 1: Move New Message Screen

If your new email screen is bigger and at the center of the Gmail tab, reduce it and move it to the bottom right corner. 

Step 2: Select Emails

Select the email or emails that you’d like to attach to your new message.

Step 3: Drag and Drop

Use your cursor to drag and drop the selected emails to your new email. When you’re done, they’ll upload and appear as attached EML files.  

Method 3: Convert to PDF

Converting existing emails to PDF files before attaching them to new ones may be necessary for mobile Gmail users. The Gmail apps on Android and iOS devices don’t have the option to attach email directly as you would on a desktop. 

To convert and attach an email to another email in Gmail using this method, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open Email to be Attached

Open the email you’d like to attach to the new message, then click on the three buttons on top for more options.

Step 2: Download as a PDF

Click on “Print,” then select the PDF option to download and save the message as PDF to your Google Drive.

Step 3: Compose New Email and Attach

Compose the email and attach the saved email from your Drive.

Final Thoughts

To attach an email to another email, Gmail users can use the forward as an attachment and the drag-and-drop methods when composing a new message on a desktop. These are, however, unavailable on the mobile versions of Gmail; That’s why in these cases, you have to use the third method, converting the email you’ll be attaching to PDF.

These options are cleaner and more straightforward than copying and pasting previous emails into a new one. To see if your effort of attaching an email to an email was worth that little bit of effort, check if people have read your emails using the free email tracker for Gmail by PandaDoc.