Automated Gmail Attachment Archiving to Google Drive with Metadata

Name: Automated Gmail Attachment Archiving to Google Drive with Metadata
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Author: Free N8N

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File Managementarchivingattachmentsautomationgmailgoogle drivemetadataorganization

Automatically process Gmail attachments, organize them into dated and company-specific folders in Google Drive, and add structured metadata.

About This Workflow

This workflow automates the process of handling email attachments from Gmail. It triggers on new emails with specific labels, extracts attachments, and uploads them to Google Drive. The files are organized into a hierarchical folder structure based on the email's date (YYYY/MM) and the sender's company (looked up from a Google Sheet). Metadata such as sender and reception time is embedded as file properties in Google Drive.

Key Features

Gmail Trigger: Monitors a specific Gmail label for new emails.
Attachment Extraction: Downloads and processes attachments from emails.
Google Sheets Whitelist: Uses a Google Sheet to map sender emails to company names.
Dynamic Folder Creation: Creates dated folders (YYYY/MM) and company-specific folders in Google Drive if they don't exist.
File Upload: Uploads attachments to the appropriate Google Drive folder.
Metadata Embedding: Adds sender email and reception time as custom file properties in Google Drive.

How To Use

Configure Gmail Trigger: Set up the Gmail Trigger node to monitor your desired Gmail label and polling interval. Ensure your Google account is connected.
Set Up Google Sheets Whitelist: Create a Google Sheet with 'email' and 'company' columns. Populate it with sender email addresses and their corresponding company names. Configure the Lookup in Sheets node with the correct Document ID and Sheet Name.
Configure Google Drive Storage: The workflow creates a 'Invoices' folder (ID: 18ry0AUtrpp3re6u3zQvvs0BQUGFmBKN9) in your Google Drive as the root for company folders. Ensure this folder exists and your Google Drive account is connected.
Map Sender to Company: The Lookup in Sheets node retrieves the company name based on the sender's email from the Gmail Trigger.
Folder Structure Logic:
- The Search Company Folder1 and Company Folder Exists nodes check if a folder for the identified company already exists within the 'Invoices' parent folder. If not, Create Company Folder creates it.
- The YYYY/MM node generates the year and month string (e.g., '2023/10').
- The Search For Folder and Check If Folder Exists nodes determine if the YYYY/MM folder exists within the company folder. If not, Create Month Folder creates it.
Attachment Handling:
- The Gmail node fetches email details, and Split Up Binary Data1 separates each attachment into individual data items.
- Loop Over Items processes each attachment individually.
Upload to Google Drive: The Upload To Folder node uploads the attachment to the determined folder. It dynamically sets the file name with a timestamp and embeds sender and reception time as file properties. Ensure the folderId correctly points to the nested company/date folder structure.

Apps Used

archiving

attachments

automation

gmail

google drive

metadata

organization

Workflow JSON

{
  "id": "d8f34fa1-cd42-4c88-af23-590c323ee505",
  "name": "Automated Gmail Attachment Archiving to Google Drive with Metadata",
  "nodes": 23,
  "category": "File Management",
  "status": "active",
  "version": "1.0.0"
}

Note: This is a sample preview. The full workflow JSON contains node configurations, credentials placeholders, and execution logic.