Email yourself: Accessing Gmail drafts with attachments on another clientPosted by Matt Thommes on December 4, 2008 | Post type: Gain Quite often I'll wish to prepare an email while on one client computer, but not send it until later from another client. Sometimes this email will have attachments that are local only to the initial client. It would be great to create a Gmail "draft" with the attachments already uploaded, and then when I'm ready to send the email, I should be able to from any other client that is connected to my Gmail account (either IMAP or web interface). The recipient should receive the attachments intact, even though those attachments don't originate from the remote client. Here is a real-world example: You're going to visit CarMax to sell your car. When you get there, you'd like to email the CarMax representative the necessary lease paperwork (rather than bring in physical paperwork), which you've already scanned in and attached to a Gmail draft from your desktop computer, where the attachments reside. Since you do not yet know the recipients email address, you can't send the email until you get there. Web interfaceThis is a "no brainer" if using Gmail's web interface from another client. Logging into your Gmail account through a browser, you'll see any available drafts waiting to be sent. Attachments are intact, so the email is ready to go.
But what if you are accessing Gmail through a client using IMAP, such as on an iPhone? Are drafts synced over properly? Attachments included? IMAP interfaceIf your remote client is connected to Gmail via IMAP, you'd expect your draft to appear in the "Drafts" folder:
But it's not there. It turns out this particular "Drafts" folder is for drafts local to that client. For example, if you started an email on that client, and decided not to send it yet, it would immediately go to that drafts folder. For drafts started on another client, you have a couple of options for being able to access them through IMAP elsewhere:
Apply the [Imap]/Drafts labelWhile creating the initial draft, apply the [Imap]/Drafts label. This is available in the "More Actions" drop-down list:
This will sync the draft to your root "Drafts" folder on any client using IMAP. Beware though, this approach will not sync attachments. I attempted this using the iPhone as the remote client, and although the draft body appears, the attachments are missing:
Look in the Gmail-specific "Drafts" folder via IMAPIt turns out there is another Drafts folder available for clients using IMAP. It should be under the [Gmail] root folder:
This Drafts folder is where your "live" drafts are stored, including attachments. Opening up the same draft, we now see the attachments are present:
"Live" drafts sometimes not editableRemember how I wanted to edit the draft once I arrived at CarMax? Basically I just want to type in the appropriate email address to send to. Many email clients (such as the iPhone) don't allow you to edit "live" drafts using IMAP. Instead, your only option is to forward the entire email to the appropriate recipient. Some clients (such as Thunderbird) have a "Edit As New" option, which is essentially how you edit a "live" draft:
Emailing yourselfThis whole idea sounds like the concept of "emailing yourself." Have you ever deliberately sent yourself an email about something that you wish to remember later? Rather than physically hitting "Send," you could easily just store the email in your "live" drafts folder, which then syncs across to any email client. It almost achieves the same purpose - being able to quickly jot something down and have it accessible the next time you log into email. About the author(s) Matt Thommes is an independent publishing enthusiast, mobile blogger, content creator, informative writer, web developer from a suburb of Chicago. Never one to conform, Matt intends to promote the effect the web has on our lives, in an effort to intensify, instruct, and clarify all that is happening around us. Comments
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