Gmail users who value every tick of the clock will love what Google has introduced to the email service. Users can now view attachments and save them to Google Drive without leaving the Gmail platform. The update is now available for desktop users while smartphone and tablet users will be able to utilize it by next week.
File attachments can now be saved directly to the user's Google Drive by simply clicking on the Drive button that appears on email attachment previews. The time-saving feature works for all kinds of files such as PDFs, images, spreadsheets, and videos.
"You're probably used to downloading email attachments, but each of those files takes time to download, eats up space on your device, and can get buried deep inside your 'Downloads' folder," wrote Scott Johnston, director of product management at Google, on Gmail's official blog.
"Instead, you can view attachments and save files directly to Google Drive without ever leaving Gmail, making it easy to access them later from whatever device you're on-computer, phone or tablet," the post further explained.
Aside from saving attachments to the Drive, the update also allows Gmail users to browse through attachments in a full screen view before pushing them to the Drive or downloading files to their devices. The new previews can be clicked open at the bottom of an email.
Users can then search for specific phrases, read the content, or scan through multiple attachments without leaving the online email platform.
"If you're one of the more than 120 million active Drive users, you know that saving your files to Drive lets you get to them from any computer, phone or tablet. And if you aren't taking advantage of Drive just yet, give it a try with your next Gmail attachment," Johnston said in an interview.
The update for viewing and saving attachments of Gmail came a few days after Google announced new quick action buttons on Monday. The updates came as users prepare for the busy holiday season. Gmail users can modify their reservations on OpenTable or save a Google Offers promo with just a click of a button.
Those who love uploading YouTube and Vimeo videos now has access to "View Video" button so they can see their uploaded work quickly. The same is true for those who want to open files shared with them via Dropbox, Google Docs, Slides, or Sheets.
