Open & download attachments in Gmail

When you get an email with an attachment, you can download the attachment to your device.

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Add an attachment to Google Drive

Important: You can’t add certain attachments to Google Drive. Learn about files you can store in Drive.

  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Gmail app .
  2. Open a message.
  3. At the bottom of the message, tap the attachment.
  4. At the top right, tap Save to Drive .

Share an attachment

  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Gmail app .
  2. Open a message.
  3. At the bottom of the message, tap the attachment.
  4. At the top right, tap Share Share.

Download a photo in an email

Important: To save photos from Gmail to your device, allow Gmail to download to your device’s photo library. Learn how to update your privacy settings.

  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Gmail app .
  2. Open a message.
  3. At the bottom of the message, tap the photo.
  4. At the top right, tap More options More.
  5. Select an option:
    • Save to Camera Roll: Save the image to your device.
    • Save to Google Photos: Add the photo to Google Photos.
    • Save to Google Drive: Add the photo to Google Drive.

Tip: If a photo is included in the message, not as an attachment, you can save the photo:

  1. Touch and hold a photo.
  2. Tap Save to Photos.

Learn about suspicious attachments

To protect your account from potential viruses and harmful software, Gmail notifies you about suspicious attachments in the email. An attachment may be suspicious because:

  • The attachment allows unverified scripts: We can't confirm that the message's attachments are safe to open. If you open the attachments, there's a chance malicious software will run on your computer or device.
  • The attachment is encrypted: Some attachments, like documents that require a password to open, are encrypted and can't be scanned for viruses.
  • The attachment includes emails (.eml): While we check the message and .eml attachments for spam and viruses, we can't confirm that the sender in the .eml files actually sent those emails. Learn more about authentication.

If the email looks suspicious, don't reply and don't download the attachment. You can:

If the email is from someone you know and trust, ignore the warning.

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