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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Download an attachment

  1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Gmail app .
  2. Open the email message.
  3. Tap Download .

Download a photo from inside an email

  1. If a photo is inside an email message instead of added as an attachment, on your Android phone or tablet, open the Gmail app .
  2. Open the email message.
  3. Touch and hold the photo.
  4. Tap View image.
  5. Tap the photo.
  6. In the top right, tap More More.
  7. Tap Save.
Save to Google Drive
  1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Gmail app .
  2. Open the email message.
  3. Tap Save to Drive Save to Drive.
  4. When the message is saved, you'll see "Saved to Drive" on your screen.

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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