Gmail to Google Drive Email Export Workflow

📬 Gmail to Google Drive Email Export Workflow (n8n)

🧩 Overview

This n8n workflow automates the process of:

Retrieving all emails from a specific sender using Gmail. Extracting essential fields like subject, message, and date. Formatting the email date to the desired time zone (e.g., IST). Exporting the parsed data as a CSV file. Uploading the file to a specified folder in Google Drive.

🛠 Nodes Breakdown

1. Start Workflow (Manual Trigger) Type**: Manual Trigger
   Purpose**: Initiates the workflow manually.

2. Gmail Node (Get All Emails) Type**: Gmail
   Operation**: getAll
   Filters**:
   sender: akhilgadiraju@gmail.com
   Returns**: All emails from the specified sender.
   Credentials**: Gmail OAuth2 - Akhil

3. Parse Data (Set Node) Purpose**: Extracts key fields from the email JSON.
   Mapped Fields**: id: Email ID subject: Email subject message: Email text time: Email date

4. Convert Time Field (Code Node) Purpose**: Converts the email time (ISO 8601) to a human-readable format.
   Output Format**: Local time using Asia/Kolkata timezone. Format: "Month Day, Year, Hour:Minute AM/PM"
   Customizable**: Change the timezone as needed:

timeZone: 'Asia/Kolkata'

5. Convert to File Type**: Convert to File Node
   Purpose**: Converts JSON data to a downloadable .csv file.
   Output File**: CSV containing id, subject, message, and time.

6. Google Drive Type**: Google Drive
   Purpose**: Uploads the generated CSV file to Google Drive.
   Drive**: My Drive
   Folder**: Root
   File Name**: Current timestamp + _n8n_export.csv

7. End Workflow (NoOp) Purpose**: Final node to explicitly end the workflow.

✅ Use Cases

Personal Email Archiving**: Back up or export emails from a specific sender (e.g., invoices, reports). Audit Logs**: Save conversations for compliance. Team Reports**: Aggregate project emails into a central file store.

🔧 Customization Guide

| Customization | How to Do It | |---------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------| | Change Sender Email | Update the sender field in the Gmail node. | | Filter by Date/Subject | Add filters in the Gmail node settings. | | Change Time Zone | Edit timeZone in the Code node. | | Add More Email Fields | Modify the Set node to include more fields. | | Change File Format | Use a different format in the Convert to File node. | | Rename Output File | Adjust the name in the Google Drive node. | | Change Upload Folder | Set a different folderId in the Google Drive node. |

🚀 Deployment Tips

Schedule the Workflow**: Replace Manual Trigger with a Cron node. Avoid Duplicates**: Store email IDs and skip duplicates using conditional logic. Security**: Use environment variables for sensitive credentials.

🧪 Testing Steps

Manually trigger the workflow. Verify email data is parsed and formatted. Confirm CSV is generated correctly. Ensure the file is uploaded to Google Drive.

🧰 Requirements

Connected Gmail and Google Drive OAuth2 credentials. n8n instance (self-hosted or cloud). Required nodes available in the n8n environment.

> 💡 Need more features? You can add: > - Error handling > - Slack/Email notifications > - Conditional filters > - Google Sheets integration instead of Drive