Gmail is the most widely used email client worldwide because of its accessibility on almost all devices. However, other email clients, particularly Outlook, have been competing with it and were one step ahead of Gmail in terms of their ability to attach emails in another email.
Things have changed now, Gmail has again become the best in class by rolling out the ‘add email as attachment’ feature. This makes referring to other emails easier.
Now you can add old emails into new ones in the standard ‘.eml’ format. However, this feature is only accessible on the Gmail web client on PCs & laptops.
In this article, we will discuss how to use the email attachment feature in various ways and get the best out of it. Use the following quick links for faster navigation within the article:
Can you attach an email in Gmail?
Yes, you can attach emails in Gmail.
The attached emails are first converted into the ‘.eml’ format, which then is added to the new mail as an attachment.
The attached email, when clicked upon, opens in a new window with the message “You are viewing an attached message.” However, there is no way Gmail can verify the authenticity of an attached email message for now.

How to attach an email to another email in Gmail?
You can attach an email to another email in three ways: forwarding, replying, and new email.
The methods to attach email while forwarding, replying, and creating new messages are as follows:
How do I send an email as an attachment in a new mail?
Use the following steps to add an email as an attachment in a new mail:
- Firstly log in to Gmail on your laptop or computer and click on Compose.
- If the message window opens in full screen, click on the Exit full screen option as shown in the below image in order to minimize it.
- Subsequently drag and drop email in the message box. You can also select multiple emails and drag them altogether into the message box.
- The attached email would appear at the bottom of message body. Add recipient details, subject, and body then click Send.
How do I forward an email as an attachment?
Use the following steps to forward emails as an attachment:
- Firstly select the email you want to forward, open the options menu shown as three dots at the top and click Forward as attachment.
- The email would then be attached in a new mail. Subsequently enter the recipient’s email ID, subject and body to the email and click Send.
How do I attach an email in a reply?
Use the following steps to add email as an attachment in a reply:
- Scroll down to the bottom of the email to which you want to reply and click Reply button.
- The reply window will open. Click on the Pop out reply option as shown in the below image.
- Now drag and drop the email you want to attach into the message window.
- Finally the dropped email would appear as attachment at the bottom of the email body. Subsequently add recipient, subject, and body for the email and click Send.
Can I attach an email in the Gmail app?
So far, there is no option to attach emails in a message on the Gmail app for mobile. So, you cannot add emails as an attachment on Gmail on Android and iPhone.
However, you can easily view the attachment on your smartphone. You only have to download or preview the ‘.eml’ format attachment with an appropriate EML viewer.

As an alternate to attaching email, you can forward or reply to an email on a mobile phone.
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Conclusion
After reading this article, you can easily send emails as attachments in Gmail with the least chance of getting “Gmail attachment failed“.
This feature will come in handy while referring to specific emails in email conversations.
FAQs
You cannot directly attach a folder in an email. Either you have to compress it into ‘.zip’ format or upload it on Google drive and attach its link in the email.
You cannot forward emails as an Attachment on Gmail Android. You can only forward an email and add additional information along with it. The only difference is that the forwarded email would not be converted into ‘.eml’ format but will be sent directly as text along with other attachments.
To forward an email, open the email, tap the three vertical dots, select Forward, enter the recipient’s email id, and tap Send.
You can add the email with attachments as an attachment itself into the new email to copy all its attachments. Select the email and select Send email as attachment in the options menu.