February 15, 2022 / Lily Collins

How To Send Folders In Gmail?

Although you may find a plethora of useful features and options in Gmail to make the email-related task an engaging experience, however, Gmail may not be as “perfect” as you may consider it. One of the things that you may expect Gmail to offer you but is lacking is the option to upload folders as attachments, While Gmail may not offers a straight off the bat option to send folders, there are some workarounds that you may consider. Below, you can find the two ways that can help you send folders in Gmail.

Ways to Send Folders in Gmail

METHOD 1: Compress and Send the Folder via Gmail

Gmail is known for supporting compressed folders, such as RAR, Zip, and 7z. So, consider sending folders in Gmail through compressing method. So, in this method, all you need to do is compress the folder contents and then attach the folder in Gmail. However, it is to be noted that the compressed folder must be in size under 25MB only. Otherwise, the file will be sent as a Google Drive link. Also, you must know that you can’t send executable files (for example .exe) as Gmail is known for blocking them due to security reasons.

To Compress a Folder

At present, the majority of operating systems come with an in-built feature of compressing files and folders. Below, you can find the steps to compress a folder in Windows.

• Firstly, you will need to right-click on the folder that you wish to compress.
• Next, you will need to move your mouse cursor over the “Send to” option in the menu that appears on your screen and then select the “Compress folder” option it.
• Doing so will create a new Zip file in the same location where you have your folder stored.
• Similarly, you can also select multiple folders by selecting each folder.

To Send the Compressed Folder via Gmail

Once you have compressed the folder, you can send the folder via Gmail by following these steps.

• To begin with, you will first need to compose a new email in Gmail and click on the “Attach files” button located at the bottom.
• Next, you will need to select the newly created Zip folder to attach it to Gmail.

To Decompress the Folder

Like compressing, operating systems also come with an in-built feature to decompress folders without the help of a 3rd-party application. Here, you will just open up the Zip folder and click on the “Extract to” button in the menu that appears on your screen. Then, you will need to select the location where you wish to save the file. You will find that the file is getting extracted there in its original form.

METHOD 2: Using Google Drive to Send a Folder via Gmail

Although Gmail does not support direct uploads of folders, Google Drive is a great integrated option does. As Google Drive, is known for seamlessly integrating with Gmail, you can directly email a folder in Gmail through Google Drive.

Upload Folder to Google Drive

In order to send the folder through Gmail, you will first need to upload it to your Google Drive account. For common files, you can easily do so from the Gmail compose message window. However, for folders, you will need to upload them from the Google Drive web interface. Here are the steps:

• Firstly, you will need to navigate to the Google Drive web interface and login to your account.
• Next, you will need to click on the “New” button located at the upper-left corner and choose “Upload Folder” from it.
• Now, you will need to choose the folder from the explorer window and press the “OK” button to upload it. You will be able to select only one folder at a time.
• You can repeat the above-mentioned process to upload as many folders as you wish.

To Send The Folder Via Gmail using Google Drive

Once you are done uploading the folder, follow the below-mentioned instructions:

• Firstly, go to Gmail and open up the compose window.
• Next, you will need to select the “Insert files using Drive” button located at the bottom section.
• Then, you will need to choose the folder you wish to send and press the “Insert” button located at the bottom. Press and hold the Ctrl key to select multiple folders.
• Doing so will attach the folder in Gmail as a Google Drive link.
• Now, when sending the email, you will be prompted whether only the recipient can open the folder or anyone with the link can have access to it. Also, you will need to confirm whether you want to share the folder (or make it editable) or only send it. Here, you can make the changed as per your preference, and the folder will be sent via Gmail.

So, these are the two different methods using which you can send folders in Gmail.