Attach Cloud Files Into Gmail (On The Fly) With Cloudy

Are you tired of downloading a file from your cloud storage to your hard drive, just so you couldattach it in Gmail to send to someone? Wouldn’t it be easier if you could just click ‘Attach File’ and select any file from any cloud storage you own on the Web?

We’ll show you how you can attach files in Gmail straight from cloud storage with a handy Chrome extension called Cloudy.

Cloudy is a Chrome extension which overrides the Gmail default system for attaching files. Instead of getting the usual file selection when you click ‘Attach files’, users will be presented with aFilepicker.io window with a list of cloud storage sources.

To start using Cloudy, add it to your Chrome browser. It will ask for your permission to access your data on Gmail.

Log in your Gmail account and compose a new message.

This extension works with both old and new compose. To attach an attachment from cloud storage or other sources, click on the ‘cloud’ icon.

You will see an interface to choose the sources you want to select your attachment from. For this guide, we will be using Dropbox as an example.

Choose Dropbox and click on Connect to Dropbox.

The app will ask for your permission to connect Filepicker.io with your Dropbox account. You will only need to give permission once.

You will be taken back to your Gmail page and you’ll notice that now you can view all your Dropbox files. Choose which file you want to attach and click ‘Upload’.

The program first downloads the file…

… before uploading the file as your attachment.

Once the upload is complete, you can continue composing your email as normal.

To obtain files from the other cloud storage, just repeat the steps above and select the new cloud storage instead of Dropbox.

There are a few downsides of Cloudy: it has yet to recognize SkyDrive as a cloud storage, you can’t really attach more than one attachment at one go and it doesn’t work if the default language of your Gmail isn’t in English.

Apart from that, if you need to email files from your cloud storage a lot, Cloudy is a handy tool to have on your browser.