Getting started with Backup Emails to Amazon S3: How to back up Gmail emails to Amazon S3

To learn more about Backup Emails to Amazon S3 by cloudHQ, visit the
Backup Emails to Amazon S3 website.
To install the extension, use the link below:

The current plans and features are on the pricing page of the app.

To give cloudHQ access to your Amazon S3, see How to create Amazon IAM user for cloudHQ sync / backup to Amazon S3.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Backup Emails to Amazon S3 by cloudHQ saves your Gmail messages and their attachments to an Amazon S3 bucket or folder you pick. Your emails get turned into PDF files, and the attachments sit right beside them.

The whole job runs in the cloud, so you never have to download anything first.

Key Features

Emails as PDF and attachments

When you save emails, pick one of these three options: Save each conversation into a separate PDF, Merge all conversations into one PDF or Save only attachments.

Saving continues in the background

Click Save and the message SUCCESS – JOB STARTED shows up. The saving goes on in the background, even if you close the dialog, the browser or the computer. When the job finishes, cloudHQ sends you an email.

Backup of a label or the whole account

You can back up a single Gmail label, a whole Gmail account or more than one Gmail account. New emails are then saved to Amazon S3 as well.

Use Cases

People save emails to Amazon S3 for a few common reasons:

  1. Keep your own copy. Put important conversations and their attachments in Amazon S3 storage that belongs to you.
  2. Back up a label or an account. Make a backup of a single label, or of the whole Gmail account.
  3. Collect attachments. Pull just the attachments out of a lot of emails and keep them together in one S3 folder.

Installing the extension and saving your first emails

  1. Open Backup Emails to Amazon S3 by cloudHQ in the Chrome Web Store.
  2. Click Add to Chrome and confirm the installation.
  3. Open Gmail. A dialog opens if you are not signed in to cloudHQ yet. Tick I agree to Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and click Create Account. If you already have an account, log in instead. Then give Gmail the authorization it asks for.
  4. Select one or more emails in your inbox and click the Backup to Amazon S3 button in the toolbar. The menu that opens offers three choices: Save each conversation into a separate PDF, Merge all conversations into one PDF and Save only attachments. Pick whichever one fits.
  5. The Select Amazon S3 folder window opens. If Amazon S3 is not connected yet, click the link Add Amazon S3 Account and enter your account details.
  6. Click a bucket or a folder, then click Save. When nothing is selected, the message Please select a bucket or a folder to save to Amazon S3 appears.
  7. You see the message SUCCESS – JOB STARTED. The dialog can be closed now. cloudHQ keeps saving in the background and emails you once it is done.

Saving one open email

  1. Open the email in Gmail. Click the Save to button above it, then click Save to Amazon S3. The first time you do this, a short note pops up reading Save email to Amazon S3. Click Got It.
  2. In the Select Amazon S3 folder window, pick the bucket or folder you want, then click Save. First comes the text Email is being saved to your Amazon S3…, and after that Your email has been saved to your Amazon S3 account as a PDF. Your attachments get saved as well.

Setting up a backup

  1. If you only need one label backed up, open the label menu in Gmail and click Backup label to Amazon S3 ….
  2. For the whole account, pick an email, click the Backup to Amazon S3 toolbar button, then click Setup backup of this Gmail account to Amazon S3. A cloudHQ page opens in a new tab, and you can follow the steps shown there. If you have several Gmail accounts, click Setup backup of multiple Gmail accounts to Amazon S3 instead.

Additional Resources and Next Steps