How to Save Gmail Messages to Obsidian
If Obsidian is your second brain, your Gmail inbox is probably one of the biggest gaps in it. Client conversations, receipts, project updates, and research all pile up in email—completely disconnected from the notes and links you’ve carefully built in your vault.
TaskRobin closes that gap by turning your Gmail messages into Markdown notes inside Obsidian, complete with attachments. There are two ways to do it, depending on how you work:
- Auto-Forwarding — a completely hands-off setup that saves emails automatically, in bulk, forever.
- Chrome Extension — a one-click “Send to TaskRobin” button for saving individual emails on demand.
This guide walks through both.
Method 1: Auto-Forward Gmail to Obsidian
Auto-forwarding is the best option if you want every email matching certain criteria—like all messages from a client, or anything tagged as an invoice—to land in your vault without you doing anything after the initial setup.
Step 1: Install the TaskRobin Obsidian Plugin
Open Obsidian, go to Settings > Community Plugins, search for “TaskRobin”, and install and enable it. You can sign up for a TaskRobin account directly from the plugin—no need to leave Obsidian.
Step 2: Get Your Forwarding Address
Inside the plugin settings, create your unique, private TaskRobin forwarding email address. Copy it—you’ll need it in the next step.
Step 3: Set Up a Gmail Filter and Auto-Forward Rule
This is where the automation happens:
- In Gmail, go to Settings > See all settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP, click Add a forwarding address, and paste your TaskRobin forwarding address. Gmail will send a confirmation code—TaskRobin verifies this automatically for you.
- Go to Settings > Filters and Blocked Addresses > Create a new filter.
- Set criteria for the emails you want to capture (e.g.,
from:client@company.com, or a subject keyword like “invoice”). - Under Choose action that follows the filter, check Forward it to and select your TaskRobin address.
From now on, every matching email is silently forwarded to TaskRobin the moment it arrives.
Step 4: Sync to Your Vault
Whenever you want your latest emails pulled in, open Obsidian, click the TaskRobin icon in the side panel, and hit Sync now. Each email becomes a Markdown note with the subject, sender, timestamp, message body, and any attachments linked directly in your vault.
Want the full walkthrough? Read Save and Sync Emails to Obsidian with TaskRobin.
Method 2: Use the TaskRobin Chrome Extension
Auto-forwarding is great for ongoing, rule-based capture—but sometimes you just want to save one email right now without setting up a filter. That’s exactly what the TaskRobin Chrome Extension for Gmail is for.
Step 1: Install the Extension
Head to the Chrome Web Store and click Add to Chrome.
Step 2: Connect Your TaskRobin Account
Open any email in Gmail and you’ll see a new Send to TaskRobin button in the toolbar.
- Click it.
- Paste in your TaskRobin API token, found in your TaskRobin dashboard under the “Integrations” tab.
- Click Connect to link the extension to your account.
Step 3: Send the Email to Obsidian
With the extension connected, select your Obsidian integration from the destination list and click send. TaskRobin packages the full email—headers, body, and attachments—and delivers it straight to your vault as a new note.
Because it runs locally in your browser and doesn’t require full Gmail API access, your inbox stays private—it only touches the specific emails you choose to send.
Full setup details and use cases are in Introducing the TaskRobin Chrome Extension for Gmail.
Which Method Should You Use?
| Auto-Forwarding | Chrome Extension | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Bulk, recurring, rule-based capture | One-off, important individual emails |
| Effort after setup | Zero—fully automatic | One click per email |
| Setup time | ~5 minutes (filter + rule) | ~2 minutes (install + connect) |
| Good for | Newsletters, client threads, receipts | A specific email you need saved right now |
Many TaskRobin users combine both: auto-forwarding rules handle the recurring stuff, while the Chrome extension covers the occasional email that doesn’t fit a filter.
Build a Gmail-Connected Second Brain
Whether you automate it entirely or save emails one click at a time, getting your Gmail messages into Obsidian means your client conversations, receipts, and research are finally searchable and linkable alongside the rest of your notes.
Ready to stop copying and pasting from your inbox? Get started with TaskRobin today with a 7-day free trial.