How to easily attach files to emails from the cloud

With our data increasingly moving to the cloud, chances are that whenever you want to attach a file to an email you will be attaching it from the cloud instead of from your local system. Usually each time you want to attach a file from the cloud to an email you have to follow a two-step process- first you have to download the file from the cloud to your local system and then log into your email account and attach the downloaded file to the email you are composing. While this two-step process works quite fine, wouldn’t it be great if there was a faster way to attach files from your favorite cloud storage provider without ever leaving your email account?

1. If you use an email client like Outlook or Lotus Notes to access your email, then just install the desktop or mobile app of your favorite cloud storage provider (like Google Drive, Dropbox and others) and take your files everywhere you go. As long as you have Internet access on your device, you will be able to easily attach files stored n the cloud to any emails that you are sending without needing to first download them to your device.
   
2. On the other hand if you use the web interface of Gmail, then the good news in that Google Drive is completely integrated with your mail box. This means that you can directly attach files stored in your Google Drive to emails without ever having to download them to your computer. Next time you want to attach a file stored in your Google drive  to an email, open the Compose Email window and click on the Google Drive icon in the bottom menu bar.
   
3. Next you need to browse your Google Drive, choose the files that you wish to attach and simply add them to the email you are composing.
   
4. The best part is that Google Drive gives you the option of attaching files to emails either in the form of the traditional file attachments containing the actual files or in the form of Google drive links.
   
5. Instead of Google Drive, in case you use Dropbox to store all your files, then you need to install the Dropbox for Gmail browser app in your browser. It is currently available for only Google Chrome browsers. Once you have installed the Dropbox for Gmail app, a new dropbox button will appear in the bottom menu bar of the Compose Email window in Gmail.
   
6. To find and attach files from your Dropbox drive to emails that you are sending, simply click on the Dropbox icon in the bottom menu bar.
   
7. For each file that you wish to attach, Dropbox will create a link to it and add it to the email that you are sending. The recipient of your email will be able to view and download the files that you have shared with them by clicking on the inline links.
   
8. If you want to be able to attach photographs from Facebook to emails, then you need to use an app called IFTTT (www.ifttt.com) to create a recipe that will automatically upload your Facebook photos to your Google Drive or Dropbox account. We will be discussing the IFTTT app in detail later on in this book.