Composing emails together in Google Docs

We use Google Docs to collaborate on documents all the time, but how do you collaborate on email messages? Gmail does not have a collaboration feature so composing an email message together is not as easy. 

Instead of sending drafts back and forth, you can collaborate on email messages in Google Docs with the email draft template. The email draft template allows you to compose your email message collaboratively and then press the Gmail button when you are ready to send.

Create a Gmail draft in Google Docs

1. On a blank line in your document, do one of the following:
• Type @email and select Email draft from the drop down menu
• From the Insert menu, select Building Blocks > Email Draft
2. The email template will be added to your document. Use the template to enter email addresses, cc, bcc and the subject. Type the email message in the body.
3. When you finish with your email draft, click the blue Gmail icon. This will open your message in Gmail ready for you to send. If you don’t see a window open with your email, just open Gmail and click on Drafts. 

Article by Karen Matthes, Extension Learning Technologies, klm@umn.edu