Gmail Triage to Google Sheets: Log High-Priority Emails

Log High-Priority Gmail Emails into Google Sheets—Automatically

This n8n workflow monitors your Gmail for new unread messages, classifies them with keyword-based rules, logs them into a Google Sheets “Inbox” tab, and sends you an alert email when an email is marked High.

What this workflow does

• Runs every 5 minutes and triggers on new unread Gmail messages.
• Excludes emails from the Promotions and Social categories.
• Uses keyword-based rules to categorize each message into one of: Money, Customer, Urgent, Admin, Bulk, or Other.
• Sets a priority and generates a short preview for quick scanning.
• Appends a new row to your Google Sheets “Inbox” sheet with: received date, sender, subject, category, priority, preview, message_id, and status.
• Checks whether the email priority is High, and if so, emails you a Gmail alert containing the sender, preview, and a link back to the Google Sheets log.

Use cases

• SaaS operators who want immediate visibility into high-priority customer or billing-related emails.
• Automation engineers building an inbox triage system that keeps a searchable record in Google Sheets.
• Teams who need to quickly spot urgent communications without manually sorting Gmail.
• Founders who want a lightweight alerting loop when critical emails arrive.

Technical details

• n8n nodes/workflow building blocks: gmail (trigger + send), if, set, code, no op, plus sticky note for clarity.
• Google Sheets integration: appends categorized email details to an Inbox tab (recommended headers: received, from, subject, category, priority, preview, message_id, status).
• Honest approach: categorization uses keyword rules (no AI credits or paid extras).

Tip: Connect your Gmail (read + send) and update the spreadsheet URL/ID so the workflow writes to your target Google Sheet.