How do I connect Claude to Gmail?

These are the steps on Anthropic's Gmail connector page, read on 7 October 2026. That page says the connector is available on Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans. The help centre article on Google Workspace connectors says it is available for all users on Claude and Claude Desktop, so a Free account should check its own Connectors list.

• Open the Customise page in claude.ai (the app uses the US spelling), then Connectors.
• Find Gmail and select Connect.
• Complete the Google sign-in and approve the access it lists. When it succeeds, the Connect button reads Disconnect.
• In a chat, select + at the lower left of the message box, select Connectors and switch Gmail on.
• Ask something that needs your mail, such as a search for the thread about a budget review. The answer carries citations that link to the messages Claude used.

Anthropic's pages gave two answers on 7 October 2026. The Gmail page in the connector documentation calls the connector read-only: Claude cannot create, send or modify messages, and cannot see images embedded in email.

The help centre article, updated that week, lists more. It says Claude can search and read mail, draft messages, send, reply to and forward email, read message metadata including attachment metadata (not attachment content), manage labels and threads, and list saved drafts. It adds that Claude asks for approval before each send, reply or forward.

Trust what your own account shows. Open the Gmail connector’s page and read its Tool permissions list. If sending tools appear there, you know which version you have.

The connector page sets four rules. Claude reaches only the Google account you connected. It searches your email only when a request calls for it. It retrieves the minimum it needs to answer. Your existing Gmail permissions apply, so it sees only mail you can already open.

If your organisation uses Outlook, Anthropic points you to its Microsoft 365 connector instead. If Google Workspace refuses the sign-in, your Workspace administrator has to mark Claude as a trusted app in the Google Admin console first; the help centre article gives the exact menu path.

Gmail does not appear in a member’s connector list until an Owner or Primary Owner enables it for the organisation. After that, each member connects their own Google account. The help centre article adds that on these plans owners decide whether members can let send, reply and forward run without asking each time.

Set any send, reply or forward tool to Needs approval, and use Allow once rather than Always allow while you learn how the connector behaves. A sent message cannot be recalled by turning the connector off afterwards.

Check the citations before you act on an answer. They link to the original messages, so a wrong summary is quick to spot. Disconnect signs Claude out of Google when you no longer need it.

Swfte is not a substitute for Anthropic's Gmail connector, and Swfte has no affiliation with Anthropic or Google. For searching and summarising your own inbox, use the connector.

When an email starts a decision with money or customers attached, such as a refund request, put the work in a governed workflow. In Swfte Studio a workflow can have a model draft the reply, then pause at an approval step so a named person decides before anything is sent, with a trace of the run kept per step. Studio lists generic email read (IMAP) and email send integrations; on 7 October 2026 this site listed no dedicated Gmail integration.

• Swfte Studio: Draft, approve, then send
• How to set up human approval for AI agents

Facts about other vendors and about the terms on this page were read on the pages below on 7 October 2026. Vendor plans, names and menus change, so check the vendor’s page before you rely on a detail.