Create Email Drafts – Apps Script

GmailApp.createDraft() lets you create email drafts that land in your Gmail Drafts folder — ready for you to review and send manually. This is useful when you want a human to approve emails before they go out, or when preparing a batch of personalised emails for review.

Creating a Basic Draft

function createBasicDraft() {
  GmailApp.createDraft(
    "[email protected]",
    "Following Up – Pro Plan",
    "Hi Sarah,\n\nJust checking in to see how your Pro Plan onboarding is going.\n\nBest,\nAlex"
  );

  Logger.log("Draft created.");
}

The draft appears in your Gmail Drafts folder immediately.

Creating an HTML Draft

function createHtmlDraft() {
  var htmlBody = `
    <p>Hi Sarah,</p>
    <p>Just checking in to see how your <strong>Pro Plan</strong> onboarding is going.</p>
    <p>Let us know if you need anything!</p>
    <br>
    <p>Best regards,<br><strong>Alex Martinez</strong><br>Acme Corp – North Region</p>
  `;

  GmailApp.createDraft(
    "[email protected]",
    "Following Up – Pro Plan",
    "Hi Sarah, just checking in on your Pro Plan onboarding.",
    { htmlBody: htmlBody }
  );

  Logger.log("HTML draft created.");
}

Generating Follow-Up Drafts for In-Progress Deals

This example reads all In Progress deals from the Sales Tracker and creates a personalised follow-up draft for each:

function createFollowUpDrafts() {
  var sheet = SpreadsheetApp
    .getActiveSpreadsheet()
    .getSheetByName("Sales Tracker");

  var data = sheet.getRange(2, 1, sheet.getLastRow() - 1, 8).getValues();
  // Columns: [Customer Name, Email, Product, Amount, Region, Sales Rep, Status, Date]

  data.forEach(function(row) {
    var customerName = row[0];
    var customerEmail = row[1];
    var product = row[2];
    var salesRep = row[5];
    var status = row[6];

    if (status !== "In Progress") return;

    var firstName = customerName.split(" ")[0];
    var subject = "Following Up – Your " + product + " Evaluation";

    var htmlBody = `
      <p>Hi ${firstName},</p>
      <p>I wanted to follow up on your <strong>${product}</strong> evaluation with Acme Corp.</p>
      <p>Do you have any questions or would you like to schedule a quick call to discuss next steps?</p>
      <br>
      <p>Best regards,<br><strong>${salesRep}</strong></p>
    `;

    var plainText = "Hi " + firstName + ",\n\nI wanted to follow up on your " + product + " evaluation. Do you have any questions?\n\nBest,\n" + salesRep;

    GmailApp.createDraft(customerEmail, subject, plainText, { htmlBody: htmlBody });
    Logger.log("Draft created for: " + customerName);
  });
}

With the sample data, a follow-up draft is created for Mark Chen (Enterprise Plan, In Progress). Sarah and Lisa are skipped as their status is Closed.

Creating a Draft with CC and Attachment

function createDraftWithCC() {
  var file = DriveApp.getFileById("YOUR_PROPOSAL_FILE_ID");

  GmailApp.createDraft(
    "[email protected]",
    "Acme Corp – Enterprise Plan Proposal",
    "Please find our Enterprise Plan proposal attached.",
    {
      cc: "[email protected]",
      attachments: [file.getAs(MimeType.PDF)],
      name: "Jordan Lee – Acme Corp"
    }
  );

  Logger.log("Draft with attachment and CC created.");
}

Listing All Existing Drafts

function listDrafts() {
  var drafts = GmailApp.getDrafts();

  drafts.forEach(function(draft) {
    var msg = draft.getMessage();
    Logger.log("To: " + msg.getTo() + " | Subject: " + msg.getSubject());
  });
}