Gmail link to email thread: How to ​​create a sharable link in Gmail

A lot can happen in an email thread. If you've ever found yourself relaying information between your email conversations and coworkers and stakeholders, we're here to tell you that's not the answer; there's a better way. 

Streak Share is a s free Streak feature that lets you create a unique link to any email thread in your inbox. You can then share via email, text message, Google Doc, Notion page, or anywhere else you can paste a link. 

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This allows you to share emails without forwarding or cc'ing and gives you the ability to revoke access at any time.

In this article, we'll cover some reasons why you might want to share emails and how to do precisely that with Streak Share. 

To get started with Streak Share, install the free Streak extension for your Chrome or Safari browser.

Reasons you might want to share emails from your Gmail account

You might want to share emails with people other than the primary recipients for many reasons. Consider these scenarios:

1. You're in the process of completing a significant project at work. You want to keep your boss up-to-date on your progress but don't need them to be directly involved in the emails about the project. Sharing your project-related email messages is the best option.
2. A colleague is communicating with a client and asks if you've had any contact with them. You share your previous emails with the client to loop your colleague. 
3. You're talking to a friend about a promotional email you received and want them to see what you're talking about. Sharing the email allows them to see exactly what you're seeing in your email account. 
4. You have a question about an email you received and don't want to ask the sender. Share the email message with someone else (like a coworker) to get external input on your question. 

Generally, you share emails because you want to update or inform people not included in the email chain. 

Common ways of sharing emails

Most people choose one of the following three options to share emails:

Carbon copy (CC)

When you send group emails, you have to add at least one primary recipient in the “To:” field, but you also have the option to add “CC” recipients. 

“CC” -ing someone is a way to ensure they get the message without being treated as a central participant in the conversation. The CC email is a copy for their reference and generally doesn't require them to respond.

The CC'd recipient can see each recipient and other people who are CC'd on the email thread. If they want, they can respond to just the sender or to multiple people included in the email.  

Blind carbon copy (BCC)

Sending someone a blind carbon copy email is nearly identical to sending them a carbon copy. The only difference between these two options is that the primary and CC recipients can't see when you blind copy someone on the email. 

Generally, you BCC someone when you don't want to share their contact information with the other people involved in the conversation. The BCC recipient views the email thread without anyone else knowing. They can also reply to all recipients and CC'd people.

Forwarding emails

Forwarding an email re-sends an email you received to a new recipient (or several). If the sender didn't include someone but you want them to see the emails, forwarding them the email is an option. 

A recipient of a forwarded email can only reply to the person who forwarded it to them, not to recipients on the original thread.

Screenshots

Another option for sharing emails is to screenshot each email and send those images to someone. However, if you have to use more than one or two screenshots, this soon becomes tedious and annoying for everyone involved. 

Additionally, screenshots only give you a snapshot of the conversation, which can quickly become outdated.

However, there is a better solution.

Streak Share: A better way to share emails

Streak Share is a free tool that helps you collaborate with team members and improve communication by creating a shareable "insert link" to an email in your inbox.

Once you share the email link, the person or people you share it with will be able to view all emails in that thread. The link will even update as more emails come in via the Gmail app or inbox. 

People on your email chain will not receive an alert that you created the Streak Share link, and you don't need their permission to do so. You can choose how to share emails in your inbox.

Think of it like showing someone an email on your phone — the other person can read the email as long as you say it's okay but not interact with it.

Streak Share is a convenient digital version of that interaction without needing to hand over your own device. 

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Benefits of Streak Share

Streak Share helps you share conversations so you can more easily loop in colleagues and share information (which can limit the research effort). A few key features give Streak Share advantages over other email-sharing methods.

Read-only

Unlike carbon copies, Streak Share links are read-only. 

The people you share the link with can't interact with the email thread other than viewing it via the web address you're sharing. If you want to share an email thread with one person or a group without getting them directly involved, Streak Share is the ideal method. 

Paste the link to email anywhere

Sharing an email by forwarding or sending carbon copies of it limits you and requires recipients to go to their inbox every time they need to review the conversation details.

With Streak Share, you can paste a link to your email thread in any collaboration tools you already use and discuss your shared email threads wherever the topics come up. That means you can share email conversations in:

• Slack
• Google Docs
• Notion
• Asana
• Via text messages; or
• Any other communication tools 

Real-time updates on the thread

Unlike forwarding, screenshots, or CC'd emails, if somebody inevitably forgets to hit "reply all," you don't have to send out another link when there's a new reply to the email thread. The original Streak Share link automatically displays additional emails on the thread, offering real-time updates. 

Revoke access at any time

You can revoke access at any point if you no longer want people to view your email thread. Shared the link to an email across multiple places? Not to worry—all you have to do is go to the original thread and toggle off link sharing. The Streak Share link will immediately become invalid, revoking access to everybody with your unique link. 

How to create a Gmail link to an email

Create a Streak Share link to email with just a few clicks. Here's how:

1. Install the free Streak browser extension on your Chrome or Safari browser. (You can install Streak for free right at the top of this page!)
2. Open Gmail on your desktop browser, and open the email thread you want to share.
3. Click the link icon at the top-right of your email, in the same row as the subject line. Alternatively, click “Get link” underneath the most recent message in the thread.
4. A notification will appear at the bottom left of your screen, letting you know the link is ready. Streak automatically copies the link to your clipboard so you can paste it anywhere (even on social media platforms).

5. If you want to check that the link works and see what the thread looks like, click “Open.” The link will open in the address bar of a new browser tab. 
6. At the top of the page, you'll see the name of the person who is sharing the link. Below are all the emails in the thread, which the viewer can expand and collapse. 

7. Viewers can see the email thread until the person who shared the link revokes access or permanently deletes the email in their Gmail account. 

‍How to revoke access to any email link

The Streak Share link will be updated if any new emails arrive in this thread. All the link viewer has to do to see the updates is refresh the page. 

If the conversation becomes sensitive or someone on your team who has the link no longer works, you can immediately revoke access to your shared emails at any time. 

To revoke access to Streak Share links to your emails: 

1. Open the email in Gmail on a desktop browser. 
2. Click the link icon at the top-right of the email thread (the orange one), in the same row as the subject line.
3. Toggle off the link-sharing option.

Once you revoke access to a Streak Share link, the link will immediately become invalid everywhere it is shared.

Stream email link sharing in Gmail with Streak Share

Rather than copying and pasting email screenshots or adding dozens of people to the BCC list, use Streak Share to share real-time versions of your emails. Streak Share lets you share an email anywhere you can paste a link. 

Want to update your boss on email communications or show an email to your friends or colleagues? Try Streak for free. 

It only takes 30 seconds to get started.