Web Clipper not playing well with Gmail anymore

[namastesandra 5]

Hi all

I have used Evernote for many years together with my Gmail account. Previously mostly through the Gmail extension, which has always been a bit clunky. More recently the Web Clipper has been working SO WELL with Gmail. I really enjoyed being able to select which email/s in the thread to save, and also the easy tagging.

However, just recently the web clipper doesn't appear to be behaving well in Gmail. It has lost the above functionality. It is now wanting to either clip my emails as article or simple articles and the formatting is lost when I open it in Evernote after clipping. I think I will need to revert back to the clunky Gmail extension.

Does anyone know what has happened to the web clipper? Why have they taken away the easy Gmail functionality for clipping?

Many thanks.

[ianfm 70]

It has been discontinued. The recent update to the web clipper has had the email functionality removed. 

This is the reply I got from tech support:

"This option is not on New Evernote Web Clipper. It is a feature request. I’ve gone ahead and made note of this for our development team. While we can’t commit to getting all feature requests into the product, we do rely on our community to tell us what they’d like to see in the future. The only feature that we have that relates to clipping using email is the send emails to Evernote feature. For more information about it, you may visit this link: Save emails into Evernote."

This is something I used many times every day and arguably must have been one of the most popular functions that users made us of for productivity. 

Sadly, Evernote is not servicing its users. An announcement that it was to be discontinued would have been helpful but removing a function and not letting anyone know is just bad customer service. 

 

[agsteele 3,055]

Most of the old web clipper add-ons/extensions can be downloaded from the browser libraries. Perhaps try rolling back and disable automatic updates?

[Ant Cooper 16]

It's not the same, but have you tried the Google Workspace Extension?

https://workspace.google.com/u/0/marketplace/app/evernote_for_google_gmail/294974410262

This does work, albeit it seems a bit slow at present. With all the recent changes to the Evernote server stack, perhaps it'd due a re-write. Hopefully it doesn't get dropped.

[namastesandra 5]

Thanks all for the responses, this is helpful.

Clipping emails is one of the most useful things about Evernote for my productivity. I can get by with the Gmail extension but the previous web clipper version was so functional for getting the emails saved and organised. What a shame!

 

[bmcl26 564]

13 hours ago, namastesandra said:

Thanks all for the responses, this is helpful.

Clipping emails is one of the most useful things about Evernote for my productivity. I can get by with the Gmail extension but the previous web clipper version was so functional for getting the emails saved and organised. What a shame!

 

When I forward them from gmail I use add !  (reminder) @ (Notebook) & # (Tag) If I need to.  Works fine.

[conguero7 3]

I strongly support the other comments asking EN to reinstate web clipper functionality for Gmail.  It was a key feature of EN, and very disappointing not to have it.

[Fritzinger 0]

The Gmail web clipper was the reason I stayed with Evernote over Notion.
Looks like I will be making the switch soon.

[jillasnyder 2]

I also rely heavily on the web clipper for gmail and don't understand why this tool would be removed. 

[ThatZod 2]

Seems that it won't matter, but I'm piling on to this as well.  The advantage of using the web clipper over simply forwarding the email to Evernote was that the content was saved, searchable, etc. in Evernote, but it also saved the URL back to the original email so I could easily hop back if I needed to reply, forward, or see other messages in the thread.

Not sure why they discontinued it as it seemed to be working quite well.

[franito 2]

I completely share your frustration regarding the recent changes to the Evernote Web Clipper's functionality with Gmail. It was indeed a game-changer for productivity, allowing us to effortlessly select and organize emails within Evernote.

The removal of this feature without prior notice is disappointing. It was an essential function for many of us, and its discontinuation feels like a step in the wrong direction. Transparency in such matters is crucial for maintaining trust among users.

I appreciate the suggestions provided by others, such as trying the Google Workspace Extension or rolling back and disabling automatic updates. These workarounds might be worth exploring while we wait for Evernote to potentially reinstate this feature.

In the meantime, it's disheartening to see such a valuable feature disappear. Let's hope Evernote takes user feedback into account and considers bringing it back in some form.

[vcavalli 1]

I began having trouble with the Gmail extension as well. Asks me to re-authorize Gmail, which I do, but when I try to save the email, the re-authorize prompt comes up again. So disruptive to my workflow. I have subscribed to Evernote for years, but they're just wearing me down with all the constant bugs and quirks. Sigh.

[simonhayes 3]

This is really frustrating.   Evernote removes a critical piece of functionality to my ( and many others) workflow with no explanation or warning. The ability to selectively clip mails, add tasks, identify the notebook etc. is key to my use of EN. 

The Workspace extension is worthless IMHO, is really slow, and then just doesn't work - keeps asking me to log in again.    Forwarding emails is a pain if you have as many notebooks as me and don't provide the link back to the original.   The only thing we can do is clip the mail as an article which doesn't allow the selection of threads and is unreliable.

Come on Evernote - this is a really bad way to treat your customers.

 

 

[Kevin Legates 2]

Noticed the lost functionality as well. Agree, web clipper past functionality was  increasingly good and that notice of discontinuation of functionality from Evernote would have been appreciated. If others are like me, precious time is spent confirming issues are not user caused before checking forum.  I am here looking for potential reasons that the gmail addon is not staying authorized. 

[Paul A. 673]

There's also a thread in the Mac Issues forum on this topic, but this is a cross-desktop-platform issue so perhaps better here. I followed up again with support on this issue today; let's see if there's been any progress. Fingers crossed.

[esierka 6]

I cannot believe they removed this function without warning either.  Did anyone on their product development team actually try  using the alternative.  It's way way way slower and a total workflow killer.  I probably used this function 50-100 times/week and now its so slow using the new tool that its not practical to use in the same way.  It's one thing to not put out new features as fast as some might like, its another thing to take away a key functionality without warning.  How about "Do no harm" as a starting point.  Jeez this is frustrating.

Evernote - PLEASE bring this back immediately... PLEASE!!!

 

[EricBen 30]

I agree 100% with everyone on this thread. It was an essential part of Evernote Clipper for me. 

The Gmail extension isn't as good - it's slow, and it's very difficult to syphon emails into specific notebooks (since I have so many notebooks). It also sometimes doesn't include attachments.

Evernote (is there anyone there still working on this product?) - please reinstate this!

[agsteele 3,055]

46 minutes ago, EricBen said:

Evernote (is there anyone there still working on this product?) - please reinstate this!

I'm not sure why you'd think that there isn't anyone working on the web clipper.  It is updated from time to time - my version was last updated on 24 June 2023.

However, there is no guarantee that anyone from Evernote will review posts in this thread.  You should submit a support ticket or feedback@evernote.com to be sure that your comments are noted.

I'll add that the clip as Article produces an exact copy of the Email from my Gmail account. I'm actually not sure what is supposedly missing.

[EricBen 30]

18 minutes ago, agsteele said:

I'm not sure why you'd think that there isn't anyone working on the web clipper.  It is updated from time to time - my version was last updated on 24 June 2023.

However, there is no guarantee that anyone from Evernote will review posts in this thread.  You should submit a support ticket or feedback@evernote.com to be sure that your comments are noted.

I'll add that the clip as Article produces an exact copy of the Email from my Gmail account. I'm actually not sure what is supposedly missing.

Sounds good - I will email feedback@evernote.com.

Clip As Article definitely doesn't work. When I'm in Gmail, the entire screen goes gray. If I click 'Save Clip' with Article selected, it clips a completely different email (the one I previously used the Gmail extension for), and the attachment (a PDF) isn't included at all.  

[agsteele 3,055]

14 minutes ago, EricBen said:

Clip As Article definitely doesn't work. When I'm in Gmail, the entire screen goes gray. If I click 'Save Clip' with Article selected, it clips a completely different email (the one I previously used the Gmail extension for), and the attachment (a PDF) isn't included at all.  

That's strange.  I open the Email in Gmail. Click the Evernote Web Clipper and choose clip as Article. Perform the clip and a moment or two later the correct Email appears in Evernote looking identical to what was on screen in the browser minsue the Gmail menus.

I have web clipper 7.33.1.558
Firefox 118.0.2

I checked in Chrome browser with the same result.

I just created a test Email and clipped. This is how it looks in my Evernote account

[simonhayes 3]

The clip as an article functionality works about 60% of the time, depending on the email's formatting, how long the thread is, etc.  On long threads or complex formating with inline pictures etc, it does not work and, unlike the old save as-email thread capability, you cannot select the specific emails in the thread you want to save.   Whether or not any attachment is saved also varies.    

In short - the save as an article from the clipper is better than nothing, but it is inconsistent and does not have the functionality of the old Gmail web clipper.  It is extremely annoying that EN decided to ditch that functionality without any discussion or explanation. 

[esierka 6]

I could not have said it better than simonhayes!  What simonhayes said is factually 100% correct.  I too am scratching my head on why they removed this feature.  Does anyone know where/how to download and install an older version of the clipper that still has this functionality?

[agsteele 3,055]

With Firefox older versions are available via the add-on repository. I've no idea if there is such a thing for other browsers.

[Paul A. 673]

6 hours ago, agsteele said:

I'll add that the clip as Article produces an exact copy of the Email from my Gmail account. I'm actually not sure what is supposedly missing.

As stated above, this only seems to work for individual emails, not for long email threads, which is where the web clipper really shines. Out of a long thread the clipper would allow me to choose the specific emails that are important to save and save them all in one go.

[esierka 6]

49 minutes ago, Paul A. said:

As stated above, this only seems to work for individual emails, not for long email threads, which is where the web clipper really shines. Out of a long thread the clipper would allow me to choose the specific emails that are important to save and save them all in one go.

Yes.  Thank you Paul A.  That is correct.  The email clipper also did a very clean job of formatting the text for easy viewing within Evernote as well as providing a link back to the original email.

[Michelle F. 6]

I share the frustration of others as a power Evernote user - the Gmail functionality in web clipper was one of my most-used functions, and the alternatives are terribly subpar.

I've also been disappointed in Evernote's lack of engagement from customer support on this topic. I've emailed multiple follow ups to my original email asking for, at minimum, confirmation that the feature was intentionally removed from the product and wouldn't be coming back soon. When I follow up, I receive a holding response saying that my email is being reviewed and someone will get back to me. I've asked for it to be escalated. It's been two months now. I appreciate others sharing the responses they've received from customer support on this thread--finally, some answers.

 

 

[bmcl26 564]

On 10/23/2023 at 2:38 PM, agsteele said:

That's strange.  I open the Email in Gmail. Click the Evernote Web Clipper and choose clip as Article. Perform the clip and a moment or two later the correct Email appears in Evernote looking identical to what was on screen in the browser minsue the Gmail menus.

I have web clipper 7.33.1.558
Firefox 118.0.2

I checked in Chrome browser with the same result.

I just created a test Email and clipped. This is how it looks in my Evernote account

Web Clipper working fine for me as well in Gmail

[Paul A. 673]

52 minutes ago, bmcl26 said:

Web Clipper working fine for me as well in Gmail

Does it give you an option specifically for emails? What happens if you use it in a long thread, does it allow you to select individual emails within the thread to save? All that functionality is missing since the summer. Also, I note the web clipper (at least in the Chrome store) hasn't been updated since the summer.

[esierka 6]

2 hours ago, Paul A. said:

Does it give you an option specifically for emails? What happens if you use it in a long thread, does it allow you to select individual emails within the thread to save? All that functionality is missing since the summer. Also, I note the web clipper (at least in the Chrome store) hasn't been updated since the summer.

This is the issue.  You can still use the web clipper in gmail technically speaking but the functionality listed above disappeared so the formatting is terrible in Evernote  and it's usefulness is close to zero.  I also agree Evernote has been radio silent on this, not acknowledging that this change was made, much less provide any explanation for it which is very frustrating.  I pay for the premium plan and this is supposed to include quality support - so far they have missed the target on this very badly.

[bmcl26 564]

4 hours ago, Paul A. said:

Does it give you an option specifically for emails? What happens if you use it in a long thread, does it allow you to select individual emails within the thread to save? All that functionality is missing since the summer. Also, I note the web clipper (at least in the Chrome store) hasn't been updated since the summer.

I have no clue as I do not use threads in my email,  I only have individual emails.

[Paul A. 673]

15 hours ago, bmcl26 said:

I have no clue as I do not use threads in my email,  I only have individual emails.

Those were rhetorical questions. Clearly it does not work, as evidenced by the long thread above with multiple people reporting the same issues.

Respectfully, it's not very helpful to have people chiming into threads saying 'it works for me" without making any effort to understand the nuances or be empathetic to the issues that people are experiencing.

 

[bmcl26 564]

2 hours ago, Paul A. said:

Those were rhetorical questions. Clearly it does not work, as evidenced by the long thread above with multiple people reporting the same issues.

Respectfully, it's not very helpful to have people chiming into threads saying 'it works for me" without making any effort to understand the nuances or be empathetic to the issues that people are experiencing.

 

All I can add is that I have no problem with it. I accept that this may not be the case with your experience.

[Paul A. 673]

Happy to report that extension 7.35.0, which was released today for Chrome, has restored the email clipping option!

I did a couple of test clips and it seems to work well enough. This is a much smoother and faster option than using the Gmail extension, except for one thing: the clipper puts pdf attachments inside the HTML container without the usual PDF features, instead of attaching them outside the HTML container where they can be displayed like any other PDF inside Evernote.

This feature would be "perfect" if it put PDF attachments outside the HTML container, so that PDFs would be displayed normally.

[Michelle F. 6]

This is such good news! Thank you for sharing. Also, thanks for the note re: attachments.

[esierka 6]

I just noticed this today and this is AWESOME!!!!  I feel like I have my good friend back! :-)...  Thank you Evernote... please do not take it away again.

[EricBen 30]

17 hours ago, Paul A. said:

Happy to report that extension 7.35.0, which was released today for Chrome, has restored the email clipping option!

I did a couple of test clips and it seems to work well enough. This is a much smoother and faster option than using the Gmail extension, except for one thing: the clipper puts pdf attachments inside the HTML container without the usual PDF features, instead of attaching them outside the HTML container where they can be displayed like any other PDF inside Evernote.

This feature would be "perfect" if it put PDF attachments outside the HTML container, so that PDFs would be displayed normally.

I agree - this was so needed, and so appreciated!  Thank you Evernote.

Regarding handling of PDFs, this is the same thing that was happening before it was removed. You can still flatten the email in Evernote, and then the PDFs and attachments are handled well.  

[Kenneth C 0]

Yes! Thank you Evernote for bringing the email clipping option back!!

[esierka 6]

It seems that in the past few days the ability to do Gmail email clipping is again gone.  Not sure if Evernote is just making fixes to it or what but it is so frustrating when they keep pulling this important functionality without warning or communication about it coming back.

Does anyone know of any update related to this?

[simonhayes 3]

I noticed that, too - the email  feature seemed to disappear 

I am using Version: 7.35.0.1d54e7c

Very strange

[Michelle F. 6]

I noticed this as well :(

[kkarasu 7]

I wonder if the revert has to do with the following: For me (maybe others, too), the web clipper causes a bug in Gmail in that everytime after clipping an email, I receive an error in Gmail saying "oops... the system encountered a problem (#2014)" and any subsequent actions such as labeling or archiving emails don't work. I am pretty sure I was able to isolate the problem by deactivating the web clipper in Chrome. Provided feedback to Evernote and waiting for a solution. 

[bmcl26 564]

Working for me but painfully slow, I tend to just directly email them into EN.

[Michelle F. 6]

On 4/10/2024 at 4:29 AM, kkarasu said:

I wonder if the revert has to do with the following: For me (maybe others, too), the web clipper causes a bug in Gmail in that everytime after clipping an email, I receive an error in Gmail saying "oops... the system encountered a problem (#2014)" and any subsequent actions such as labeling or archiving emails don't work. I am pretty sure I was able to isolate the problem by deactivating the web clipper in Chrome. Provided feedback to Evernote and waiting for a solution. 

That's  interesting. I had been consistently receiving the same Gmail error, starting a couple weeks ago. Yesterday I uninstalled the Web Clipper extension from Chrome and haven't received the error message since. 

I'll submit this as feedback to Evernote as well. Hopefully they can fix the problem.

[HRC 4]

Today I used the Evernote Web clipper and as far as I can tell it caused the loss of a couple emails that I sent.  They are nowhere to be found in the Gmail Sent folder, or Drafts.    At some point the Gmail error message came up. The Evernote web clipper was like a time bomb waiting to happen.

Lost important data.
Lost time.   

If the messages did send, now there more lost time having to resend another email apologizing for the resend, trying to remember what I said before so as to not cause confusion. 

*sigh* 

Initially thought it was Gmail.  Then experimented and uninstalled/reinstalled the web clipper. And reproduced the gmail error after using web clipper.

So very frustrating.   Now uninstaling the web clipper and going back to cut and paste.   How long has the web clipper had problems? Years?

Please fix once and for all.  Or perhaps recommend a more reliable third party app we can replace it with as a go between Gmail and evernote.   Thanks. 

[Paul A. 673]

Web clipper for Chrome hasn't been updated since March and still causing problems with Gmail. Come on Evernote, fix your stuff please...

[Michelle F. 6]

I 100% agree. I'm frequently having to uninstall and reinstall Web Clipper from Chrome because it breaks Gmail, often once or twice weekly.

[AdrianHalid 28]

Is web clipper for Gmail back?

Web Clipper used to have an email option in its list.

But now it defaults to "Article" and doesn't work like it used to.