how to send all gmail drafts using c# or python

Question

I always use gmail to save web clips or notes. I simply create a new mail, edit it and save as draft. Over 2 years I've dumped 1000+ messages in my Gmail draft folder. I want to programmatically send all of them to myself. I did some research, and now I'm able to use python or c# to load my gmail inbox messages via IMAP, or create a mail and send it via SMTP. However I'm still not able to read draft messages and send them to myself.

(Why am I using GMail as note storage instead of note apps such as evernote, MS onenote, or Apple notes? Because email is better supported across any platforms or devices. There are usually pre-installed email clients, and it's easier to find or define a "create new mail" keyboard shortcut than an "export to evernote" keyboard shortcut.)

Why exactly do you need to send them to yourself? Don't you already have access to them? — wflynny
3 reasons: 1. it's easier to view. draft messages by default opens in a small text box. 2. it's easier to manage. it's growing large, and i don't want some real draft email mixed with my notes. 3. draft messages are editable, so they can be deleted by mistake. e.g., once i mistakenly pressed cut instead of copy, and then the empty message got auto-saved... — GoCurry
Open the Drafts folder [Gmail]/Drafts, fetch the the entire body of every email, and send them to yourself via SMTP. Possibly adjust From and To lines of header as needed. — Max

jstedfast jstedfast · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-17T22:26:49

If you use MailKit, here's how you would do it:

using System;
using System.Net;
using System.Threading;

using MailKit.Net.Imap;
using MailKit.Net.Smtp;
using MailKit;
using MimeKit;

namespace TestClient {
    class Program
    {
        public static void Main (string[] args)
        {
            using (var client = new ImapClient ()) {
                var credentials = new NetworkCredential ("jimbo", "password");

                client.Connect (new Uri ("imaps://imap.gmail.com"), CancellationToken.None);
                client.Authenticate (credentials, CancellationToken.None);

                var folder = client.GetFolder (SpecialFolder.Drafts);
                folder.Open (FolderAccess.ReadWrite, CancellationToken.None);

                using (var smtp = new SmtpClient ()) {
                    smtp.Connect (new Uri ("smtps://smtp.gmail.com"), CancellationToken.None);
                    smtp.Authenticate (credentials, CancellationToken.None);

                    var indexes = new int[folder.Count];
                    for (int i = 0; i < folder.Count; i++) {
                        var message = folder.GetMessage (i, CancellationToken.None);

                        // if you haven't already specified a recipient, do it now:
                        message.To.Add (new MailboxAddress ("Jimbo", "[email protected]"));

                        smtp.Send (message, CancellationToken.None);
                        indexes[i] = i;
                    }

                    // if you also want to delete the messages on the IMAP server:
                    folder.AddFlags (indexes, MessageFlags.Deleted, true, CancellationToken.None);
                    folder.Close (true, CancellationToken.None);

                    smtp.Disconnect (true, cancellationToken.None);
                }

                client.Disconnect (true, cancellationToken.None);
            }
        }
    }
}

how to send all gmail drafts using c# or python

1 Answers