How to Track Support Tickets from Gmail to Google Sheets with N8n

Workflows > New > + > Gmail > Trigger

Create new workflow

Set up a new N8n workflow that will poll your shared Gmail inbox for support emails. This becomes your ticket ingestion system.

1. 1Click 'New Workflow' from the N8n dashboard
2. 2Click the '+' icon to add your first node
3. 3Select 'Gmail' from the apps list
4. 4Choose 'Gmail Trigger' as your starting node

Node Settings > Credentials > Gmail OAuth2

Connect Gmail account

Authenticate with your shared support Gmail account. N8n needs permission to read emails from your support inbox.

1. 1Click 'Create New' under Gmail Credentials
2. 2Select 'OAuth2 API' as the credential type
3. 3Click 'Sign in with Google' and authenticate
4. 4Grant permissions for Gmail read access

Gmail Node > Parameters > Query

Configure email filters

Set up filters to only capture emails sent to your support address or containing support keywords. This prevents personal emails from becoming tickets.

1. 1Set 'Format' to 'Simple' in the Gmail trigger
2. 2Enter your support email in the 'Query' field like 'to:[email protected]'
3. 3Set 'Max Results' to 50
4. 4Enable 'Mark as Read' to prevent re-processing

Gmail Node > + > Google Sheets > Append

Add Google Sheets node

Connect the spreadsheet where tickets will be logged. This sheet becomes your ticket dashboard with columns for status tracking.

1. 1Click '+' after the Gmail node
2. 2Select 'Google Sheets' from the apps list
3. 3Choose 'Append' as the operation
4. 4Connect your Google account credentials

Google Sheets Node > Parameters > Document

Select target spreadsheet

Choose the specific Google Sheet where tickets will be logged. Create one first if it doesn't exist.

1. 1Click 'By URL' under Document
2. 2Paste your Google Sheets URL
3. 3Select the worksheet tab name (usually 'Sheet1')
4. 4Set 'Value Input Option' to 'Raw'

Google Sheets Node > Parameters > Columns

Map email fields to columns

Configure which email data goes into which spreadsheet columns. This creates structured ticket records from raw email data.

1. 1Click 'Add Column' to create field mappings
2. 2Map 'Date' to '{{ $json.date }}'
3. 3Map 'From' to '{{ $json.from.value[0].address }}'
4. 4Map 'Subject' to '{{ $json.subject }}'
5. 5Map 'Body' to '{{ $json.textPlain }}'
6. 6Add 'Status' column with default value 'New'
7. 7Add 'Assigned To' column with empty default

Gmail Node > + > Set > ticket_id

Add ticket ID generation

Create unique ticket IDs for each support email. This helps reference specific tickets when updating status.

1. 1Click '+' between Gmail and Sheets nodes
2. 2Add 'Set' node from the Data section
3. 3Add new field called 'ticket_id'
4. 4Set value to 'TK-{{ new Date().getTime() }}'
5. 5Update Sheets mapping to include ticket_id column

Gmail Trigger > Settings > Poll Times

Configure polling schedule

Set how often N8n checks for new support emails. Balance responsiveness with API limits.

1. 1Click on the Gmail trigger node
2. 2Set 'Poll Times' to 'Every 5 minutes'
3. 3Enable 'Always Output Data' to false
4. 4Set 'Trigger On' to 'Specific Times'

Workflow Canvas > Execute Workflow

Test the workflow

Run a test execution to verify emails are properly formatted as ticket rows in your spreadsheet.

1. 1Click 'Execute Workflow' button
2. 2Send a test email to your support address
3. 3Wait 5-10 minutes for polling cycle
4. 4Check execution history for successful runs
5. 5Verify test ticket appears in Google Sheets

Workflow Canvas > Active Toggle

Activate workflow

Turn on automatic execution so new support emails continuously create tickets in your sheet.

1. 1Click the 'Inactive' toggle in the top right
2. 2Confirm activation in the dialog box
3. 3Verify status shows 'Active' with green indicator
4. 4Save the workflow with a descriptive name

Drop this into an n8n Code node.

// Add this JavaScript in a Function node to extract phone numbers from email body
const text = $input.first().json.textPlain;
const phoneRegex = /(?:\+1[-.\s]?)?\(?([0-9]{3})\)?[-.\s]?([0-9]{3})[-.\s]?([0-9]{4})/;

// Add this JavaScript in a Function node to extract phone numbers from email body
const text = $input.first().json.textPlain;
const phoneRegex = /(?:\+1[-.\s]?)?\(?([0-9]{3})\)?[-.\s]?([0-9]{3})[-.\s]?([0-9]{4})/;
const phone = text.match(phoneRegex);
return { phone: phone ? phone[0] : null };