Google Takeout: back up your emails from Gmail

Google Takeout allows you to archive data from e.g. Gmail, Google Photos, My Maps, Google Play Books and Contacts, so you can import it into another service later, or simply store it as your own back-up.

• Go to https://takeout.google.com/;
• Click 'Deselect all' under 'Products'.

• When no products are selected, the 'Deselect all' button will change to 'Select all' and all the checkboxes will be 'off'.

• Scroll down until you see 'Mail' and tick that checkbox to select the 'Mail' product.

• When you click on ‘Àll Mail data included’, more information about ‘email’ will appear. You can then specify whether you want to include all your emails or just emails from certain labels.

• Then scroll down and click 'Next step'.

In the next step, you can choose how you want to receive the archive.

• Under ‘Destination’, you can choose where the email archive should be sent. It is set to send you a download link via email, but you can also opt to save it to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or Box.

• You can then decide whether to receive the archive all at once or parts of the archive every two months.

• Under ‘File type’, you can now specify in which format you want to archive the selected emails: as .zip or as .tgz.

• You can also set the maximum size for your email archive under 'File size'. Files larger than the selected archive size are split into multiple files.

• You can select 1, 2, 4, 10 or 50 GB for the 'File size'. Once you have selected the size you want, click 'Create export'.

• Your emails are then prepared and archived. Once they have been archived, you can manage the email archive by clicking the 'Manage Export' button.

You will receive an email with a link to download your archive after a few hours or days.