Guide

How to export your emails from Gmail

A backup you keep on your own computer, or your whole mailbox moved somewhere new and kept in use. Two different jobs, two different tools.

Updated October 2026

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Short answer

For a backup, use Google Takeout: tick Mail, choose how to receive it, and Google sends a download of all your Gmail, usually the same day. To move your mail and keep using it, add Gmail to Apple Mail or Thunderbird with "Sign in with Google", and drag the folders into the new mailbox. Neither one deletes anything from Gmail.

How do I download all my Gmail emails?

Google Takeout is Google's own download tool, and it saves everything in one go. Five steps.

  1. 1

    Open Google Takeout

    Go to takeout.google.com, signed in to the Gmail account you want to save. Google ticks every product you use by default.

  2. 2

    Keep only Mail

    Untick everything you don't need, so the archive holds just your email. Leave Calendar or Contacts ticked if you want those too.

  3. 3

    Choose where it goes

    Google can email you a download link, or put the archive in Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or Box.

  4. 4

    Pick the file type and size

    Zip is the one every computer opens. If the archive is bigger than the size you pick, Google splits it into several files. Picking 50 GB makes a split less likely.

  5. 5

    Wait for the email, then download

    It takes from a few minutes to a few days, and most people get the link the same day. Download it within about 7 days. Each archive can be downloaded 5 times before you need a new one.

The details come from Google's own pages: How to download your Google data and Export your data from Gmail.

What's in the download

Every message with its attachments, the labels on each one, and your settings, like your signature, filters and blocked addresses. Downloading doesn't remove anything from Gmail.

One catch. Google keeps your labels inside each message, in a way that Google itself says no current mail app recognizes. Open the archive in a mail app and your labels don't show up as folders. That makes Takeout a good backup and an awkward way to move.

Leaving Gmail? Take your mail with you

To keep using the mail somewhere new, copy it with a mail app instead. It's the same method that works for moving mail between any two accounts.

  • Add Gmail to Apple Mail or Thunderbird on your computer. Choose "Sign in with Google" when it asks. Google says mail apps are always allowed in, so there's nothing to switch on first.
  • Let it download everything. A large mailbox takes a while.
  • Add the new mailbox to the same app, and drag the folders across.
  • Compare the counts. If a folder looks short, open Gmail's settings, See all settings, Forwarding and POP/IMAP, and check that "Folder size limits" isn't capping how many messages a mail app sees.

Run Takeout as well, before you start. Then you have a backup whatever happens during the move.

Leaving Google Workspace or free G Suite

A family on Workspace or the old free G Suite has one account per person, so each person's mail needs its own Takeout and its own copy. Google notes that some data may not be available to download from work or school accounts, and on Workspace the admin may have to turn Takeout on first. On free G Suite? Here's the whole move, step by step. Paying for Workspace and wondering about the alternatives? See what it costs a family of six.

How much mail fits in the new mailbox

Gmail mail is often years of photos and attachments. Each of our mailboxes holds 5 GB, so with a very large account, bring the recent years across and keep the Takeout archive for the rest.

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