If you use Gmail as your default email client then you definitely need to backup Gmail emails.

Why?

It is because Gmail is one of the widely used web-based free email client which is used to store everything. We all basically use Gmail for emailing others and storing our important files so that we can access them anytime. Also, we connect our Gmail account to multiple social media accounts and our android devices. Have you ever thought about what will happen if somebody hacks your Gmail account? You will not only lose your private information like personal photos, bank statements, personal emails, contacts, etc. But also your important documents and business files. Losing all those important data stored in your Google account could lead to a disaster. Proper means need to be taken as a backup copy.

This blog will guide you with the method of how to backup Gmail emails and what measures need to be taken to secure the Gmail account.

What are the Measures to Secure Your Gmail Account?

There is an old saying “Prevention is better than Cure”. It’s better to protect your Gmail account with multi-level security so that no one can access your Gmail account. Google suggests it’s users to perform the following steps to increase security:

1. Use strong password
2. Provide recovery phone number and email address
3. Enable two-step Authentication

Important Note: What will happen If you lost your mobile or don’t have your mobile available at the time of login into a new device. You cannot access your data at that time. It’s always recommended to have a backup option. This can be done by backup Gmail emails to your local computer

How Backing Up Gmail Emails Helps You?

It never hurts to have a backup copy of your data. Taking backup occasionally can help you in various ways such as:

1. In case you don’t have an internet connection
2. Use Gmail emails in other email clients
3. Easy to share Google account data with others
4. In case you lost your Gmail account password

What are the Methods of Backup Gmail Emails?

There are generally two ways to take a backup of Gmail emails:

1. Using the Google Takeout Method
2. Using Professional Tool to backup Gmail emails

We will explain both the methods to take a backup of Gmail account data and the advantages of both the methods. Let’s see.

How To Use Google Takeout to Backup Gmail Emails

Google Takeout is one of the known methods to save Gmail account data. As it is free and easy to use. This method was developed by Google for it’s used so that they can back up their Gmail account data on their local computer also. The working of this method is quite simple. You just need to login to Google takeout and backup your complete Gmail account.

Following are the steps to save Gmail account data using Google Takeout

  1. Go to takeout.google.com and login with your Gmail account credentials
  2. Unselect all the selected items and then select the Google account data that you need to backup
  3. Choose the file type of archive (Zip is recommended) and archive size
  4. Click on the start button. It will take some hours or possibly days to create the archive.
  5. After the archive is created, download it your desktop

Note: The archive contains two types, The first archive contains all the Google apps data except mails and another contains all Gmail emails in MBOX format.

Advantages of Google Takeout Method

  • Take Backup of Gmail emails in MBOX format
  • This method is Fast & Simple to use

Disadvantages of Google Takeout Method

  • The is created only in MBOX format
  • Cannot filter the data according to Date
  • Backup process takes a lot of time
  • Cannot backup in Outlook PST other email client supported formats
  • Need to personally delete important or unimportant data after taking backup.
  • No filter option to backup only selective Gmail mailbox
  • No incremental backup; i.e, if you take back up again in future, it will create a backup of complete Google account again

“Hello, I am Nitish Sachdeva. I want to take a backup of my Gmail emails in Outlook PST format. But Google Takeout doesn’t allow it. I know we can use tools available in the market to convert Google takeout generated MBOX file into Outlook PST but I prefer a direct solution to backup Gmail emails in PST format. Please suggest me any direct method or tool to perform this task. Thanks!!”

Best Alternative of Google Takeout to Backup Gmail Emails to PST

Yes, there are multiple tools like the MBOX to PST converter that can help you in the conversion process. But, if you like to directly backup your Gmail emails into PST, EML, MSG, MBOX formats then it is recommended to use Gmail backup Tool. This software is created by the professional organization for the ease of the user. These professional tools are far flexible and user-friendly. They also provide a wide range of features and conversion options than traditional methods.

Advance Features of Professional Tools

  • Backup Gmail emails to PST, EML, MSG and MBOX file formats
  • Category filter such as Emails, Contacts, Calendars, Documents
  • Date Filter to backup Google account data between the certain date range
  • Folder filter option to backup only selective Gmail mailbox
  • Delete After download option to free up Gmail server space
  • Incremental backup option to take a backup of new or updated data
  • Download backup to the desired destination location
  • Software is available in multiple languages

Disadvantages of Professional Tool

  • The only disadvantage of the professional tool is they are Paid. Only the demo version of the tool is available for free.

Note: Free Demo version of the backup tool allows you to backup 100 emails and 25 other items each type (contacts, calendars, documents)

Steps to backup Gmail Emails to PST

1. First, Download and Launch Backup tool for Gmail

2. Enter the Gmail Credentials for login

3. Select the Category of data that need to be backup & Email format “PST”

backup gmail emails to PST

4. Apply the required filter option and browse destination location for backup

5. Finally, click on the Start button to begin the backup.

start backup

Note: Taking backup using a professional tool is recommended by Google Experts. As they are a safe and fast method to backup Gmail emails in multiple file formats.

Conclusion

This blog will guide you on how to backup Gmail emails. If you wish to take backup for free then use Google takeout otherwise use a professional tool for ease backup process. Both methods are 100% working. We have explained the advantages and disadvantages of both methods. You can now decide for yourself which method suits your needs. If you wish to quickly backup Gmail emails to PST and other file formats then it is recommended to use backup tools.