You may change jobs, or you may have decided to stop using a specific email account, or you may want a copy of your entire email address just in case. Regardless of your reasons, it’s not a bad idea to back up and export your Gmail and other Google accounts using Google’s takeout feature. In fact, you can set up your accounts to be backed up regularly. This is generally a good practice.
A note: When you secure a company account, you may find that your company has disabled takeout. There are third-party apps that state that they can secure Gmail. However, you should review your company's policies before trying them out.
How to secure Gmail:
- Go to myaccount.google.com
- Under Privacy and Personalization, click "Manage Data and Personalization."
- Scroll down to "Download, delete, or schedule your data." Click on "Download data".
- This will take you to the Google Takeout page. Check the box next to Gmail and any other apps you want to back up. (Note that some services have buttons labeled "Multiple Formats." Click this button to choose the format in which you want your data to be downloaded.) Then click "Next Step".
- To decide how you'd like to receive your data, click the arrow under "Delivery Method" to view your options, including emailing a download link or adding it to your drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive.
- You can also choose to export only once or every two months (up to a year), and you can choose the file type and maximum file size. (If the file size is larger than your maximum, it will be divided into several flies.) After you have made your selection, click on "Create export".
- Your export will start. Be ready to wait; It may take days for the process to complete. You can also click Cancel Export or Create Another Export.
