It is possible that after these months of teleworking and confinement, you have seen how your work and personal email account was filled with hundreds of messages until (at least in my case) you even reached the full Gmail space available. And it is that in many occasions we will not be able to simply erase to create more space.
That is why today we want to review the Google Takeout functions, which will allow us to make a backup copy of Gmail , with all the messages and attached files, with a simple, fast method , totally safe and free.
How to backup Gmail
Although it may seem strange, this process is not carried out directly from the Gmail application itself, but we will have to access the settings of our Google account , using the account linked to this account of mail on which we want to make the backup copy.
- Once here, without even having to navigate, we should see a small section in the central part called “Privacy and personalization” , with a highlighted line that reads “Manage your data and options of personalization », on which we will click.
- Scrolling down a bit in this window, we will reach the section “Download, delete or create a plan for data data” , within which we will find this first option to “Download your data”.
- Next, we will only have to select (or rather deselect, since they will all be marked by default) all the data linked to the account that we want to save, which will include all the activity and preferences of our Google account. In this case, looking only to save the emails, we will select the option «Unmark all», exclusively marking the «Email» option to create a backup copy of the messages and attachments of our account. Gmail.
- Going down to the bottom of the page, we will click on the «Next step» button to continue with the process.
- Finally, we will only have to choose the method in which we wish to receive this backup, selecting the arrow under “Delivery method” to see its options, including options such as a link to direct download, an email, or the one saved in our associated accounts of Google Drive , Dropbox, OneDrive or Box.
- Once finished, we just have to click on «Create export» .
It should be noted that this method will not only be useful for making occasional or manual backups, but also we can establish the creation of recurring automatic backups, with periods every two months and up to one year, as well as the ability to choose the type of file and the maximum file size (receiving several partitions of the same in the event that the resulting copy is larger).
In addition, in the case of wanting to make a backup copy of a company’s Gmail account, it is possible that we require that the company administrator enable the Takeout functions previously.