Google Takeout (Data Export and Backup)

Exporting and Transferring Your University Google Workspace Data

This article outlines how departing campus members can safely export or transfer their university Google Workspace data before account deactivation.

Overview

Google Takeout is a built-in tool that allows you to create a downloadable archive of your university emails and files. This is intended primarily for graduating students or departing staff who wish to retain personal copies of their data.

⚠️ Important Note: The backup process can take anywhere from several hours up to one week depending on the amount of data you have. Campus IT Support can provide these instruction sets but cannot assist in troubleshooting or recovering data after your account has been deactivated.

What You Need Before You Start

  • A valid and currently active university Google Workspace account.

  • Sufficient storage space in your destination personal Google account (if you are choosing a direct transfer).

  • Awareness that your email data will export in .MBOX format, which requires specialized mail client software (such as Mozilla Thunderbird) to open locally.

Data Backup Methods

Method 1: Download Data to a Local Archive (ZIP File)

Use this option if you want to download a hard copy of your files directly to your computer or external drive.

  1. Go to the Google Takeout Settings Page.

  2. Follow the onscreen menus to select exactly which data categories (Drive, Gmail, Photos, etc.) you wish to include.

  3. Click to initiate the archive and wait for an email notification indicating that your files are ready to download.

  4. For extra assistance on specific file types, check Google’s Official Takeout Documentation.

Method 2: Transfer Data Directly to a Personal Gmail Account

Use this option if you wish to migrate your Gmail messages, Drive files, and Google Sites data straight into another personal Google account without downloading them to your computer.

  1. Go to the Google Takeout Transfer Page.

  2. Follow the onscreen instructions to sign in and link your destination personal Google account.

  3. Start the transfer process and monitor your personal inbox for the completion confirmation.

Critical System Limitations

Before you start your export, be aware of these strict Google platform constraints:

Limitation Details
Sharing Permissions Are Lost

Google Takeout only exports files that you strictly own. All existing sharing permissions will be removed. You will need to manually re-share your folders with your collaborators in your new account.
"Shared with Me" Exclusion

Takeout ignores files owned by others, even if you use them daily. To back them up, you must right-click each file in Google Drive and choose "Add shortcut to Drive" before exporting.
Ownership Restrictions

You can only export data you own. If a coworker or student created a file inside a shared folder that you own, that specific file may still be skipped.
Frequency Limits

Google limits your export requests to 2–3 per day and a maximum of 7 per week.
7-Day Link Expiration

Once your download link is ready, it is only active for 7 days. If you miss this window, the data is wiped from the temporary Takeout server, and you must start over.
Download Exhaustion

Each download link can only be clicked 5 or 6 times. If your internet drops repeatedly, the link will become locked out.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

🛠️ Direct Transfer Fails immediately

If your account-to-account transfer fails, you likely need to open up IMAP permissions in Gmail:

  1. Open Gmail, click the gear icon, and select See all settings on both your university and personal accounts.

  2. Click the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.

  3. Under the IMAP access section, choose Enable IMAP.

  4. Under Folder size limits, select Do not limit the number of messages in an IMAP folder.

  5. Click Save Changes.

  6. Switch to the Labels tab and ensure that Show in IMAP is checked for all folders/labels you want moved.

🛠️ Export "Failed" or Timed Out

  • The Sweet Spot File Size: The default 2GB archive size creates too many individual split files. However, a 50GB file size is prone to crashing over standard Wi-Fi. Change your export file size setting to 10GB or 20GB.

  • Go Incognito: Browser extensions and ad-blockers can cause the export script to freeze. Try restarting the export in a New Incognito Window.

  • Export One Product at a Time: Instead of choosing everything all at once, run one export exclusively for your Gmail, and a completely separate export for your Google Drive.

🛠️ "Files are Missing" From the Downloaded Archive

  • Check All ZIP Parts: Google splits large data amounts into multiple parts (e.g., Part 1, Part 2). If you have 10 ZIP files, your files might be in Part 1 while their system indexing files are in Part 5. You must download and extract all parts into the exact same folder.

  • Verify Gmail Labels: Because your mail exports as a single large .MBOX file, your folders will not look like regular desktop folders. They are stored inside that single file as text "tags." You will need an MBOX client like Thunderbird to look through your sub-folders properly.

🛠️ Archive Creation Is Taking Multiple Days

  • Clean up Your Drive: If you have thousands of tiny, automated system logs or website temporary backups saved to your Drive, the Takeout crawler will move incredibly slowly. Delete temporary or unwanted items before starting.

  • Status Check: If the export status has been stuck processing for more than 7 days, the task has likely hung up on Google's backend. Cancel the active request and try again using the "One product at a time" method outlined above.

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