Save Gmail Emails Locally: Export and Download to Your Computer

Export and Download Gmail Email to Your Computer Using Google TakeoutBacking up your Gmail to your computer is a smart step for privacy, storage management, or preserving important records. Google Takeout offers a straightforward, official way to export your Gmail data as downloadable archives. This guide walks you through what Google Takeout does, when to use it, step-by-step instructions, file formats you’ll get, how to import or view the exported emails on your computer, and best practices for storage and security.

What is Google Takeout and why use it?

Google Takeout is Google’s service for exporting data from many Google products into downloadable archive files. For Gmail, Takeout packages your messages into the standard MBOX format, which is widely supported by email clients and tools. Use Google Takeout when you want:

• a full backup of all (or selected) Gmail messages,
• an offline archive for legal/record-keeping purposes,
• to migrate messages to another service or local email client,
• to free up account data while keeping a copy.

Key fact: Google Takeout exports Gmail into MBOX files.

Before you start — preparations and considerations

• Decide whether you want to export all mail or only selected labels. Takeout can include all messages or only those with particular labels.
• Consider archive size: large accounts produce large MBOX files. Ensure you have enough local disk space and a stable internet connection.
• If you plan to import into an email client (Thunderbird, Apple Mail, etc.), check that the client supports MBOX or find a converter.
• Exports may take time. Google prepares archives asynchronously and will notify you when the export is ready.

Step-by-step: Export Gmail using Google Takeout

1. Sign in to the Google account that owns the Gmail you want to export.
2. Open Google Takeout: https://takeout.google.com
3. Deselect all products (click “Deselect all”) to avoid exporting unnecessary data.
4. Scroll down and find “Mail” (Gmail) in the product list. Check the box next to Mail.
   • Click the “All Mail data included” button if you want to customize. Here you can:
     • Export all mail.
     • Choose specific labels to include (recommended if you only need certain folders).
5. Click “Next step” at the bottom of the page.
6. Choose delivery method:
   • Send download link via email (default).
   • Add to Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive.
   • (If you choose cloud destination, files go there instead of a direct download link.)
7. Choose export frequency:
   • Export once (one-time archive).
   • Schedule exports every 2 months for a year (if you want recurring backups).
8. Choose file type & size:
   • Archive format: .zip or .tgz.
   • Archive size: common options are 2 GB, 10 GB, 50 GB, etc. Files larger than the chosen size are split into multiple archives.
9. Click “Create export.” Google will begin preparing your export.
10. Wait for the export to finish. Google will email you a download link when ready. Time varies from minutes to hours or longer depending on size.
11. Use the download link to get the archive to your computer. Save it to a secure location.

What the export contains and file formats

• Gmail messages are exported in MBOX format, a single file (or multiple, if split) containing email messages concatenated together.
• Attachments are included inside the MBOX; they’re encoded within each message.
• If you chose other Google products in the same export, they’ll be included in their respective formats (e.g., Drive files, Contacts vCard).

Key fact: The actual email data is stored in MBOX files inside the archive.

How to open and view the exported MBOX on your computer

Options for accessing emails from the MBOX file:

• Thunderbird (free, cross-platform)
  • Create a profile or use your existing profile.
  • Install the “ImportExportTools NG” add-on.
  • Use the add-on to import the MBOX file (Import > Import mbox file).
• Apple Mail (macOS)
  • File > Import Mailboxes > Files in mbox format.
• Microsoft Outlook
  • Outlook does not natively import MBOX. Convert MBOX to PST using third-party converters (several commercial and free tools exist). Validate converter before use.
• MBOX viewers and utilities
  • Several standalone viewers let you open MBOX files without importing into an email client.
• Command-line and script options
  • Use tools like python-mailbox (Python’s mailbox module) to parse MBOX and extract messages or attachments.

Example (Python snippet to read an MBOX):

import mailbox mbox = mailbox.mbox('path/to/your_mail.mbox') for message in mbox:     print(message['subject']) 

Importing into another Gmail or email service

• To move messages into another Gmail account, import the MBOX into a desktop client (like Thunderbird), connect the destination Gmail account via IMAP, and drag messages from the local folder to the destination inbox/labels. This re-uploads messages to the other account.
• Some migration tools/services can directly import MBOX into other email services.

Security and storage best practices

• Store archives on encrypted drives or inside encrypted containers (e.g., VeraCrypt, BitLocker, FileVault).
• If sharing archives (for legal or transfer reasons), use secure file transfer (SFTP, encrypted cloud links, password-protected archives).
• Keep multiple backups (local + offline/cloud) and periodically refresh exports if you need up-to-date archives.

Troubleshooting common issues

• Export taking too long: Google processes large exports in the background — wait or reduce the amount of data by choosing labels.
• Download link expired: Re-create an export if the link expires.
• Corrupt MBOX or import failures: Try alternative MBOX viewers or re-download. If split archives exist, ensure you extract all parts before importing.

Quick checklist before you export

• Enough disk space on your computer.
• Decide which labels to include.
• Choose archive size and format.
• Plan how you’ll open/import MBOX (Thunderbird recommended).
• Secure the downloaded archive.

Exporting Gmail with Google Takeout gives you a reliable, Google-supported way to preserve your email in the standard MBOX format. It’s ideal for backups, migrations, and long-term archiving — just pick the labels you need, choose the right archive options, and import the MBOX into your preferred reader or mail client.