How to backup Gmail emails
How to backup Gmail emails with the built-in tool: open Google Takeout, select Mail, create the export and download a ZIP with an MBOX file holding every message and attachment. Once it is on your disk, open the MBOX in your browser with the converter to verify it and save the important messages as PDF. No third-party service sees your mail at any step.
Backup Gmail emails with Google Takeout
- Sign in and open takeout.google.com.
- Click Deselect all, scroll to Mail and tick it. The button All Mail data included lets you untick Spam and Trash or limit the backup to certain labels.
- Click Next step. Choose a destination: a download link by email, or add directly to Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or Box.
- Choose Export once for a one-off backup, or Export every 2 months for 1 year for a recurring one (six exports).
- Pick .zip and a part size; 2 GB parts are easy to handle, 50 GB parts mean a single file for most accounts.
- Click Create export. Download every part when the email arrives; links expire after seven days.
Keep the ZIP or the unpacked MBOX on a drive that is not the computer you use daily: an external disk, a NAS, or a second cloud storage account. A backup in the same Google account it came from is not a backup.
Have the email as a file (EML, MSG, MBOX)? Convert it to PDF in your browser: nothing is uploaded.
What the backup contains
Inside the archive is a folder with one .mbox file per label you selected, or a single file for the whole account. MBOX is a plain-text format that stores each message exactly as it arrived, headers and all, with attachments encoded inside. Gmail adds an X-Gmail-Labels header to each message, so the label structure is recorded even though there are no folders. Read more in what is an MBOX file.
Because every original header is there, including Message-ID, the backup is good evidence that a message existed and when. Because the format is plain text and decades old, it will still be readable long after any particular program is gone. The trade-off is that no common desktop program opens it by double-click.
Check the backup and save key messages as PDF
A backup you never opened is a hope, not a backup. Drop the .mbox on SaveMail: the tool lists every message in the file in your browser tab, and clicking one renders the header block, body, inline images and attachments. Nothing is uploaded, no account is asked for, and the page works offline once it has loaded.
From there, press Save as PDF for the messages that matter (contracts, tax paperwork, anything a court or an insurer might want) and download their attachments as a ZIP. A PDF next to the MBOX gives you a readable copy without any tool, while the MBOX keeps the complete original. The converter renders one message at a time; it does not turn the whole backup into a single PDF. Files of a few hundred MB open fine; listing thousands of messages takes a few seconds.
Backup options compared
| Method | Covers | Recurring | Needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Takeout | Whole account or labels, attachments | Every 2 months for a year | Nothing installed |
| Thunderbird over IMAP | Everything, kept in sync | Continuous while open | Desktop app, IMAP enabled in Gmail Settings, Forwarding and POP/IMAP |
| Outlook desktop to PST | Everything, as a .pst | Manual export | Outlook; see Gmail to PST |
| Forwarding to a second account | New mail only | Automatic | A filter with Forward it to |
| Download message (.eml) | One message with attachments | Manual | Nothing |
| PDF via print or converter | One message or thread, readable | Manual | Nothing |
Takeout is the backup; the others fill gaps. Forwarding catches what arrives between exports, and a PDF is what you hand to someone else. Tools that promise a "Gmail backup utility" in the cloud mostly do the Takeout step for you on their servers, which is exactly the part worth keeping on your own machine. A wider comparison is in email backup software compared.
Google Workspace email backup
In a Workspace account, Takeout works the same way if the administrator has allowed it; if the option is missing, an admin can run a domain-wide data export from the Admin console, which produces the same MBOX files per user, or use Google Vault for retention and legal holds. For your own mailbox when leaving a company, ask before exporting: the data belongs to the organization, and a Takeout of a work account may be blocked or logged.
Backup email is not the same as a backup of email
Searches for "change backup email on Gmail" usually mean the recovery address, not a copy of your messages. That setting is in your Google Account under Security, Recovery email; it is where Google sends a code if you lose access. Keep it current, because losing the account is the most common way people lose their mail, and no recovery email means no way back in. A copy of the messages themselves is what the rest of this page is about; the longer view on keeping records is in the email archiving guide.
Frequently asked questions
How do I backup emails from Gmail?
Use Google Takeout: select Mail, create the export and download the ZIP. The MBOX inside holds every message with attachments. Store it off the account.
Can I back up my Gmail account for free?
Yes. Takeout is free, and the MBOX it produces can be opened in the converter for free, in your browser, with nothing uploaded.
How do I backup Google Workspace emails?
Takeout, if the admin allows it; otherwise the admin runs a data export from the Admin console. Google Vault handles retention rather than personal backups.
How do I open a Gmail backup file?
The .mbox from Takeout opens on savemail.app: drop it on the page, pick a message from the list, read it or save it as PDF.
How often should I back up Gmail?
Takeout can run every two months for a year on its own. Add a forwarding filter to a second account if you need every message in between.
How do I change the backup email on Gmail?
That is the recovery email: Google Account, Security, Recovery email. It is for account recovery, not a copy of your messages.