Many of us share a common habit of storing our crucial data on email services, making it readily available when needed. This approach offers significant convenience since it grants you access to your information according to your schedule, all without the concern of safeguarding a physical storage device. Nevertheless, it's essential to remember that problems can arise unexpectedly, underscoring the value of relying on cloud services.
If your reliance solely on email services like Gmail for all your essential emails and data has become the norm, it's high time to reassess your approach. Experts consistently advocate the practice of creating backups of your data and securely storing it for future needs. If you happen to be a Gmail user, the process of backing up all your emails, including those in the trash and spam folders, is straightforward. Alternatively, you can explore the convenience of using an automated IMAP Backup tool.
It's important to remember that you can download all of your emails from your Gmail account using IMAP and POP. One significant benefit of using Gmail as your email service is the ability to export and back up your Gmail data without the need for third-party software.
- Simply navigate to Google's data download page after logging into your Gmail account.
- Choose Gmail Labels to make your data selection for inclusion.
- Choose the "Include all your emails" option if you, as a user, wish to incorporate all of your emails into the exported MBOX file.
- Choose the "Select labels" option to tailor the data you wish to export from Gmail as an MBOX file.
- After choosing "Gmail labels," proceed by clicking on "Next," and then pick the desired file format and delivery method to generate a complete archive.
- Select the "Create Archive" option, then keep an eye out for the latest Gmail entries. Depending on the size of your mailbox, the time required to create the archive mailbox may vary. Once it's done, you'll receive a notification with the archive link's location sent to your email address.
- In the email with a link to access a .zip file, simply select Download Archive.
Following the extraction process, the exported MBOX file from Gmail will include emails in either a single file if you have selected the "include all mails" option or in multiple MBOX files if you have chosen the "Select labels" option.
Depending on your needs, you have the option to export specific messages. In fact, it's quite simple to preserve individual email conversations as PDF documents.
- Simply access the message you wish to convert into a PDF.
- Select the printer icon located at the top of the message display.
- Within the menu, choose your printer, and opt for either "Print to PDF" or "PDF printer" (Please be aware that this step may vary depending on your browser and operating system).
Therefore, executing the command will initiate a recognizable "Save" dialog box, allowing you to efficiently save the message as a PDF file on your computer.
Real-times Issues with Archive
Typically, to guarantee successful data downloads, we often restrict zip files to a maximum size of 2GB. As a result, when dealing with archives exceeding this limit, they are divided into multiple zip files. Consequently, it becomes essential for you to consider using the tgz or tbz format for your archive, as this effectively raises the size limit to 50GB. Therefore, it's crucial to be mindful of the archive file size limitation.
In addition to the above, archives have a shelf life of approximately 7 days. Beyond this period, it is advisable to generate a fresh archive containing your most up-to-date data. While each archive allows for up to 5 downloads, it is highly recommended to produce a new archive once this limit is reached. Furthermore, if any issues arise with your existing archive or if you encounter difficulties in creating one, it is prudent to generate a new archive as a troubleshooting measure to resolve any potential problems.
The .mbox file you acquire is well supported by most email clients and if you want to access MBOX file in Outlook then all that you require to do is perform MBOX to PST conversion with the help of a suitable MBOX to PST conversion software.
If your primary goal is to transfer your Gmail data to Office 365 or integrate it with MS Outlook, the optimal choice would be to employ a third-party solution like Kernel IMAP to Office 365. This advanced tool offers a range of features and functionalities, including selective data migration and the ability to skip deleted or empty folders. In essence, this software streamlines the IMAP to Office 365 migration process, allowing you to migrate your data directly to Office 365 without the complexities often associated with it.
Wrap Up
Exporting MBOX data from Gmail using manual methods can be a time-consuming and patience-testing task. Furthermore, there's no guarantee that all your data will be successfully exported. Nevertheless, it's worth considering the manual approach as an option.
