How to Export Gmail Inbox Folder to Local Drive?

Gmail is one of the most popular email services in the world and many of us rely on it for our personal and professional communication. Due to continuously using Gmail for multiple purposes, our Gmail inboxes can become cluttered with a vast collection of emails and it’s difficult to manage effectively. If you’re looking to export Gmail inbox to PC/computer/hard drive etc. this blog will be helpful for you.

How do I export my Gmail inbox? Well, there are many ways to export Gmail inbox messages to your local drive. The first thing you can do is to open a single email in Gmail inbox and download it as a .eml file on your system. Another way is you can open a single Gmail email, press Ctrl+P, and save it as a PDF file format. Therefore, with this tool users can export emails from Gmail inboxes.

Let’s move further to explore these methods in more detail. But, before that users must go through the section which explains why is it important to export Gmail inboxes.

Why Export Gmail Inbox Folder Emails?

Understand the reasons and learn how to export Gmail inbox messages as data is very important and we can’t take the risk of losing it. There are several reasons why you might want to export your Gmail inbox;

1. Data Security: It is best to save Gmail emails to a flash drive/PC/Computer etc to safeguard from various cyber threats. This will prevent you from accessing your data from unauthorized access to your Gmail inboxes.
2. Backup: Creating a backup of your emails ensures that you don’t lose important information in case of accidental deletions or account issues so it is important to download Gmail emails for offline view.
3. Migration: When switching to a new email service provider, you can export your Gmail inbox and then import it into your new account.
4. Archiving: If you want to keep a copy of your emails for legal or compliance reasons, exporting them is a way to store them securely.
5. Organization: Exporting your emails allows you to declutter your inbox and organize your messages in a more efficient manner.

Now that you understand the importance of exporting your Gmail inbox, Now, let’s explore how to do it;

Methods to Export Gmail Inbox Folder to Computer

In this section, we will explore three manual methods to export emails from Gmail inbox to Computer/PC/hard drive, etc. All the methods are relevant in their own place, we have offered different solutions so that you can choose as per your needs.

Method 1. Using “Download Message” Feature

Gmail offers a convenient way to export emails from Gmail to EML using the built-in export feature. Here’s how you can do it;

1. Log in to your Gmail account.                                                                                         
2. Open the email or select the emails you want to export.
3. Click the “More” button i.e., on three vertical dots.
4. From the dropdown menu, select the “Download Message” option.         

Once clicked, an email file will be downloaded as a .eml extension.

Note: You can only view it through a desktop-based email client application such as Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, etc.

Method 2. Using Google Takeout

Google Takeout is an in-built feature provided by Google that allows you to download data from various Google services including Gmail. Let’s explore the steps that you can use to export Gmail to MBOX file format.

1. Go to this link takeout.google.com.
2. Sign in to your Google account if you’re not already logged in.
3. Scroll down and locate the “Deselect All” button, then select “Mail” option only.
4. Click on “All Mail data included” and choose the “inbox” folder or any other of your choice.
5. Customize your export settings as per your need such as the file format (ZIP or TGZ), delivery method, and frequency.
6. Once done, click on the “Create export” button to start.

Google will start creating an archive of your chosen Gmail data. Once the archive is ready, you will receive an email notification with a download link. It may take 2-3 days depending upon the size of your Gmail data.

Once you receive the link to download Gmail emails manually; just click the link to export to your computer.

Method 3. Export Mail Inbox to Outlook

You can also export Gmail to PST using Microsoft Outlook. Go through the steps below to accomplish to correctly;

1. Open Microsoft Outlook on your computer.
2. Click on “File” and then select “Add Account.”                                                                                     
3. Enter your Gmail email address and follow the instructions to sign in and set up your Gmail account.
4. Once your Gmail account is added to Outlook, it will start syncing your Gmail emails.
5. After that, open Outlook again and go to the File tab.                                                                                             
6. Then, by using the import and export feature, download all the Gmail inbox in PST file format.     

Note: This method won’t be useful if import export is greyed out in Outlook.

Limitations of Manual Methods

• Configuring Gmail in Outlook takes many steps and is time-consuming.
• These methods are not suitable for users who aren’t tech-savvy.
• You can only export one email from the Gmail mailbox at a time.
• There is a risk of making mistakes when setting it up.
• You might not backup all your data correctly or lose some of it.
• You can only export Gmail inbox in a few formats.

How to Export Gmail Inbox Folder to PC?

1. Run the Advik Gmail Backup Tool and Sign in.
2. Choose INBOX and other folders from the list. 
3. Select your required file format from 30+ options.
4. Browse the desired destination path and press the Backup button.

Done!! In this way, you can quickly export Gmail inbox folder to PC in your required file-format.

Final Words

In the following article, we explained various approaches to export Gmail inbox to a local drive. You may have seen both manual and professional solutions, but we have found that manual approaches a quite time-consuming and demand precise execution of various steps. However, there is one approach that can overcome all the challenges of manual solutions and give you 100% safe and secure results. We strongly recommend this tool for all your Gmail backup requirements.