How to Backup G Suite Emails – Fast & Complete Tutorial
Overview- Do you want to backup Google Workspace (G Suite) emails urgently? Here you have stumbled across the right post. In this article, we will learn the best method of how you can backup G Suite emails. Here we will share and explain the top solutions that will be best for your backup process. It covers manual as well as professional solutions which are recommended by thousands of technical professionals. So let’s get started with the blog and see how to eradicate the issue.
The following post will discuss the entire process to backup G Suite data including emails, contacts, calendars, and documents locally. The topics covered are as follows:
Table of Content
- Reasons to Export G Suite Data
- 3 Quick Ways for Google Workspace (G Suite) Backup
- Backup G Suite Mail via Google Data Export Tool
- Prerequisites for using the Data Export Tool
- Backup Google Workspace Emails Manually
- Backup G Suite Emails Using IMAP Configuration with an Email Client
- Google Workspace Email Backup using Outlook
- Shortcomings of Manual method
- Pro Tip for Google Workspace Email Backup
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Conclusing Thoughts
Google ended 2018 with 5 million paying businesses and the number has only grown since then.
With Google G Suite / Google Workspace, one can access their emails anytime and anywhere. With cloud technology and an advanced set of productivity apps, it is among the top enterprise-level applications.
But no matter how secure or safe you think your data is, it’s not the responsibility of Google to backup or restore your data in case of any mishappening.
Therefore, this article focuses on how to backup G Suite emails, contacts, calendars, and documents in a quick yet secure way.
We will demonstrate a step-by-step approach to backup, issues while backing up data using the Google Data Export tool, and is using Takeout for backup is feasible.
We will also discuss why we require special tools like Google Apps Backup, advanced software for G users, and admin.
When Do We Need to Backup G Suite Mailbox Items?
See below to understand why backing up your G Suite (formerly Google Apps) users’ data can help you in different scenarios.
- When your data gets deleted accidentally or intentionally by users.
- A 3 rd party application harms your G Suite domain with its set of “allowed” permissions.
- If your synced device gets stolen or lost.
- When a ransomware attack threatens your Google data.
- In case of a Google service outage or shutdown.
- In the case of mergers and acquisitions.
- When you require G Suite data for legal or audit purposes.
- If you require specific user data when an employee exits.
By taking a backup G Suite emails account, an organization’s particular user or admin can prevent/overcome/solve the above situations.4
3 Ways to Backup of G Suite Emails / Google Workspace Account
There are many methods to back up his/her Google cloud data. But among them, only three are recommended by experts. Some may also refer to the Takeout service, but we will discuss why it’s not completely feasible for the Google Workspace Email Backup process later in the article. You will require different levels of technical expertise and adequate knowledge to perform the steps for these three methods.
- Use Data Export Tool for Admin
- Via Thunderbird
- By Outlook
How to Backup G Suite Mail with Google Data Export Tool?
Every Google Apps for Business license comes with a feature called Data Export. The downside to this tool is that only a G Suite Admin can access this feature. This allows an admin to download and safeguard the data of all its users without any exceptions.
Prerequisites for using the Data Export Tool
- Only a super-admin can access this feature.
- The domain needs to be 30 days older for this feature to be available.
- It requires the 2-step verification to be enabled.
- The number of G Suite user accounts must be less than 1000.
Method 1: How to Backup Google Workspace Emails? Stepwise Guide
The elaborated step-by-step method for Admin to backup G Suite emails using the Google Data Export Tool is given below.
- Log in to your G Suite account using the admin credentials.
- Once you have logged into your account, open the Admin Console and click on the < button.
- Here, you need to click on Tools and hit the Data Export option.
- In the next screen, click on the Start button to backup G Suite.
- Now comes the unavoidable waiting period. Google will take as long as 9 days to email you a confirmation link of your exported data.
- When you finally receive the confirmation email, open it and click on the Access Archive button to view the backed-up data.
- Now, open the folders individually and download the data for all users one by one to your local system.
Method 2: Backup G Suite Emails Using IMAP Configuration with an Email Client
One dependable method of backing up your G Suite emails is to use an email client such as Outlook or Thunderbird and set up IMAP. Here are step-by-step guidance for Outlook and Thunderbird.
First, ensure that IMAP is enabled in your Google Workspace account:
- Sign in to your Google Workspace account.
- Navigate to settings by clicking on the gear icon and selecting the “See all settings”.
- Go to the Forwarding and POP/IMAP icon.
- Enable IMAP in the IMAP access section and click on the save Button.
- Download >> install >>the Mozilla Thunderbird on your machine
- Launch Thunderbird, then connect your G Suite account:
- Select File > New > Currently Opened Mail Account.
- Input your password, name, and email address.
- Select “Continue” to backup G Suite emails.
IMAP settings:
Thunderbird should automatically detect the correct settings. Ensure they are as follows:
Incoming server:
IMAP
Incoming server hostname: imap.gmail.com
Outgoing server hostname: smtp.gmail.com
- Press Done to complete the procedure.
- Thunderbird will begin the downloading procedure of your emails. This process will take time according to the size of mails box and the speed of the internet.
- For the backup folder, find the Thunderbird profile folder where the local emails are stored:
On Windows: C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\<ProfileName>\Mail\Local Folders
On Mac: ~/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/<ProfileName>/Mail/Local Folders
- Copy the contents of the Local Folders directory to your backup location
Method 3: Backup G Suite Emails using Outlook
- Follow the same steps as above to enable IMAP in your Google Workspace account.
- To Configure Outlook add the G Suite account
- Select the account type to
IMAP.
Enter Server Settings:
Incoming mail server:
imap.gmail.com
Outgoing mail server:
smtp.gmail.com
- Enter your email and password to set up the account.
- Complete the setup process by clicking
NextandFinish. - Outlook will begin downloading your emails from the G Suite account. This process takes time according to the size of emails and your internet speed.
- Export Emails to PST File
-
- Go to
File>Open & Export>Import/Export. - Choose
Export to a fileand clickNext. - Select
Outlook Data File (.pst)and clickNext. - Pick the email folders you want to export.
- Choose the location and name for the PST file and click
Finish.
- Go to
- Take the Backup of the PST File when the exporting process is done by copying the PST file to your desired location.
Shortcomings of Data Export Tool to Backup G Suite Emails
Although the above method seems easy, still users look for special tools to back up their Google Workspace Email Backup. This is because while using Data Export, you do not have any control over the process. You cannot bend it to your requirements. Some other shortcomings are:
- You cannot stop the process once it starts. There is no pause and resume feature here.
- Once the data backup starts, you cannot use this feature for the next 30 days.
- It is a long procedure. As explained earlier, it can take up to 9 days to just provide you with the data. After that include the additional days for downloading G Suite data.
- There is no way to export only selective data such as emails, contacts, calendars, etc. You cannot exclude or include anything as per your requirements.
- You cannot even specify the number of users or select the users whose G Suite mail you want to back up.
Smart Way for Google Workspace Email Backup
With the long wait and lack of customized features, experts raise concerns over the use of the above-mentioned method. In such situations, special tools such as Google Workspace Backup are preferred to take backup G Suite emails along with contacts, calendars, and documents. It supports G Suite to Outlook migration in PST format quickly and safely. You will not face any technical difficulties while using this tool.
Moreover, features such as mail filters along with the ability to select the data you want to export make this tool a complete remedy for all your backup needs. It is available for both single users to backup their data as well as Admin to backup all users’ data. You can even select specific users as per preference. Try Our new and improved G Suite Backup Software to take backup of Google Workspace emails at the Enterprise level. With this tool, you can backup multiple Google Workspace accounts of a domain at once.
Is TakeOut a Feasible Approach for Backing Up G Suite Data?
While many people argue that Google Takeout is another option to backup G Suite emails, they are not completely off the rails. However from Google Takeout, you easily backup Gmail email but for Google Workspace backup, you can perform the methods that are mentioned in this guide. Additionally, it also takes a lot of time to process the data and provide users with a download link. Above all, it can fail repeatedly when ‘heavy’ G Suite data is involved. Therefore, Takeout is not feasible at all as it provides more limitations than benefits for taking backup of G Suite account data.
Benefits of Google Workspace Email backup:
There are multiple advantages of Backup G Suite Emails:
- Keeping a backup of your G Suite emails can help protect against server outages, corruption, and data loss. You can quickly restore your emails from the backup in the event of data loss.
- Many companies must keep an email archive. You can make sure you comply with all legal and regulatory standards by backing up your G Suite emails.
- You can recover from calamities like technology malfunctions, natural disasters, and cyberattacks by backing up your G Suite emails. In the event of a calamity, knowing you have a backup assures you can rapidly restore your emails.
- Extra storage space is charged by G Suite, and the expense can mount up rapidly. You can potentially lower your expenses and free up storage on your G Suite account by backing up your emails.
Overall, backup G Suite emails can help you protect your data, meet compliance requirements, and ensure business continuity in the event of a disaster.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Is the Data Export tool a better option for the Google Workspace email backup process?
Google Data Export is a primary solution to take G Suite email backup but it has many limitations such as no pause option, larger mailbox taking longer time, no selective G Suite backup, etc.
Q. How to back up Google Workspace emails of multiple users?
Both methods provide an option for Google Workspace email backup with multiple users. However, the selection of users is not allowed in the Google Data Export tool.
Q. How to backup G Suite emails with a date filter?
The suggested Google Workspace Backup Tool provides an option to select a category (Email, Contact, Calendar, Document) with a date filter.
Q. Can I include new data in between the Google Workspace email backup process?
Throughout the Google Data Export tool, you cannot include newly received data. Suggested software solution added the newly received data or sync data.
Summing Up
Users are constantly searching for how to backup G Suite emails and export them to the preferred location. The first and foremost method of using the Export tool is affected by many shortcomings. Therefore, for a quick and secure process to backup Google Suite data, use the discussed automated solution. It is an advanced tool that eliminates any technical limitations and provides users with an effortless way to backup email from G Suite account.
