An email backup of Gmail or any other email client is a copy of a set of mailbox emails that can be restored or used when original emails are destroyed or deleted. In addition, users can perform these security levels of protection to protect their emails from unnecessary threats. Gmail comes up with saving options that allow users to back up Gmail emails on the computer in 4 different formats: EML, PDF, MBOX, and PST. In this article, we will discuss the 4 quick and easy methods to download or backup Gmail emails on your local drive. Furthermore, it also contains a Best Gmail Backup Tool suggestion, allowing users to bulk backup Gmail emails.

Simple Methods to Backup Gmail Emails

Several methods help you back up Gmail emails on your local drive. But, here we discuss the best 4 out of them, which easily and quickly allow you to save Gmail emails.

Step 1: Method 1: Backup Gmail Emails as a PDF

Gmail is a widely used email client and has an in-built option that allows users to back up or save Gmail email in a PDF format. Follow the steps to do so:

  • Firstly, open Gmail on your browser and Sign-in with your Gmail ID and Password.
  • Go to Inbox and select the desired Email which you want to save.
  • Here, click on the three dots on the upper side.
  • Click Print, and a pop-up will appear on your screen.
  • Select the save as PDF option from the drop-down list.
  • You will find another pop-up on your screen.
  • Choose the destination path and assign the file name.
  • Click on the Save button to finish the process.

Step 2: Method 2: Gmail Email Backup in EML format

  • Open the Gmail email that you want to back up.
  • Go to Three-Dot(More) and select Download Message Option.
  • Here, you will find that the email is automatically saved into EML format.

Step 3: Method 3: Take Backup Gmail Emails to PST format

Follow the steps below to export Gmail emails to PST using Microsoft Outlook; the only requirement is the Gmail email address and password.

  • Start Outlook and go to the File tab.
  • Click on the Add Account Option.
  • Here, enter your Gmail credentials and click Connect.
  • It requires your password and selects the IMAP option.
  • Once you have entered the same, click the Connect button.
  • Finally, click on the Done button.
  • Open Outlook again; here, you will find that your Gmail account is configured successfully.
  • Follow the steps to Backup Gmail emails in Outlook as a PST file:
  • Go to the File, and select Open & Export.
  • Choose the Import/Export option.
  • Select the Export to a file option and click Next.
  • After that, select Outlook Data File(.pst) option and click Next.
  • Choose the destination path to save the exported file and then click Finish.

Step 4: Method 4: Backup Gmail Email using Google Takeout

Google Takeout is an inbuilt utility of Gmail that allows users to download or save Gmail emails in MBOX file format. Here are the steps; just go ahead with these:-

  • Firstly, go to this "https://takeout.Google.com/settings/takeout.
  • Here, click on the “DESELECT ALL” option.
  • Check the item’s icon that you want to download.
  • Here, choose the delivery method to get access to the downloaded item.
  • We are assuming it via Email.
  • Choose the frequency of your backup, i.e., how frequently you want your selected data to get backed up.
  • Select the other required options and click the Export button.
    Finally, you will get the link to your backup items via Email.

Note:- Undoubtedly, the above methods help you to back up Gmail emails successfully, but you also need to stay aware of the drawbacks that manual methods carry, like data loss, allowing you to back up only one email, which is lengthy and time consuming. Thus, we recommend you use third-party software to give you a fair and accurate result.

Step 5: Backup Gmail Emails using Expert Solutions

Aryson Gmail Backup Tool is a safe and risk-free solution for Gmail account users to back up emails from their Gmail mailbox into a local drive. The software allows users to back up Gmail emails into 15+ file formats like PST, MSG, MBOX, EML, ODC, PDF, etc. On the other hand, it also allows you to transfer Gmail emails to different email clients like Office 365, AOL, Yahoo Mail, Yandex Mail, Zoho Mail, etc.

5 Simple Steps to Backup Gmail Emails Quickly

  • Download & Run the Gmail Backup Tool.
  • Sign in with a Gmail email address and app password.
  • Select the folders that you want to backup and click Next.
  • Choose the saving format as PDF, PST or others from the list.
  • Check the required features and click Convert to start downloading.

In this write-up, we have discussed the possible way to back up Gmail emails. We listed four manual ways, but the manual method has some limitations. For example, completing the process takes a long time, and your data may get lost. Thus, to avoid these issues, we suggested the Professional method that makes your work easier and allows you to back up multiple Gmail emails.

7 Spice ups

Please help me understand your write up. I understood your words but not always their meaning. And as you’re writing on Spiceworks, the Spiceworks community guidelines apply which remind (https://community.spiceworks.com/field-guide/guidelines#international) you that you’re writing for a global community, not for readers of any single country.

“How to Backup” …

You decided to write a how-to in the how-to section of the Spiceworks community platform. You preferred the type of a how-to over the type of an article which would be stored at a different section of the same platform. In my understanding, this implies the application of rules for technical writing in contrast to rules for essays or stories. So as the title starts, this makes sense. But then you try to confuse readers by using those words in your first paragraph:
“In this article”

  • To which article are you referring here?
  • Why don’t you use an URL reference when using the word “this” so that we readers know to which article you refer instead of the current write up which is a how-to and not an article?

“of Gmail or any other email client”

  • What do you mean by Gmail here?
  • Why do you confuse or mix email service resp. email server with email client here in your first sentence?

I only know of a Google email service called Gmail. It may be used by any email client when using the email interface. It may be used by any web browser when using the webmail interface. But as Gmail is a service, it is rather a Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) than an email client.

An email client has no own storage nor emails. It may be used to access emails on email servers or on local file system. An email server, email service or MTA has its own storage to store emails, logs, configuration, … That’s why I don’t understand this meaning of your first sentence:
“An email backup of … any other email client is a copy of a set of mailbox emails that can be restored or used when original emails are destroyed or deleted.”

As an email client has no mailboxes nor emails, an email backup is not related to an email client. An email backup needs access to emails. These emails are not in an email client. An email backup may make use of an email client to access emails on an email server or a file system or come with a built-in email client.

“Gmail comes up with saving options that allow users to back up Gmail emails on the computer in 4 different formats: EML, PDF, MBOX, and PST.”

I don’t know if these are saving options of Gmail or of email clients. But then you use the verb backup in this context in order to indicate that these saving options do not merely save but create also a backup, meeting the definition and qualification which you used in your first sentence. This leads to my next understanding difficulty and raises this question:

  • How do you restore an email backed up in PDF format?

“Furthermore, it also contains a Best Gmail Backup Tool suggestion, allowing users to bulk backup Gmail emails.”

So while your undisclosed and unreferenced article is still not identified, you report that this undisclosed article contains a suggestion for best Gmail backup tool. Interestingly, you used an URL reference for “best Gmail Backup Tool”. But this is a dead link, an URL to a non-existing web page on the Spiceworks community platform. And due to lack of article reference and due to lack of web page of provided URL, I don’t understand if suggestion refers to “tool” or to “best”. And if it would refer to “best”, how is it possible to make a suggestion. Either a tool has been identified as best among all candidate tools by means of measurements and hence may not be suggested, or such measurements have not yet taken place so that it may only be a candidate and hence not be known if it is best, second to best or which other ranking. The combination of “best” and “suggestion” does not seem fitting in the same main sentence.

I’ll take a break as otherwise my reply become too lengthy. Already my difficulties of understanding with first paragraph makes a sound reply. And perhaps, I’ll get a feedback before reporting my difficulties of understanding with the steps.

Please help me understand your Step 1.

“Gmail is a widely used email client”

No. Gmail is a widely spread email service, a Cloud based email server resp. MTA (mail transfer agent), not an email client. This service may also be configured as a email forwarder for mapping virtual email addresses to real email addresses. A virtual email address does not need to be an email alias. An email alias usually uses the same domain name as the real email address. A virtual email address usually uses its own domain name space and hence mapping is usually to a different domain name for the real email address (or email alias). A virtual email address does not have a mailbox as it does not need storage. Gmail may not be configured as an email client and is not an email client.

Gmail offers a webmail interface. When using such a webmail interface, then the web browser displays a web page which offers some email client features although usually not the full feature set of standard email clients. A webmail interface requires always a web server on server side. This exists for Googles Gmail service as well as for Microsofts Outlook service, and definitely for other email providers too. But as far as I understood your sentence, you don’t seem to relate to such webmail interface of Gmail service but instead to some undisclosed email client.

When I open Windows App Store on a Windows 10 device and search for Gmail, it does not find any app of such name. The Windows App Store offers me dozens of apps for Gmail, but none has such a name nor does seem to come from Google. It offers me various email clients as apps.

  • Do you have an URL to access such email client?
  • For which operating systems do these undisclosed email clients exist?

While I don’t know to which email client you refer here, I know that it is probably Google who offered mobile apps for some mobile operating systems like iOS, Android and Windows Phone in the stores of these operating systems (iTunes Store, Google Play Store, Windows Phone App Store). But Windows Phone is no longer supported and its store has been closed. And according to your wording, you’re not referring to such mobile apps but to some unidentified email clients on undisclosed operating systems. Please clarify.

  • Do you have any statistics about usage of such undisclosed email clients?

I’ve only seen download statistics, not usage statistics of Gmail app for Android. I can’t remember having used such an app. On Android, I prefer k9-mail app for accessing Gmail. And I guess that many users are using webmail interface in order to be independent of operating system for accessing emails on Gmail.
“Firstly, open Gmail on your browser and … .”

  • To which browser do you refer on which operating system?
  • Or do you mean that any kind of browser on any operating system is supported by Gmail since when?

I use file browsers, file system browsers, web browsers, database browsers, email browsers (also called email clients) and several others. And as I explained above, the interface and feature sets are different if I use an email client or a web browser for accessing Gmail service as they use different interfaces of Gmail service. Although emails may be considered as database records, I’m not aware which database browser allows me to access Gmail nor have I read of a database interface for Gmail. But my knowledge might be outdated. The same applies to file browsers and file system browsers. I know that it is possible to map emails as virtual file system on standard operating systems. But I’m not aware of Gmail service offering such file service interface nor file system interface. But I’m open to learn and to update my knowledge.

“Here, click on the three dots on the upper side.”

No. In most browsers, I can’t find three dots on the upper side. And on the only web browser on which I see three dots on the upper side, these belong to the web browser and not to Gmail nor its webmail interface. So please provide more details or perhaps a screenshot where to find three dots on the upper side of which undisclosed browser tool on which undisclosed operating system with which undisclosed browser configuration as most of my browsers do not offer such three dots on the upper side.

Your first step is for using backup format PDF for emails received at Gmail. And according to your definition, an email backup allows restoring emails. But I could not yet find your reply how you restore emails backed up in PDF format. Please clarify.

Please help me understand your step 2.

“Open the Gmail email that you want to back up.”

At least on my devices, I’ve to do several steps before I become able to open an email on Gmail. And as far as I understood your description, it does not matter with which kind of tool I open an email on Gmail on regardless which operating system and regardless which device. And for this step, you require to not simply select an email, but to open it in addition, in contrast to your step 1 where selection shall have been sufficient.

  • Is this understanding correct?
  • Or does this method require a specific set of tools on a specific set of operating systems and of devices with a specific set of configurations?

“Go to Three-Dot(More) and select Download Message Option.”

As I mentioned, I don’t get a three dot section nor button. But one of my email clients has a “more”-button when having opened an email on Gmail, and only in a specific configuration of that email client and that Gmail service, not in my standard view of same email client called simple view by Gmail. Then only, I get such an offer for saving email in EML format. When I had last used such an option, the default format had been different and more formats had been offered.

So while your description seems to be insufficient and not correct for all those contexts specified by you, I found at least one different configuration with a specific tool where your description did not apply as you claimed but provided enough assumptions and indications to get something what you intended. I used Mozilla Thunderbird as Email client on Windows 10 for such a trial. So you may try yourself to which extent my experience overlaps with your description and where it differs.

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