How to Export Gmail Emails to PST With or Without Outlook?

To export Gmail emails to PST, you can configure Gmail in Microsoft Outlook, import Gmail emails to PST via IMAP, use Gmail’s built-in settings, take help of Google Takeout, or directly use the specialized tool like Gmail to PST converter by RecoveryTools.

Before starting the process, let’s have some knowledge of what you will get in this blog. This blog outlines methods to convert emails from Gmail to PST whether you have Outlook installed or not. Through my research, I learned that figuring out how to export Gmail emails to PST is itself challenging because the solutions available in the market are not reliable and have limited features. I will explain 3 simple ways to complete an entire Gmail to PST conversion without any data loss or sync problems during the process.

Why Export Gmail Emails to PST?

There are numerous reasons why users want to export emails from Gmail to PST, but there is a strong reason that PST provides multiple advanced features that make your professional work smooth. Some of the major reasons are mentioned below:

• Platform Migration: If your company or organization is switching from Gmail to PST, you need to export Gmail mailbox to PST to preserve old and new emails.
• Offline Access: The major problem with Gmail is that users cannot access the mailbox items without an Internet connection. When you import emails from Gmail to PST, it allows users to access, read, and draft emails even offline.
• Advanced Features: PST has more advanced features than Gmail.
• Integration with Office Applications: Everything from Word, Excel to Teams has been integrated with PST to produce a cohesive work area for you.
• Compliance with Microsoft 365: PST offers enhanced options for compliance such as an eDiscovery feature, retention policy, and control and manage how any data is stored.
• No Local Backups Available for Gmail: Gmail does not have any default local backups available for mailbox items. You can export your mailbox items to create a UNICODE PST File that is usable by all PST versions with up to 50GB of data stored.

How to Convert Gmail to PST files? Manual Ways

Exporting Gmail emails to PST is commonly done by adding Gmail account in Outook and use the Import/Export feature. However, sometimes users also use Gmail forwarding options. Therefore, we have also provided you with most effiecient solution to safely convert Gmail mailbox to PST without losing data, formatting or making any manual effort.

Technique 1: How to Export Emails from Gmail to PST via IMAP

Follow the steps mentioned below to convert Gmail emails to PST file using IMAP.

Step 1: Connect Gmail Account in Outlook

1. Log in to your PST desktop.
2. Head to the File tab from the top.

   

3. Click on the Add Account option.

   

4. Choose “Manual Setup or Additional Server Types” >> Next icon.

   

5. Select the POP or IMAP option and then Next icon.

   

6. Specify your email credentials. You need to enter your Google App Password into PST if you have Google’s 2-Step Verification enabled. Hit on the More Settings option.

   

7. Go to Outgoing Server and check the My Outgoing Server option and OK button.

   

8. In the Advanced tab, provide the Incoming and Outgoing details and click on the OK icon.

   

9. Back to the main screen and allow PST to “Read, compose, send and delete permanently all email from Gmail” during the browser setup prompt. Hit the Next button.

   

10. Lastly, click on the Close button after completing the tasks.

    

11. Click on Finish. (Note: Large mailboxes may take hours or days to complete the sync process depending on internet bandwidth).

    

Step 2: Export Gmail Emails to PST

1. Once you are done with the account configuration, follow these steps:
2. Navigate to the File menu, then select Open & Export >> Import/Export.
3. Click on Export to a file and then hit the Next button.
4. Now, select “Outlook Data file” and click Next again.
5. Finally, select an account by entering Gmail ID then select the folders.
6. Lastly, choose the destination path and export Gmail mailbox to PST.

Technique 2: Export Gmail to PST through Google Takeout

Since Google takeout does not support Outlook’s PST format directly, users are required to go through 2 phases to export emails from Gmail to MBOX.

Phase 1: Download Gmail files to MBOX

1. Open Google Takeout on your browser and enter your Gmail Credentials.
   
2. Tap the option “Deselect All” and check “Mail” by scrolling down.
   
3. Select the data to add “Gmail Emails”.
   
4. Hit “Next Step” and select “Destination”.
   
5. Further select Frequency/File size and type.
   
6. Tap on “Create Export” and “Download”. Extract the data from the downloaded .zip file.
   

Phase 2: Convert Gmail to PST

Using a free option such as Thunderbird, you can download and install the program. Then, you will add your PST Account via IMAP. Next, add the “ImportExportTools NG” add-in, Import Google’s “Takeout” MBOX file, and finally drag the new emails from the Thunderbird inbox into the PST inbox. (Note: The folders may change from the original structure and read/unread may not save).

After getting an MBOX file from Gmail, you can use a Gmail to PST converter tool and create a PST file.

The Hidden Risks of Manual Migration: Why “Free” Isn’t Actually Free

Save time with this guide. If your goal is to learn how to import all emails from Gmail to PST, don’t manually export Gmail emails to PST. Here’s what you need to know about the downsides of doing this:

• You may end up with a broken folder structure in your PST because you used drag-and-drop to transfer your emails.
• IMAP sync is very slow for large mailboxes and could cause constant duplication of your email if the syncing process stops.
• Any mistake that you make in the setup stage of a export method is permanent and will result in a permanent loss of email.

For professionals and individual users that place a high priority on their data, these risks make manual methods for transferring your email unreliable and, therefore, require you to find another way to perform this task.

Steps to Convert Gmail to PST:

1. Run the given mentioned utility on your system.

   

2. Login to your Gmail account by entering the account login credentials (Use App Password).

   

3. Enable the advanced modes as per choice: Use Batch Mode and Use Proxy.

   

4. All the data will load on the panel, check the required folders & subfolders.

   

5. Choose the PST option from the list of saving options to start the export process.

   

6. Apply the advanced filter from the Filter Options tab to export Gmail emails to PST specifically.

   

7. Users can also change the default destination location according to their desired location.

   

8. Finally, click on the Backup button.

   

9. Then, click the OK button to exit from here to convert Gmail to PST.

   

10. You can access the resultant PST file directly from the destination location.

    

11. Finally, the application will generate a Saving Log report which includes the summarized details about the export process.

    

How to Import the Exported File to PST?

Once RecoveryTools has created your PST file, if you are wondering how to import emails from Gmail to PST, follow these steps to import emails from Gmail to PST:

1. Log in to your PST Account.
2. Go to File, click on Open & Export, and click on the Import & Export Option.

   

3. Choose the “Import from another program or file” option then click next.

   

4. Choose the “PST Data file (.pst)” option and then click next.

   

5. Select the exported file from your system.

   

6. Choose the destination folder, check the option “Do not import duplicates” if you don’t want duplicate files, and click Finish.

   

Features of the Gmail to PST Export Tool

• The simple and self-explanatory interface helps all types of users to easily import emails from Gmail to PST.
• Users can easily bulk export Gmail emails to PST in a single attempt without any kind of loss of data.
• While migrating the bulk of data, the entire hierarchy of all the files and folders will be maintained when you export emails from Gmail to PST.
• Advanced filter option to search for a particular email using different intents (date range, subject).
• Email metadata such as contacts, calendar entries, tasks, messages, and attachments will be preserved in an accurate way.
• In addition, you can convert your email without restriction on the size of the email file (i.e., there are no size limits). Therefore, large e-mail accounts can be export without difficulty.

Conclusion

In the above blog, we discussed how to copy emails from Gmail to PST and export Gmail emails to PST in detail using manual and automated methods. Manual methods can work fine for fewer emails, however, they often take an enormous amount of time to complete. If your mailboxes contain large amounts of email – or you want to avoid making human errors while migrating emails then automated solution is the way to go. The best choice to export Gmail emails to PST with large mailboxes or avoiding human error is to use the RecoveryTools automated solution. With the help of the tool’s free trial version, users can discover many amazing attributes before buying and can reach out to us 24/7 through our customer support.

Commonly Asked Queries

Q 1: Is it possible to export Gmail to PST completely?

Ans: Yes, using both the manual IMAP method and the automated software you can transfer your complete mailbox. However, the automated method allows you to import emails from Gmail to PST easily and safely.

Q 2: How do I export emails from Gmail to PST?

Ans: You can use Google Takeout to backup your Gmail emails in .mbox format, but if you’re having trouble exporting through that method, you can also use the specialized tool to download all Gmail emails to an Outlook PST file.

Q 3: Do I need to install any additional tools for the migration?

Ans: If you are using the automated method, no additional tools are needed. The software works independently to export Gmail emails to PST.

Q 4: Can I convert only selected emails Gmail emails to PST manually?

Ans: If you’re attempting to manually transfer specific emails to PST and are encountering problems, it’s likely due to the fact that PST is syncing the entire mailbox to an IMAP. Using the Advanced Filters in RecoveryTools is an ideal method for exporting specific emails to use with PST.

Q 5: Does a PST file contain all emails?

Ans: Yes, the exported PST file contains all the emails including Inbox, Sent, Draft, Important, Spam, Bin, as well as your contacts and calendars, making it incredibly easy to import emails from Gmail to PST.