How to Export Gmail Emails to CSV or Excel Format? Top 4 Methods

Published By Jamie Kaler

Approved By Rollins Duke

Published On March 6th, 2024

Reading Time 9 Min Read

In this blog, we will give the complete solution to export Gmail emails to CSV. If you are one of those users who are looking for a solution to import emails from Gmail to Excel but have not found any solution that can convert your complete Gmail mailbox into CSV format. That is why today we have come up with this article. In this article, we will describe multiple methods to export Gmail emails to Excel.

But as we all know most of the solutions you get are only for Windows. But today all the methods we will mention in this article will work on Mac systems like it does on Windows. After all, we too had received a lot of user queries and after studying several queries from various tech forums, we have finally come up with the same. Today we will discuss a complete guide with an intuitive utility to export Gmail emails to CSV format. let’s start

Why do Users Need to Export Emails from Gmail to Excel Format?

Backup and Security: If something were to happen to their Gmail account, the local backup of emails that CSV files make would provide an additional degree of security against data loss.
Storage Management: Exporting emails from Gmail to Excel saves storage, which may enhance performance and prevent restrictions on free storage plans.
Data Analysis and Organization: Email data can be more easily analyzed in spreadsheets and other applications due to the organized nature of CSV files, which facilitates better organization and insights.
Organization: CSV files may be opened with Microsoft apps like Excel. This allows you to arrange and categorize your emails in a neat table.
Analysis: You may use specialized tools to examine the data in a CSV file. This can be useful for tracking spending or analyzing email trends.

Top 4 Solutions to Export Gmail Emails to CSV

Here we are going to use four methods to solve your problems. All methods are mentioned in detail one by one below to export emails from Gmail to Excel. In the first method, we will learn the process of saving selected Gmail emails to Excel. In the second method, we will learn how to complete this process using the Thunderbird email client. If you fail to do all these methods or you need a faster and safer way then you can move on to our third solution. Finally, we also have a Chrome extension in the last method, but this method has some limitations which we have mentioned below.

Method 1: Export Emails from Gmail to CSV One by One

In this manual solution, we will export emails directly from Gmail to Excel. But the main reason why this utility is not recommended is that it takes too much time and effort. Saving entire emails one by one to export Gmail emails to CSV is a very cumbersome process. If you want to export only some selected data, then you can think about using this method. Follow the steps mentioned below:

Go to Gmail and log in to your account.
Click on a particular email >> click on 3 dots >> select Download message.
You will receive a resultant message in the EML format.
After that, open a blank Excel sheet and drag & drop the resultant file there.
Save the files and see the entire data in CSV format.

Now, you will have received the Gmail emails in CSV files. But if you want to export 100 emails to CSV, you will have to repeat these steps 100 times. Therefore, we recommend that you continue with the second-mentioned solution to complete the results.

Method 2: Export Gmail Emails to CSV using Thunderbird

This method is divided into two steps, and both steps are mentioned below in detail. Firstly, we will connect both accounts and then export emails from Gmail to Excel format.

Step 1: Connect Gmail to Thunderbird

Open a Thunderbird account.
Choose Tools >> Account Settings option.
Select the Account Actions >> Add Mail Account button.
Enter the login details of your Gmail account and hit the Next icon.
Put the IMAP/POP details of Gmail and hit the Finish button.

After a successful connection, now we will export emails in CSV format. follow the step 2.

Step 2: Export Gmail Emails to CSV/Excel

Restart the Thunderbird account.
Right-click on the connected folders of Gmail.
Choose ImportExportTools NG >> Export All Messages in the Folder >> Spreadsheet CSV options.
Browse the location to save this file.

Drawbacks: To complete this task, users will have to go through two phases. Also, Thunderbird must be installed on your system. High risk of loss of email assets when exporting emails from Gmail to Excel.

Method 3: Automated Approach to Export Gmail Emails to Excel

RecoveryTools Gmail Backup Wizard is one of the effective solutions to export Gmail emails to CSV in bulk. The tool is developed with user-friendly algorithms that work as per the needs and requirements of the users. By using this software, users can download large amounts of Gmail emails without any kind of data loss or disruption.

The utility can easily export emails with attachments to CSV in original formatting without any data loss. Users can easily export data to 20+ formats like PDF, PST, EML, Text, G Suite, iCloud, Office 365 etc. from Gmail.

Simply continue with the mentioned tool for free and run the process of exporting emails from Gmail to Excel.

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Complete Working Steps for How to Use Automatic Tool

Firstly, download and install the given tool on your system.
And, login to your account using proper login credentials and hit on the Login button.
Choose the required files and folders from the software panel.
Select the backup option as CSV from the list of formats.
Apply the advanced filters as per your choice from Filter Options.
Select the desired location using the Browse button.
Lastly, click on the Backup button to export Gmail emails to CSV format.

Advanced and Prime Features/ Filters of the Tool

Export Entire Data Items – The software can easily export an unlimited number of emails, attachments, metadata, and email formatting to CSV format. The entire resultant data will be taken out in a unified manner while maintaining the entire data structure.
Maintains Folder Structure – The entire data structure is maintained throughout the conversion process and there will not be any kind of loss of data. While data is uploaded on the panel, the entire hierarchy of all files and folders is maintained throughout the process.
Option to Select Destination Path – The utility gives an option to choose any destination path on your system to save output files. Once you export Gmail emails to CSV, the output files will be stored at the chosen location.
Filter Search Option – Users can search for a particular email from bulk data present on the Internet. Moreover, the date range filter allows one to search for emails of a particular duration.

Method 4: Export Gmail Emails to Excel by Chrome Extension

Look for Cloud HQ’s Export Emails to Google Sheets plugin in the Chrome web store. Next, select Add to Chrome. The plugin will automatically link to your Gmail account.
If you wanted to, say, convert the emails in the Sent Items folder to CSV. To save the label, click the three vertical dots (ellipses) next to the label on the left and choose either Save label to Google Sheets or Save label to CSV.
Click Start after making sure that every option in the Save Settings/Default Columns section is selected for you.
Upon completion, an email including a link to the spreadsheet will be sent to you. Make the connection active. Clicking on any text in an email will enlarge its body.

Limitations of Manual Method

The first limitation of using this method is that you will have to give confidential access to your Gmail account. Due to this the possibility of your data theft increases.
The second limitation is that this is a very hectic task as you have to select the emails one by one. If you have 1000 emails in your mailbox then you have to select 1000 emails one by one. Because of this, a lot of time is wasted in doing this method.
If you think that this Chrome extension is free then you are absolutely wrong, this Chrome extension is not free. This is a very high-cost Chrome extension.

Conclusion

In the above article, we have given multiple solutions to export Gmail emails to CSV for both Windows and Mac OS users. Out of all the manual and professional solutions mentioned above, which one is suitable for you depends on your needs and preferences. If you only have a few emails, you can also consider using the free manual solution to export emails from Gmail to Excel. But for the entire Gmail database, you should continue with professional solutions.

FAQs to Export Gmail Emails to CSV Formats

Ques. Can I export Gmail emails to CSV format?

Ans. While Gmail doesn’t offer a direct export to CSV, there are several methods to achieve this such as Chrome browser extensions, Professional desktop applications and Manual methods. You can use any method as per your needs and preferences.

Ques. What data gets exported when using CSV?

Ans. The specific data is exported if you can choose the automatic method. Typically, it includes:
Email headers: sender, recipient, date, subject, etc.
Message content: the body of the email
Labels: categories assigned to the email in Gmail

Ques. Are there any alternatives to exporting to CSV?

Ans. Google Takeout: This service allows you to download your entire Google account data, including Gmail, in various formats like MBOX.
IMAP access: Advanced users can access and export Gmail data through email clients that support the IMAP protocol.

Ques. What are some factors to consider while exporting Gmail emails?

Ans. Security: Only utilize reliable third-party programs, and provide them proper access to your Gmail account.
Data completeness: Not all techniques export all of your Gmail data (including attachments).
Formatting: Converting between formats may necessitate more effort to guarantee correct data arrangement and presentation in the CSV file.