How To Backup Gmail Emails to Hard Drive or External Hard Drive

Are you searching for how you can backup Gmail emails to Hard drive or external hard drive with attachments? But unable to get a solution that can fulfill your needs. In this article, you will find distinct methods that will help you in saving Gmail Email Backup smoothly. Also, we explain various aspects of Gmail in detail.

Gmail is the most popular and widely used email client. It is a free product by Google for mailing solutions. Also, you can integrate it with other products of Google. Using Google Drive, you can store large files. Along with that, it supports both POP and IMAP servers.

Considering the requirement to create a backup, Google provides Google takeout – an inbuilt feature to migrate all your google data, including Gmail, to your system. It is a standard approach for migrating your emails.

Before jumping to how to Backup Gmail Emails, let us learn the advantages of Gmail.

Why Do We Use Gmail?

• Gmail offers you various advanced features like contacts, calendars, archives, etc. It is simple for users to navigate the email client because it has an interactive email client.
• You can integrate Gmail with other products of Google. You can access the drive, docs, sheets, etc. All these tools are necessary to increase the productivity of your organization. This facility is unavailable for other email clients.
• Gmail offers a higher degree of customization. You can customize your Gmail account as per your requirement. Also, you can get a variety of add-ons on the Google web store to make your task more effective.
• Google regularly updates its products. Therefore, you do not encounter any errors in Gmail. Also, if any issue arises, Google tries to fix it as soon as possible.

Apart from all these features, Gmail also has some vulnerabilities that lead to creating Gmail backup. Let us explore them and know how to backup Gmail Emails to external hard drive.

Vulnerabilities that Lead to Backup Gmail Emails to Hard Drive

• Gmail is not a completely secure email client. It may be subjected to data breaches and virus attacks. So, there are chances of data loss and file corruption, mostly in the free version.
• Another major problem with Gmail is that it displays different types of advertisements. It troubles most users. Also, you cannot remove these advertisements.
• It provides less storage capacity compared to other email clients. So, you cannot transfer large files using emails.
• Gmail does not have a folder system to store emails. Instead, it has a label system that creates confusion because there can be more than one label on a single email.

After understanding the limitations of Gmail, it is time to know the benefits of Gmail backup.

Benefits of Taking Backup of Gmail Emails to PC or External Hard Drive

• When you create a Gmail email backup to your system, you can use it to restore the complete mailbox data. It is an ideal option to protect valuable information from data corruption.
• You can delete the mailbox items after creating a Gmail email backup. It helps you clean your email account and leave free space for new emails. Also, this way, you need not lose any valuable information.
• You can also copy Gmail emails to hard drive to protect them from a data breach. It is a smart move to secure your emails. The system’s hard drive is comparatively safer than the online server.
• If you download the mailbox data in a suitable file format, you can access all your emails offline. It is the best option when you do not have an internet connection. Therefore, you can open your emails and other files without the Internet.

After learning all the features and limitations of Gmail, now explore – How to backup Gmail emails to hard drive?

How to Backup Gmail Emails to Hard Drive/External Hard Drive?

You can save your Gmail emails to your system using two techniques. The first technique is called the standard method. In this approach, you use the inbuilt features of the email client to migrate your data. The other option is the automatic method or using a professional tool. It is a fast, safe, and effective technique for email migration.

There are two manual methods for Gmail email backup. You can choose any one of them as per your preference.

• Using Google Takeout to export Google data
• Using Email application for email migration

Now, let us learn these methods one by one.

#1. Using Google Takeout to Backup Gmail Emails

• Sign in to your Gmail account using the login credentials.
• Now, click on the Profile icon and press the Manage Your Google Account
• Your Google Account page will open. Now, choose the Data & Personalization tab.

• After that, scroll down and click on the Download your data option.

• It will direct you to the Google takeout page. From here, you can create an export.
• Choose the google products you want to take backup of. After that, click on the Next
• In the next step, choose the Delivery method, Frequency, and File type & size. Click on the Create Export button.
• As you press Create Export, Google starts creating a copy of your data. After you backup Gmail account, you will receive an email as per the delivery method you selected. It may take a few hours or days.

#2. Using Desktop Email Application to take Gmail Email Backup

In this method, you use the inbuilt mailing application to create Gmail backup. First, you have to enable the IMAP settings in your Gmail account. After that, you can add this account to your desktop application. Here, we are using Microsoft Outlook as the desktop email client.

Step 1: Enable IMAP Access in Your Gmail Account

• Login to your Gmail account.
• Now, click on the Gear icon (Settings) at the top right.
• After that, click on the See all settings
• It will display all the settings. Choose the Forward and POP/IMAP
• Now, choose the Enable IMAP option in the IMAP Access

Note: If your desktop application requires an app password for login, you need to generate the app password before performing further steps.

Step 2: Use the Email Client to Migrate the Mailbox Data

• Open the Microsoft Outlook application in your system.
• Now, click on the File option in the menu bar.
• After that, click on the Add account
• Now, on the next page, type your email address and press the Connect
• Enter your password, and click on the Sign-in
• Your email will get added to Outlook.
• After that, select the File button, then click on the Open and Export
• Press the Import/Export Choose Export to a file in the new Window.
• Click on the Outlook Data file (.pst) and press Next.
• Now, select the mailbox folder that you want to download and click Next.
• At last, choose the destination path and press the Finish button.

The above methods are effective in backup Gmail emails to the hard drive. However, these standard approaches are troublesome for naive users.

A Solution to Backup Gmail Emails using DRS Gmail Backup Tool

If the standard approach does not work for you, fast and effective software may be a better option to migrate Gmail emails. DRS Gmail Backup tool is comprehensive software to export Gmail mailbox data to your system. You can also migrate your emails to other email clients. During all the processes, the data remains intact. You can backup Gmail emails in a few easy steps.

The salient features of this advanced software are as follows.

• The Gmail backup software migrates the emails in various file formats and migrates the mailbox data to different email clients. Also, there are other options to import Gmail contacts to Outlook.
• It can prevent identical email migration. So, the backup will contain only original and precise data.
• It offers a Mail filter feature through which you can migrate selective emails from the complete mailbox.
• You can delete emails from the server after creating a backup. You do not need to log in to your email account. It cleans mailbox space and creates space for new emails.

In the tool, there is an option of scheduling backup. You can set the date and time at which you want to start the migration. You can also set a frequency for regular migration.

Working of the DRS Gmail Backup Tool

• Install and run the DRS Gmail Backup tool.

• Now, type the login credentials and click on the Sign-in button.

• After that, you will see the mailbox items. Choose the desired folder and press Next.

• Now, select the file format or email client in the Save/Backup/Migrate As option.

• Choose the additional features in the software as per your requirements.

• Tick the Mail filter and set the date range for specific email migration. and then, click on Custom Folder name and provide the name for migrated emails. And, also provide the saving path to save the emails and click on the Convert button to begin the conversion process.

• After saving a backup, you can click the Download Report button or the Convert again button.

Also Read: Best Yandex Backup Software

Conclusion

The crux of the above article is that a standard or manual method is a good way for creating a backup Gmail emails into a hard drive or external hard drive. However, it is not the ideal option. It is suitable for those who have good technical knowledge. But for new or non-technical users, the best solution is professional software. DRS Gmail Backup tool is the ideal option to take to backup of Gmail emails to hard drive or external hard drive effortlessly.