What Is Google Takeout And Why Should You Use It?

Whenever we think of the Internet, the first word that comes to mind is Google – arguably the most worshipped name in the history of information technology. Whether it’s the search engine, video streaming, email, or payment methods, the tech giant holds the pulse of the internet.

The company also keeps tabs on our location history, search queries, payment particulars, YouTube interactions, and other services linked to our Google account. Google Takeout allows you to download entire data to a local device or transfer it to other services.

Managing our data poses a significant challenge in this digital age, where virtually everything resides online. Anyone regularly using the internet for professional or personal purposes gathers a large amount of data across devices, such as smartphones, computers, smart TVs, etc. Thanks to Google Takeout, it has become relatively easy to control and take a Google account backup.

Let’s go further and explore this in detail. 

What is Google Takeout?

Google Takeout can be seen as an export tool designed to download your data across various Google services. The tool was introduced in June 2011 by Google Data Liberation Front, a dedicated team within Google focused on facilitating seamless data movement for users.

The core objective of this team was to ensure the smooth migration of user data from Google servers in cases where users decided to discontinue using Google’s services.

With Google Takeout, you can control the data from over 50 sources, including Gmail, Google Photos, Google Maps, Google Fit, YouTube, and other activities connected to your Google account. The term “Takeout” conveys the notion of portability, reflecting Google’s intention to empower users by giving them the command over their data and importing it, selectively or entirely, to a local device. 

It promotes data privacy and allows users to free up Google Drive storage by downloading archived and underutilized files to a device. Everything related to Takeout can be monitored and managed through your Google Account dashboard. 

Why Should You Use Google Takeout?

If you’ve been associated with an organization, educational institution, or enterprise, there is a chance you might have heard of Takeout. Employees and students use this tool to transfer their data to local storage or another Google account during transactions. Takeout is not only intended for professional and large-scale operations; It’s a free tool available to each Google user, regardless of their account type, duration of use, or the scope of their needs.

Given the company’s footprint on the internet, there would be hardly any user who hasn’t engaged with any of Google’s services. Since Google offers dozens of services, many of which are free, your data is probably housed on Google’s servers.

For example, your Android smartphone comes pre-installed with the Google Photos app, automatically backing up the images from your phone’s gallery. With Takeout, you can swiftly download those photos to external storage and free up the all-important space in your Google Drive. 

Here are some things you can do with Google Takeout:

1. Gather Data from Various Services:

As mentioned above, Takeout supports over 50 Google services, including Gmail, Calendar, Google Fit, Google Contacts, YouTube, Google Drive, and others. Rather than individually managing data from each service, Takeout allows you to gather data across these services and download it to a centralized location for evaluation or backup purposes. 

2. Choose When to Download:

With Takeout, Users can download their entire dataset in one go or set up a recurring export schedule. The latter’s benefit is that you don’t need to check for data downloads constantly, and you will not miss any crucial backups. 

3. Manage Your Data Download:

You don’t need every bit of the data Google collects. Thankfully, Takeout allows you to pick the services from which you wish to download data. This level of selectivity hands users increased authority over the information they retrieve, allowing them to prioritize the most significant data while omitting less relevant information.

4. Control the Download Format and Type:

Google Takeout lets users download data directly or compile it into downloadable archives. Also, you can choose from numerous file formats, such as TGZ, ZIP, or TBZ, for archived data and ensure that it’s compatible with the intended use.  This level of personalization improves user’s control over their download and preferences, contributing to a more user-centric experience. 

What Services and Apps are Compatible with Google Takeout?

To explore the data retained by Google from your various services, simply login to your Google account and navigate to Takeout.google.com. Within this platform, you’ll encounter a list of applications and services, each offering the option to retrieve data in diverse formats. Currently, there are 54 sources that you can download data from. Mentioned below are some key ones:

• Data from widely used Google services, such as Google Search, YouTube, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Photos, and Google Files.
• Blogger content, including posts, profile details, comments, pages, and videos, can be accessed.
• Health-related data from Google Fit
• Your browser data, including browser history, bookmarks, auto-fills, extensions, search engines, dictionaries, and synced settings from Google Chrome
• Comprehensive Google Contacts data, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, addresses, organizational affiliations, geographical locations, occupations, and more.
• All information pertinent to your Google Business profile
• Google Play Movie preferences, watchlists, and ratings
• Data including your app installations, ratings, and purchases
• Data from smart devices, historical records, and home details from the Google Home app
• Notes and media stored by Google Keep app
• Location history and associated settings from the Maps app
• Settings and images associated with your Google profile
• Swiftly download Google settings, Google sign-in history activities, and history related to your account
• Take out Google Photos and Google Archive photos

Popular Services along with the Supported Data Export Formats:

Here is a list of popular Google services, along with the supported data and export formats available:

Google Service	Description	Supported Data	Export Formats
Gmail	Email service and communication platform.	Emails, attachments	MBOX, EML
Google Calendar	Online calendar for organizing events and tasks.	Events, reminders	iCalendar (ICS), CSV, JSON
Google Contacts	Address book and contact management.	Contacts, labels	vCard (VCF), CSV, HTML, JSON
Google Drive	Cloud storage and file sharing platform.	Files, folders, photos	Multiple formats (ZIP, TGZ, etc.)
Google Photos	Photo and video storage and organization.	Photos, videos, albums	JPEG, PNG, MOV, MP4, and more
YouTube	Video sharing and streaming platform	Videos, metadata	MP4, WebM
Google Fit	Health and fitness tracking application	Fitness data, activity	JSON, TCX (fitness activities)
Google Keep	Note-taking and organization application	Notes, labels	HTML, TXT
Google Maps	Mapping and navigation service	Maps data, location	KML, JSON
Google Play Books	E-book and audiobook platform	Purchased books	PDF, EPUB
Google Play Music	Music streaming and library service	Music tracks, playlists	CSV, JSON

Advantages of Google Takeout:

Apart from being a data export tool, Google Takeout brings the following advantages to the user experience:

• Google Takeout is a no-vost web-based tool that works seamlessly across various devices, including Mac, iPhone, Linux, and Windows. 
• The tool allows users to control and manage their data, which brings a sense of ownership over the digital presence. 
• Takeout works as a fantastic backup tool that prevents you from accidental data loss caused by hacking or system malfunctions. 
• You can easily migrate your data to a new email account, to new email accounts, consolidate information from multiple accounts, or switch to business-related accounts.
• Swiftly transfer your Chrome browser’s bookmarks and settings to alternative services like Opera, Firefox, and Edge. 
• Transfer your content from Google Drive, Google Contacts, and Calendar events to alternative platforms such as Dropbox, Outlook, and OneDrive.
• Back up your smartphone photos and transfer your complete gallery to a different device, effectively freeing up storage space on your phone.
• Particularly useful for organizations, educational institutions, and businesses, Takeout assists in transferring data when employees or students change roles or affiliations.

Disadvantages of Google Takeout:

On the other hand, Takeout poses the following challenges:

• Google Takeout doesn’t offer any protection from unexpected attacks and data loss, which makes it less reliable for professional use. 
• Extracting data using Takeout may prove challenging for non-tech-savvy users, as it involves selecting services, configuring settings, and handling downloaded data.
• The download process is very time-consuming, especially if you have a lot of history, photos, and emails. 
• Retrieving large amounts of data requires significant storage capacity and internet speed. 
• You can schedule Takeout to automatically download your Google data two months per year, leading to omitting some of the data while restoring.
• Downloaded files via Takeout may not be compatible with third-party applications. 
• Downloaded data may be filled with redundant or duplicate files, which requires extra effort to organize. 
• Since the data is exported from different Google services, the resulting files might lack the original organization and structure, making it challenging to manage and navigate.

Is Google Takeout Safe?

Yes, Google Takeout is 100% safe if the data stays. The tool is designed with the idea of protecting user data with utmost sincerity, and it archives the target. Not long ago, Google made it mandatory to use two-step verification so that nobody can access your account without your authorization. 

When you import Google Takeout data, the platform uses robust encryption protocols to maintain data security. However, once the data has been downloaded to your device, the safety depends on how you store and manage it. Protecting your account should be paramount because the entire data is associated with a single Google account. Also, avoid downloading data on public devices like shared devices, workplace computers, etc. 

Essentially, Google Takeout provides a secure framework. However, users must play their part in ensuring data remains safe beyond Google’s protective measures. 

Frequently Asked Questions:

Final Word:

Whether you want to download your emails and photos or transfer your Google content to another account or service, Google Takeout is a reliable solution. While it excels at streamlining personal Google data organization, better tools are available for professional use.

Considering its limitations with data formats and the handling of sensitive information, I would advise you to exercise caution when retrieving data from a sensitive Google account. Google Takeout is the perfect option for individual use to generate data backups and transfer the account content to alternative services.