{"slug": "google-takeout", "name": "Google Takeout", "category": "files", "category_name": "Files, sync and backup", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 10, "warners": 5, "score": -1.211, "rising": 0.35, "first": "2025-12-30", "latest": "2026-09-21", "why": "I've never had a problem with Google Takeout the multiple times I've used it.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 3, "compare": 0, "warn": 4}, "spark": [0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I've never had a problem with Google Takeout the multiple times I've used it.", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://takeout.google.com", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Google Takeout"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 793598433, "item_id": 49599902, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49599902", "by": "juswilvel", "date": "2026-09-07", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "then Google Takeout to verify the message set before deleting anything", "excerpt": "I literally just finished doing this with multiple years of Gmail. I used Thunderbird local folders for the archive, then Google Takeout to verify the message set before deleting anything. I also hashed the final MBOX copies before removing the originals. A little tedious, but it worked really well.", "context": "", "use_case": "export and verify emails", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Best way to archive 25 years of emails"}, {"id": 753866560, "item_id": 47116660, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47116660", "by": "zythyx", "date": "2026-02-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've never had a problem with Google Takeout the multiple times I've used it.", "excerpt": "I've never had a problem with Google Takeout the multiple times I've used it. Perhaps try making the compressed files smaller (You can choose to make them 1gb or greater, last time I used it), you might need to download 75 files, but it's better than 1 big file.", "context": "", "use_case": "Exporting account data", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google restricting Google AI Pro/Ultra subscribers for using OpenClaw"}, {"id": 749457745, "item_id": 46841109, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46841109", "by": "Trasmatta", "date": "2026-01-31", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "periodically do a full Google Takeout of your images", "excerpt": "I went down the same rabbit hole recently, and there are basically no good options except to periodically do a full Google Takeout of your images. There were tools that used to work, but Google broke them. One of the many reasons I finally moved off Google Photos.", "context": "", "use_case": "Exporting photo backups", "switched_from": "", "story": "My Ridiculously Robust Photo Management System (Immich Edition)"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 796689649, "item_id": 49793103, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49793103", "by": "jmathai", "date": "2026-09-21", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Agree - it's annoying.", "excerpt": "Agree - it's annoying. rclone to the rescue. Requires choosing Google Drive as the destination and then downloading with rclone to your computer. It's the closest to sane I've found. https://metadatafixer.com/learn/how-to-download-google-takeout-reliably", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Noodle Gallery \u2013 Self-hosted photo and video manager forked from Immich"}, {"id": 780371632, "item_id": 48773227, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48773227", "by": "troupo", "date": "2026-07-03", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "they are black boxes that don't make things easy or convenient for people", "excerpt": "> No. They're not. You export photos using Google Takeout, iCloud has something similar. So, they are black boxes that don't make things easy or convenient for people. E.g. Google Takeout separates images and their metadata. With people running into issues like this: https://www.reddit.com/r/googlephotos/comments/1lqx331/google_takeout_missing_metadata_for_80_of_my/ (as comments point out, Google just randomly change", "context": "", "use_case": "Photo data export", "switched_from": "", "story": "Immich v3.0.0 Released"}, {"id": 757755777, "item_id": 47359736, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47359736", "by": "backrun", "date": "2026-03-12", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Technically complete, practically unreadable for day-to-day work.", "excerpt": "The biggest problem when you export Gemini chat isn't finding a method \u2014 it's that almost every method destroys your formatting. Code blocks collapse into plain text. Tables fall apart. Bold and italic disappear. I went through every option available and documented exactly what breaks and what doesn't. 1. Manual copy-paste (everyone's default) Paste into Word: gray backgrounds, broken tables, lost structure. Paste wi", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": null}, {"id": 742903778, "item_id": 46431486, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46431486", "by": "ggambetta", "date": "2025-12-30", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "the only way to backup is via Takeout. It's terrible.", "excerpt": "I switched to Gmail in 2007 or so. I used to have a gzipped mbox of my previous emails, dating back to maybe 1996 or 1997 when I got my first email account. This file was lost at some point, and I'm really sad about it. In some ways, it's like losing years and years of a journal, conversations I had with people, how I thought about the world at that age, etc. It's a huge loss to me. About OP's tool, I also back up my", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Incremental Backups of Gmail Takeouts"}]}], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["export and verify emails", "photo data export", "exporting account data", "exporting photo backups"], "compared": [{"slug": "google-photos", "name": "Google Photos", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49787684", "title": "Noodle Gallery \u2013 Self-hosted photo and video manager forked from Immich", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46794971", "title": "My Ridiculously Robust Photo Management System (Immich Edition)", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46384153", "title": "Incremental Backups of Gmail Takeouts", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49489306", "title": "Ask HN: Best way to archive 25 years of emails", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49548452", "title": "Google Antigravity TOS: 3rd party usage can get Google account suspended", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48761944", "title": "Immich v3.0.0 Released", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {"warn": 2}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-03": {"warn": 1}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"warn": 1}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 2, "recommend": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 796689649, "item_id": 49793103, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49793103", "by": "jmathai", "date": "2026-09-21", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Agree - it's annoying.", "excerpt": "Agree - it's annoying. rclone to the rescue. Requires choosing Google Drive as the destination and then downloading with rclone to your computer. It's the closest to sane I've found. https://metadatafixer.com/learn/how-to-download-google-takeout-reliably", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Noodle Gallery \u2013 Self-hosted photo and video manager forked from Immich"}, {"id": 796681553, "item_id": 49792597, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49792597", "by": "jmathai", "date": "2026-09-21", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "you can request a Google Takeout of your photos", "excerpt": "There's plenty of tutorials but you can request a Google Takeout of your photos and then point immich-go at it. I can confirm that this works really well. https://takeout.google.com/?pli=1 https://github.com/simulot/immich-go", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Noodle Gallery \u2013 Self-hosted photo and video manager forked from Immich"}, {"id": 793598433, "item_id": 49599902, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49599902", "by": "juswilvel", "date": "2026-09-07", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "then Google Takeout to verify the message set before deleting anything", "excerpt": "I literally just finished doing this with multiple years of Gmail. I used Thunderbird local folders for the archive, then Google Takeout to verify the message set before deleting anything. I also hashed the final MBOX copies before removing the originals. A little tedious, but it worked really well.", "context": "", "use_case": "export and verify emails", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Best way to archive 25 years of emails"}, {"id": 792874352, "item_id": 49554647, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49554647", "by": "mhitza", "date": "2026-09-03", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Google takeout should be a last option even for banned accounts", "excerpt": "I hope this page can provide some guidance in the appeal process https://transparency.google/intl/en-GB_in/tools-programs/reporting-and-appeals/ If not directly through what is offered there, under the DSA (eu citizens and residents) have further ways to appeal their decision, and also Google takeout should be a last option even for banned accounts. If you have any luck post a followup on HN to guide other users havi", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Antigravity TOS: 3rd party usage can get Google account suspended"}, {"id": 780371632, "item_id": 48773227, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48773227", "by": "troupo", "date": "2026-07-03", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "they are black boxes that don't make things easy or convenient for people", "excerpt": "> No. They're not. You export photos using Google Takeout, iCloud has something similar. So, they are black boxes that don't make things easy or convenient for people. E.g. Google Takeout separates images and their metadata. With people running into issues like this: https://www.reddit.com/r/googlephotos/comments/1lqx331/google_takeout_missing_metadata_for_80_of_my/ (as comments point out, Google just randomly change", "context": "", "use_case": "Photo data export", "switched_from": "", "story": "Immich v3.0.0 Released"}, {"id": 757755777, "item_id": 47359736, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47359736", "by": "backrun", "date": "2026-03-12", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Technically complete, practically unreadable for day-to-day work.", "excerpt": "The biggest problem when you export Gemini chat isn't finding a method \u2014 it's that almost every method destroys your formatting. Code blocks collapse into plain text. Tables fall apart. Bold and italic disappear. I went through every option available and documented exactly what breaks and what doesn't. 1. Manual copy-paste (everyone's default) Paste into Word: gray backgrounds, broken tables, lost structure. Paste wi", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": null}, {"id": 753866560, "item_id": 47116660, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47116660", "by": "zythyx", "date": "2026-02-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've never had a problem with Google Takeout the multiple times I've used it.", "excerpt": "I've never had a problem with Google Takeout the multiple times I've used it. Perhaps try making the compressed files smaller (You can choose to make them 1gb or greater, last time I used it), you might need to download 75 files, but it's better than 1 big file.", "context": "", "use_case": "Exporting account data", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google restricting Google AI Pro/Ultra subscribers for using OpenClaw"}, {"id": 749463585, "item_id": 46841474, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46841474", "by": "9x39", "date": "2026-01-31", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "You could manually do it with Google Takeout", "excerpt": "Presumably you take your photos on your phone, so can you sync from there? You could manually do it with Google Takeout -> <S3 backed service> before letting your phone sync handle it going forward if that\u2019s a big backlog. For example, I use Apple and Google on my phone to do this, I think you\u2019d just need to find some app/service combo.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "My Ridiculously Robust Photo Management System (Immich Edition)"}, {"id": 749457745, "item_id": 46841109, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46841109", "by": "Trasmatta", "date": "2026-01-31", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "periodically do a full Google Takeout of your images", "excerpt": "I went down the same rabbit hole recently, and there are basically no good options except to periodically do a full Google Takeout of your images. There were tools that used to work, but Google broke them. One of the many reasons I finally moved off Google Photos.", "context": "", "use_case": "Exporting photo backups", "switched_from": "", "story": "My Ridiculously Robust Photo Management System (Immich Edition)"}, {"id": 742903778, "item_id": 46431486, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46431486", "by": "ggambetta", "date": "2025-12-30", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "the only way to backup is via Takeout. It's terrible.", "excerpt": "I switched to Gmail in 2007 or so. I used to have a gzipped mbox of my previous emails, dating back to maybe 1996 or 1997 when I got my first email account. This file was lost at some point, and I'm really sad about it. In some ways, it's like losing years and years of a journal, conversations I had with people, how I thought about the world at that age, etc. It's a huge loss to me. About OP's tool, I also back up my", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Incremental Backups of Gmail Takeouts"}, {"id": 742899409, "item_id": 46431213, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46431213", "by": "jinnko", "date": "2025-12-30", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "wrangle those 50GB takeout dumps", "excerpt": "I haven't used it for a while, but imapsync[0] still supports Gmail. With an approach like this you can regularly sync and get your messages in a standard format. Plus you don't have to wrangle those 50GB takeout dumps. 0: https://imapsync.lamiral.info/FAQ.d/FAQ.Gmail.txt", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Incremental Backups of Gmail Takeouts"}]}