How to Restore Google Takeout Data – Resolved

  author
Rollins Duke   
Published: December 14th, 2023 • 6 Min Read

Google Takeout is an export tool made by the Google Data Liberation Front (an engineering team at Google), allowing Google users to export their account data into an archive file i.e., ZIP or TGZ. If you are a Google user looking for solutions to restore Google Takeout data, this blog post is for you! We will discuss the reasons and methods to restore Google Takeout emails back to Google Mail account. Keep reading the blog to know everything!

Reasons For Restoring Google Takeout Data

Many reasons necessitate Google Takeout data restoration, and we will discuss them in the following points:

  • Data Loss: If you have accidentally deleted important emails and other data from your Google account, you can retrieve it from the Google Takeout archive file. Therefore, it becomes critical to restore Google Takeout data.
  • Restricted Account Access: Another reason to restore Google Takeout mailboxes is instant access to emails and other files when your account gets restricted due to unknown email login attempts and delayed password changing.
  • Disaster Recovery: The third reason to restore Google Takeout data is to have a Google account backup in case of technical issues from Google’s end or cyberattacks, leading to data loss. Restoring Google Takeout data helps you access crucial emails and other data files for sharing with your colleagues and friends.
  • Legal Adherence: Another reason to restore emails from Google Takeout is to have a backup for legal compliance. Many nations demand a backup of a company’s critical data for reviewing through strict data laws, and having a backup of Google Takeout data will aid with meeting all legal requirements about data maintenance.

These reasons describe the necessity to restore Google Takeout data, and we will now explore the solutions. Keep reading the blog and know them all!

How to Restore Google Takeout Data?

We will explore the solutions for restoring Google Takeout data in the upcoming sections, beginning with the manual methods, followed by the professional ones.

Before we begin, here’s an important note: Google Takeout is mainly the data export tool for Google data. It doesn’t offer the option to restore Google data. But don’t worry! We will discuss the best methods to restore emails from Google Takeout backup.

Manual Solution

The best way to manually restore data from Google Takeout, particularly Gmail emails, is by using the Thunderbird desktop application. Google Takeout allows to export MBOX from Gmail, and viewing them is challenging if you try to view them without the Thunderbird app.

The following steps highlight the process to restore Google Takeout data (mainly emails) in Thunderbird:

  1. Open the Thunderbird app on your computer or install it.
  2. Add an email account (Gmail or Outlook) using the IMAP settings and create a new folder for the Gmail MBOX email file.
  3. Right-click on the added email account, click on Settings, and copy the location of the added email account under the Local Directory box in the Server Settings window.
  4. Open the profile location using the Run command, copy the MBOX file, and restart the Thunderbird app to view it under the folder you created for the Gmail emails.

This method for restoring Google Takeout data (mainly emails) is time-consuming and involves Thunderbird installation. Hence, using this method to retrieve data from Google Takeout is avoidable.

Restore Google Takeout Data Automatically

Since the manual solution to restore Google Takeout data (emails) is not usable due to the technicalities involved, we will discuss the best-automated method to fix Google Takeout emails back to Gmail and Google Workspace accounts. The software we discuss here has many features, and one of them is a bulk restore. This software is BitRecover Google Takeout Converter Wizard.

Google Takeout MBOX Restore Tool Benefits

  • Multiple Format Conversion: This software can restore Google Takeout data (emails) in various formats: PST, PDF, HTML, TXT, and other document formats. It can also restore data from Takeout (emails) to cloud email services and desktop clients like Yahoo, Outlook, Thunderbird, and Gmail.
  • Preserve Mailbox Structure: The software maintains the folder structure of the MBOX file during the conversion process, meaning that the emails in folders like Sent and Starred stay intact during the migration to other formats.
  • Selective Folder Migration: The software helps you restore Google Takeout emails selectively by providing the option to select desired folders for migration to other formats.

Restore Google Takeout Data Using Software

  1. Run the Google Takeout MBOX restore tool and add Google Takeout MBOX in GUI.
    Run Google Takeout MBOX restore tool
  2. Select the required Google Takeout mailboxes and click the Next button.
    Select folders
  3. Select Gmail as a saving option from multiple choices.
    Select Gmail
  4. Enter your Gmail account credentials i.e., Email Address and App Password.
    Restore Google Takeout data
  5. Hit the Convert button to start restoring Google Takeout emails in Gmail.
    Google Takeout restore

Know Mandatory Settings

Before using this software to restore and import Google Takeout to Gmail or Google Workspace account. This is mandatory to enable Gmail IMAP Settings and generate App Password. Google Takeout MBOX restore tool uses App Password instead of a normal password to complete authentication.

Conclusion

Google Takeout is a data export tool made for Google users for easy data export. This blog explored the reasons and solutions to restore Google Takeout data, especially emails. The reasons mentioned in the blog show the necessity to urgently retrieve data from Google Takeout, mainly emails. The solutions described in the blog are perfect for restoring Google Takeout data. The manual solution, having Thunderbird as the data restoration source, looks best for restoring Takeout data. However, the limitations restrict its usage every time.

The automated software described in the blog becomes the perfect answer to restore Google Takeout emails and bring them back to your account. With the facility to convert MBOX files to various formats and intact folder structure, this software comfortably restores Google Takeout emails without data loss.