How to Use Google Takeout Transfer

Overview

Google Takeout Transfer is a Google Workspace for Education feature that you can use to copy data from your F&M Gmail and Google Drive into your personal Google account, without deleting it from the original account. This tool is useful for graduating students who want to copy their files into their personal Google accounts.

 

Before you get started

A few key aspects to note:

  • The process creates copies of your data in the new account; it does not remove the data.
  • Google Transfer is enabled for students.
  • This is for Gmail and Drive files only.
  • The destination account must be a personal Google account. Make sure you have one before you get started.
  • Ensure your personal account has enough storage to accommodate the transferred data. Note the default (free) amount of storage in a personal Google account is 15 MB.
  • Before the transfer begins, you will need to verify the transfer with a code sent to your personal account.
  • Before you get started, make sure you are logged out of ALL Google accounts. Then log in, in the order detailed in this knowledge article.
  • The transfer process can take many hours, even days. Give yourself plenty of time to copy over the files. While the transfer is underway, do not attempt to access the files -- it may cause the transfer to fail.

 

How to

 

Transfer files

Start the transfer

1. If you don't already have a personal Google account, you will need to create that first. Keep in mind the storage limitations of a free, personal account (15GB).

2. Log into your F&M Google account. 

3. Go to takeout.google.com. This is the Google Takeout Transfer page.

4. Enter the email address of your personal account as Enter destination account.

5. Click Send code.

6. Open your personal email. We recommend doing this in an incognito window in your browser to avoid errors.

7. Locate the account verification email in your personal Gmail account.

8. Click Get confirmation code.

9. Copy the code.

10. Navigate back to the Google Takeout Transfer page you opened.

11. Paste the code in the Verify destination account field.

12. Click Verify.

13. Toggle which content you want to copy to your personal account. Note: You can only transfer Drive and Gmail files.

14. Click Start Transfer.

When transfer is complete, you will receive a confirmation email in your personal Gmail account. The email will come from noreply-account-migration@google.com. If you don't see the email, check your Spam/Junk. You can also check the status of your transfer on the Google Takeout Transfer page to see if the transfer is complete.

After the transfer

In Gmail, the tool applies two labels to all mail copied to your personal account:

  • School/work email address
  • Moved [DATE] 

In Drive, the tool places all copied files in a folder in your My Drive with the name School/work email [DATE]

Google Takeout does not delete the data you transferred from your F&M account. We recommend you compare your Google Takeout data with the original in your F&M account. If Takeout Transfer fails or data is missing, you may want to try the transfer process again or use Google Takeout to export your data to a .ZIP file that you can copy onto your computer or another file storage solution.

 

Important Notes

  • It is best to clean out your Gmail account and Drive before you start the transfer to reduce the amount of time it takes to copy your files over. The transfer process can take many hours, or even days. The more content you have, the longer it will take, and the slower the process will be. For this reason, it is best to reduce the amount of content you are copying. We recommend transferring Gmail and Drive separately.
  • If you do not want to copy the files into a personal Google account, you can also use Takeout to create a .ZIP file that you can save to your computer or another file storage solution. When you use Google Takeout to export your data, you can choose to download it as a .ZIP file. most computers can open .ZIP files, making it a convenient format for saving and access your exported data.
  • Google Takeout Transfer is available for Gmail and Drive.
    • You can only copy all of your mail or Drive content, not a sub-selection.
    • Google Shared Drive do not transfer.
  • You cannot stop the transfer after it starts. If you try to move or access these files while they are transferring, the transfer can fail.
  • Data sharing and permissions on your files are not retained.
  • Not everything will transfer, and some file settings may be altered. For example:
    • Email in your Trash will not transfer.
    • Google Forms will not be transferred.
    • Microsoft files are generally transferred.

 

The Help Desk

Need more help?  Contact us!

  • Enter a Service Request here on this page to route your request to the right expert.
  • Call the Help Desk at 717-358-6789.
  • Stop by and see us in Martin Science Library.

 

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