Two Options to Take Your Google Content with You
Google users have two options for taking their Google content with them when leaving their organization. Once enabled by your administrator via the Admin Console, you can either download a copy of all of your stuff, or directly transfer to another Google account outside of your school. Since Takeout creates a COPY of your content, it can be done at anytime either to create a backup or to bring your files and data with you as you leave. Since a copy is made, all of your Google contents remain in the originating school account.
Option 1: Direct Transfer to Another with Google Takeout Transfer
Google Takeout Transfer allows users to migrate Drive and Gmail, from a school account to a personal Google account or Google Workspace account. This means graduating Seniors or teachers exiting the district can take their content with them. Because files are copied, they will NOT be deleted from your school Google account, so it’s safe to do this process anytime. If your new organization doesn’t allow direct transfer, no problem! Since Drive files go into a labeled folder, you can transfer into a personal account and then just share the entire folder contents with your new organizational account. See the video tutorial embedded below or click HERE to access printable instructions.
Steps for Migrating Data with Takeout Transfer
- Sign in to your school Google account and go to takeout.google.com/transfer.
- Enter the email address of the destination Google account – this is where your files will by copied and saved to.
- Click “Get Code” and a code will be sent to your personal account. NOTE: This code is only active for 24 hours.
- Go to your personal email & copy the verification code to paste into the Takeout Menu. From your school account, return to takeout.google.com/transfer and paste in the verification code, then choose “Verify”.
- Choose the content you want to copy. You will have the option to copy Google Drive contents as well as email messages. Gmail contacts and to-do lists will not be transferred. Click “Start Transfer” to initiate. This process can take up to a week, but you will receive an email notification in your personal Gmail account once it’s complete.
Google Takeout Transfer Tutorial Video
Option 2: Export Google Data for Use in Other Applications with Google Takeout Classic
For users leaving a Google environment, the Transfer method described above is not an option, however, Google data can also be exported as a .zip file to use in another service, such as Microsoft Office. This “classic” version of Google Takeout allows users to select the services they wish to export data from and the data is saved into a .zip file that is sent via email to the user. As with the Transfer process detailed above, this can be done at anytime since files are being copied, not deleted. Unlike Transfer, when exporting via .zip file your content is converted to a non-Google, universal standard format. For example, Drive contents are exported as Microsoft Office format and services like Calendar convert to iCalendar format. Takeout also allows users to granularly select not only which Google services but also the specific data you want to copy.
Steps for Exporting using Google Takeout Classic
- Navigate to https://takeout.google.com/ from the account you wish to export data
- Choose the Google services you wish to include. NOTE: It is suggested that you “Deselect All” and only choose the services you need.
- Choose the File Type, destination and frequency. Since this option works well for backing up data, you can set this to run every 2 months for a year or just once.
- Click “Create Export” and the .zip file(s) will be sent to the email you provided within about 24 hours. Depending on the amount of content you are exporting, this may arrive in one or multiple .zip files.
Tips for Preparing to Takeout
Get Organized
Prior to transferring your files, take time to organize your folders and remove files you do not want to transfer. Once you are ready to transfer files using Google Takeout, your files will be copied into your personal account maintaining the same folder structure / organization as they have in your school account. If you have a large number of files, it will take some time for Google Takeout to copy the contents of your entire Google Drive.
What Will be Transferred
- Files in Folders in Google Drive that are OWNED by you
- Shared files that have been “Added to Drive” will be copied but the new file will NOT shared with collaborators
What will NOT Transfer
- Images stored under “Google Photos”
- “Shared with Me” Files that have NOT been “Added to Drive”
- Google Sites, Google Forms & MyMaps or other third party content in Drive
Details about Your Copied Content in Takeout Transfer
Gmail
- All copied messages will be labeled with your school account name and the date you started the copy process.
- Contacts and tasks will NOT transfer
Google Drive
- All content will be copied into a folder labeled with your school account name and the date you initiated the copy process.
- You will become the owner of ALL the copied files. This does NOT change ownership of the original files in your school account that may be shared)
- Comments are copied but revision history is not
- Permission on copied files will be set to “private”, but you can change the sharing settings if you choose.
- All of your school content will remain in your Google Drive so this process can be used to backup Google Drive anytime.
- Not all shared files copy over – only those that you have “Added to Drive”
- Content that will NOT copy over: Google Sites, Google Forms, MyMaps & images stored in Google Photos or other third party content in Drive
