How to Restore Google Takeout Emails & Data to Gmail – Easy Guide

Google Takeout, provided by Google officially, is a tool used to backup Gmail emails and other Google services. It exports Gmail emails to MBOX format along with messages, attachments, and labels. However, it does not provide a direct method to reverse move emails from Google Takeout to Gmail.

What are the Reasons to Transfer Google Takeout Data Back in Gmail?

The following are the prominent reasons why users need to restore Google Takeout MBOX back:

• First and foremost, if the user had a backup or archive file of Gmail in MBOX using Google Takeout. Restoring data back may involve reorganizing emails in the active account.
• Another significant cause can be switching from one Gmail account to another. Hence, to prevent losing old conversations, contacts, and email data when changing accounts.
• Users download Gmail data as a precautionary measure during account deletion and suspension. However, to restore them to a new alternate account, one needs to upload Google Takeout MBOX to Gmail.
• Besides, many users do this to reactivate the archived Gmail emails or for simplified email management.

Best Ways to Restore Google Takeout Data to Gmail

There are individual procedures to restore Gmail emails, contacts, and calendars. In this section, we will discuss multiple effective solutions that can help you export Google data from Takeout to Gmail. Explore steps one by one.

Move Emails from Google Takeout to Gmail

Follow the procedure given to restore emails from Google Takeout to Gmail:

1. Take the help of a desktop email client like Thunderbird, which supports both IMAP configuration and MBOX.
2. Now, open Thunderbird and configure your Gmail account via IMAP.
3. Install the ImportExportTools NG add-on in Thunderbird. This will help to import the MBOX file.
4. Right-click on Local Folder > ImportExportTools NG > Import MBOX Files > choose file.
5. Wait till the MBOX import is complete.
6. Next, drag and drop emails from Thunderbird Local Folders to your Gmail account.
7. Finally, Mozilla Thunderbird will sync all emails from Google Takeout to your Gmail.

However, this process may take longer than usual, depending on the volume of data you are transferring. Also, this is restricted to moving only emails. For other Google data, read further.

Transfer Contacts from Google Takeout to Gmail

Follow the steps below to import Contacts to Google Contacts:

1. Firstly, unzip the VCF file from the Google Takeout Backup folder.
2. On your PC, go to contacts.google.com.
3. In the Google Contacts wizard, click on Import (on the left).
4. Click on Select file and choose the .vcf file (unzipped in Step 1).
5. At last, click on Import to complete the process.

Restore Calendar Events from Google Takeout

To retrieve calendar events and schedule, follow the steps:

1. Before proceeding, extract the calendar file (ICS) from the Takeout folder.
2. Next, search and go to calendar.google.com.
3. Click on the gear icon (top-right) > choose Settings.
4. After that, from the left menu, select the option ‘Import & Export’.
5. Under the Import section, click on ‘Select file from your computer’.
6. Now, find and select the .ics file (you saved in Step 1).
7. Finally, choose the destination calendar and click on Import.

Transfer Google Drive Files from Takeout

To restore Google Drive data, here is the process:

1. Visit drive.google.com.
2. Simply, drag and drop drive files/folders saved on your PC to Google Drive. Or, use the File Upload option.

Note: You can alternatively run the Google Drive for Desktop app on your PC. Sync the application with your Google account and upload files from your local Takeout folder directly.

Restore Google Takeout to Gmail- Code-Based Method

The code-based method is for users who prefer a more technical approach. With this, you can restore emails from Google Takeout to Gmail programmatically. It uses Google APIs and custom scripts for restoration.

However, you must know these prerequisites:

• You must be familiar with Google APIs and Google Cloud Console.
• Access to Python and libraries is important, like- google-api-python-client for scripting.
• A place to host the scripts is required. Cloud Shell, Cloud Functions, or Compute Engine each has their limitations.
• Additionally, Google Takeout data has to be at a location accessible by a script. This means storing the files in Cloud Storage.

Now, the platform is ready to restore Google Account data from Google Takeout.

Here’s the basic process:

1. First of all, download data from Google Takeout (MBOX, VCF, ICS files, etc.) and save it to a folder on your PC.
2. Then, create a project in Google Cloud Console.
3. Expand the option APIs & Services (from Left) > choose Library.
4. Search for APIs that you want to restore, be it the Google Drive API, Gmail API, or People API.
5. Choose the appropriate API and click on the Enable button.
6. Go back to Google Cloud Console > APIs & Services > Credentials.
7. Further, click on the option ‘Create Credentials’ and choose OAuth client ID.
8. Choose ‘Desktop app’ as the application type if you’re running the script on your computer.
9. Next, follow the prompts on the screen to create your OAuth ID and download the ‘client_secret.json file.’
10. If not installed already, install Python on your system.
11. After that, set up the required Python libraries like google-api-python-client, google-auth-oauthlib, or google-auth-httplib2.

However, you must be attentive to the API usage limits and verify that the data is restored in the respective Google service. Moreover, the process is complex and time-consuming, especially for non-technical users. Therefore, for organizational setups, these procedures are not effective.

Alternative Tool to Restore Emails from Google Takeout to Gmail

When none of the manual methods worked well for you, here is a powerful software. Aryson MBOX Migrator Tool is the best solution to import Google Takeout to Gmail. You simply need to save emails from Google Takeout to MBOX format and process them in the software.

You can batch restore multiple MBOX files to Gmail at a time and have no limitations. The software is developed with a high-tech algorithm, supporting fast processing and preventing data loss. Furthermore, with the user-interactive GUI of the software, you do not have to go through complex steps.

Steps to Restore Google Takeout MBOX to Gmail

Download the software on your PC and follow the steps below:

1. Install the software and run it on your PC.
2. Add MBOX files extracted from Google Takeout.
3. On the preview panel, see added files, their emails, and more.
4. Next, choose the destination as Gmail from the list.
5. Enter details and log in to your Gmail account.
6. After that, to eliminate some unwanted data, apply filters.
7. Click on Convert, and finally, migration begins.

You can open Gmail on your system and check if the data is restored successfully or not.

Please Note That:

Only emails from Gmail are saved in MBOX format. Thus, to import other types of data from Google Takeout to Gmail (like contacts and calendar), you can use the following software:

• VCF to CSV Converter for Contacts
• ICS Calendar for Calendar events.

Conclusion

It’s not everyone’s cup of tea to handle the Gmail data restoration. Although it’s easy to backup Gmail data via Google Takeout, restoring it is doubly challenging. Therefore, this blog explains all solutions on how to restore emails from Google Takeout to Gmail, along with other data. Depending on your requirement and data type, you can choose an appropriate solution- manual or professional.

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