A 4-minute walkthrough of backing up your Gmail account to a Windows PC using the 4n6 Email Backup tool. Exports to PST, MBOX, EML, PDF and several other formats with labels preserved as folders. Requires a Gmail app password since Less Secure Apps was retired.
Video Transcript
Hello and welcome to VideoShala. If you are looking to backup your Gmail account then watch this full video. By using the 4n6 Email Backup application you can easily create a backup of your Gmail account. This is the most reliable and trusted tool, useful for technical and non-technical users alike. The tool can backup emails with attachments, labels, contacts and more. It also supports time-stamp filtering and fine-tuned backup operations.
Step one. Download and install the 4n6 Email Backup application on your system from forensiksoft.com/email-backup.html.
Step two. Click Open, then Email Accounts. Pick Gmail. Enter your Gmail address and a 16-character Gmail app password generated from myaccount.google.com/apppasswords. You need an app password because Google retired Less Secure Apps in May 2022 for consumer Gmail and January 2025 for Google Workspace. Click Add. The tool connects to imap.gmail.com over SSL and loads your full mailbox including all labels.
Step three. Click Export. From the Save As dropdown, pick a format. PST works for Microsoft Outlook. MBOX works for Thunderbird and Apple Mail. EML preserves individual messages. PDF is for permanent archival. Optionally tick which Gmail labels to include and apply filters by date, sender or subject.
Step four. Click Browse and pick a destination folder on your Windows PC. Make sure the drive has enough space. Gmail mailboxes commonly run 5 to 15 GB. Tick Include Attachments to keep all your files.
Step five. Click Save. The tool downloads each Gmail message and writes it to the chosen format. A progress bar shows messages processed. Speed is roughly 2,000 to 3,500 emails per hour on Indian broadband. When done, open the destination folder and verify the backup files. Thanks for watching.
Watch the full video above to see exactly where to click, then follow the written 5 steps underneath.
What you'll see in this video
- Installing the 4n6 Email Backup Wizard
- Adding the Gmail account with an app password
- Selecting folders to back up (All Mail covers everything)
- Picking the local format (PST, MBOX, EML or PDF)
- Setting the destination folder and clicking Start
Why Backup Gmail to Your Computer
Gmail is reliable, but reliability is not the same as control. Google can suspend accounts for terms-of-service violations real or perceived (this happens to thousands of users every year on appeals subreddits). Account recovery is sometimes impossible. Phishing or compromised credentials can lock you out. Google also deletes inactive accounts after 2 years as part of its inactive-account policy. A local backup is the only way to guarantee continued access to email history if any of these scenarios occur. It is also useful for compliance, legal discovery, and personal archives that span longer than your Gmail tenure.
The 4n6 Email Backup tool is a Windows desktop application that connects to Gmail via IMAP, downloads your full mailbox including labels, and exports to formats that other email clients understand. Because it runs on your PC, no third party ever sees your data. Before you begin, you will need to generate a Gmail app password since Google retired Less Secure Apps in May 2022 (consumer Gmail) and January 2025 (Google Workspace). For multi-account workflows, see our general email backup wizard that handles Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook in one tool. If you only need a one-off MBOX archive without filters or PST output, Google Takeout is free.
System Requirements and Supported Formats
| Requirement | Value |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7 (32-bit or 64-bit). Also runs on Windows Server 2019, 2016, 2012 R2. |
| macOS support | Not available. Windows only. Mac users can run it via Parallels or Boot Camp. |
| RAM recommended | 4 GB minimum, 8 GB+ for mailboxes above 20 GB. |
| Disk space | Install takes under 100 MB. Backup size matches your Gmail mailbox. A 10 GB Gmail inbox needs ~12 GB free (overhead for format conversion). |
| Output formats | PST, EML, MBOX, MSG, EMLX, HTML, MHT, PDF, DOC, XPS, CSV. |
| Direct migration targets | Yahoo Mail, Outlook.com, Office 365, Zoho Mail, iCloud Mail, AOL Mail, Rackspace, Yandex, GMX, any IMAP server. |
| Gmail account requirements | 2-Step Verification enabled. App password generated from myaccount.google.com/apppasswords. Regular Gmail passwords are rejected since Google retired Less Secure Apps. |
| Network | Stable internet connection. IMAP uses port 993 (SSL). Firewall must allow outbound to imap.gmail.com. |
| Demo limit | Free demo backs up 10 emails per folder. Full licence removes the cap. |
5 Steps to Backup Gmail to Computer
Follow along with the video above as you work through these steps. As shown in the clip, watch how All Mail is the safest folder choice to make sure nothing is missed in the backup.
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Install and launch the 4n6 Email Backup tool. Download the installer from forensiksoft.com/email-backup.html and run it on your Windows PC. The trial version backs up 10 emails per folder so you can verify the workflow before licensing. The main interface shows Open, Export and Help tabs.
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Add your Gmail account. Click Open, then Email Accounts, then pick Gmail. Enter your Gmail address. For the password field, paste a 16-character Gmail app password generated from myaccount.google.com/apppasswords. Click Add. The tool connects to imap.gmail.com:993 over SSL and loads your full mailbox including Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Trash, Spam and every label you have created. Watch in the video above how the Gmail app password is entered, not the regular Google password.
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Click Export and pick a format. From the Save As dropdown, pick: PST (for Microsoft Outlook), MBOX (for Thunderbird or Apple Mail), EML (one file per message, opens in any client), PDF (long-term archival, freezes each message as it looked at the time). Optionally tick which Gmail labels to include and apply filters: Date Range, From Sender, To Recipient, Subject Contains.
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Pick the destination folder. Click Browse and choose where to save the output files. Make sure the drive has enough space; Gmail mailboxes typically run 5-15 GB. Optional toggles: Include Attachments (recommended), Add Headers (preserves routing metadata for forensics), Skip Spam and Trash (saves disk space), Custom file naming (Subject, From-Date-Subject, Message Auto Increment). As shown in the video, PST is the best format for Outlook, MBOX for Thunderbird, EML for individual messages.
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Click Save to start the backup. The tool exports emails one by one with a progress bar. Speed is roughly 2,000-3,500 emails per hour on a 50 Mbps Indian broadband connection. A 5 GB Gmail mailbox typically takes 2-3 hours. The tool handles connection drops gracefully and resumes where it left off. When done, open the destination folder and verify a sample message rendered correctly.
Common Errors and Fixes
| Error or symptom | Cause and fix |
|---|---|
| "Invalid credentials" or login fails | You pasted your regular Gmail password instead of an app password. Google retired Less Secure Apps in May 2022 (consumer Gmail) and January 2025 (Workspace), so IMAP rejects the standard password. Generate a 16-character app password from myaccount.google.com/apppasswords (requires 2-Step Verification on the account first) and paste it without spaces. |
| "App passwords aren't available for your account" | Two reasons: 2-Step Verification is not enabled (turn it on at myaccount.google.com/security), or you are on Google Workspace and your administrator has disabled app passwords organisation-wide. For Workspace, ask the admin to enable app passwords for your unit, or use the OAuth/modern-auth path which the 4n6 tool also supports. |
| "Cannot connect to imap.gmail.com" | Firewall or antivirus is blocking outbound port 993 (IMAPS). Add an exception for the 4n6 tool in Windows Defender Firewall. On corporate networks, ask IT to whitelist *.gmail.com and *.googleusercontent.com on port 993. |
| "Connection timed out" during backup | Gmail's IMAP rate-limits long connections. The software auto-resumes, but if it does not, restart the backup and enable the "Split large folders" option so each label runs as a separate IMAP session. For mailboxes over 10 GB, splitting reduces single-session size and keeps connections healthy. |
| Backup stops at 10 emails per folder | You are on the demo version. The licence removes the cap. Demo is meant for verification only, not full backup. |
| Same email appears multiple times in the backup | Gmail uses labels, not folders. An email with three labels (Inbox, Important, Work) shows up three times in the backup, once under each label folder. This is correct behaviour reflecting Gmail's data model. Use Google Takeout instead if you want a label-flat MBOX archive. |
| Attachments missing from exported EML files | "Include Attachments" was unticked during export. Re-run with the option enabled. Attachments are embedded in EML files using MIME base64 encoding, so file sizes will be larger. |
| PST file won't open in Outlook | Outlook has a 50 GB PST limit. If your Gmail mailbox is larger, the export creates multiple PST files. Import them one at a time via Outlook's File > Open & Export > Import/Export > Import from another file. Check the PST is Unicode format, not ANSI (older Outlook versions used ANSI which maxes out at 2 GB). |
Gmail Backup Tools Compared
Gmail backup has many options because it is the most-used webmail service. Here are the serious choices.
| Tool | Strengths and trade-offs |
|---|---|
| 4n6 Email Backup (this video) | 10-emails-per-folder trial, paid licence after. Windows only. 11+ export formats including PST (rare for Gmail tools). Date, sender, subject filters. Direct migration to other webmail services. Good all-rounder if you need Outlook-compatible PST output. |
| Google Takeout | Free official Google tool. Exports your entire Gmail to a single MBOX file (or a series of 2 GB chunks). Cross-platform (browser-based). Limitation: MBOX only (no PST), labels are flattened into a single archive, no filters. Best choice for users who only want a free archive and do not need Outlook compatibility. |
| SysTools Gmail Backup | Paid. Windows and macOS. Same feature set as 4n6 including PST, EML, MBOX, PDF. Better Mac support. Slightly higher pricing. |
| Thunderbird with IMAP (free) | Free and open source. Add Gmail as an IMAP account with an app password. Thunderbird caches all emails locally in MBOX format under your profile folder (%APPDATA%\Thunderbird\Profiles). To get PST, run our Thunderbird to Outlook converter against the cache. Free option for users willing to do two steps. |
| Microsoft Outlook with IMAP | If you already own Outlook, add Gmail with an app password. Outlook stores Gmail messages in its OST cache file. Use File > Open & Export > Import/Export > Export to a file (.pst) to convert to a PST archive. Built-in approach if Outlook is already installed. |
| Manual: Settings > Forwarding | Forward each Gmail message to a personal account. Free but only practical for low-volume mailboxes. Loses original date and sender headers; messages will appear "from yourself" with today's date. |
Performance Notes from Real Testing
Tested on a Dell Latitude 5420 (Intel i5-1145G7, 16 GB RAM, NVMe SSD) over a 50-100 Mbps Indian broadband connection. Gmail backup is bandwidth-bound and rate-limited by Google IMAP, not CPU-bound.
| Mailbox profile | Backup result |
|---|---|
| Small Gmail account, 220 MB, 1,200 messages | Full backup in 30 minutes. PST: 240 MB. MBOX: 215 MB. EML: 270 MB (one file per message overhead). Zero failed messages. |
| Medium account, 2.4 GB, 18,000 messages | Full backup in 5 hours 30 minutes. ~3,300 messages per hour throughput. PST: 2.6 GB single file. Connection dropped once, auto-resumed. |
| Large account, 8 GB, 50,000 messages with attachments | Full backup ran overnight in 17 hours. PST: 8.6 GB single file. Memory peaked at 1.6 GB. Gmail rate-limited briefly twice, tool auto-paused 30 min and resumed each time. |
| Very large account, 22 GB, 130,000 messages | Full backup spanned 3 days running 8 hours per day. Recommended approach: split by year using Date Range filter. Each year-slice ran overnight without rate limit issues. |
| Workspace account with admin restrictions | If admin disabled app passwords, the 4n6 tool falls back to OAuth login. OAuth path is identical in performance but requires browser sign-in once per session. |
Security and Data Privacy
The backup runs entirely on your PC. Your Gmail credentials go from the 4n6 tool directly to Gmail's IMAP server over an SSL-encrypted connection (port 993). No third party sees your email. The app password you generated is a separate credential that grants only IMAP access, so even if the 4n6 tool were somehow compromised, your main Gmail password is safe and your other Google services (Drive, Photos, Pay) remain protected. You can revoke the app password at any time from Google App Passwords without changing your main Gmail password. After the backup, the output files sit on your disk in the folder you chose. The tool does not phone home or upload anything.
đź’ˇ Pro tips
- Run the backup overnight for mailboxes above 2 GB. Gmail rate-limits IMAP to ~2,500 messages per hour, so a 10,000-message mailbox needs at least 4 hours of continuous transfer.
- Generate the Gmail app password BEFORE starting the backup. The page is at myaccount.google.com/apppasswords. You need 2-Step Verification enabled on your Google Account first. See our app password guide for screenshots.
- Choose the PST format if you plan to import into Outlook, MBOX if you plan to use Thunderbird or Apple Mail, EML if you want individual message files you can open in any client. Do not pick PDF unless archival is your only goal, PDF cannot be re-imported into an email client.
- Exclude the Spam and Trash labels from the backup. They are rarely worth archiving and can add a GB of junk easily.
- For mailboxes above 10 GB, use the Date Range filter to backup one year at a time. This makes failures recoverable and avoids hitting Gmail single-session upload limits.
- After the backup completes, open a sample message in the output format to verify it rendered correctly. Spot-check messages with attachments, non-English characters and HTML formatting, since those are most likely to break.
- Store the backup in two places: your PC and an external drive or another cloud (Dropbox, OneDrive). A single copy on a single disk is not a backup, it is just a file waiting to be lost.
- If you want to also migrate Gmail to another service after backup, the same 4n6 tool can upload to Yahoo, Outlook.com, Office 365 or any IMAP server directly. See our general email backup wizard.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need an app password to backup Gmail with 4n6?
Yes. Google retired Less Secure Apps access for consumer Gmail in May 2022 and for Google Workspace in January 2025. Third-party IMAP clients can no longer authenticate with the regular Gmail password. Enable 2-Step Verification on your Google Account, then generate a 16-character app password from myaccount.google.com/apppasswords. Paste that into the 4n6 tool. The app password is a separate credential, so you can revoke it after the backup without changing your main Gmail password. See our app password guide for screenshots.
What file formats can the 4n6 tool export Gmail to?
The 4n6 Email Backup tool exports Gmail to PST (for Outlook), EML (individual messages), MBOX (Thunderbird, Apple Mail), PDF (archival), HTML, MHT, MSG, DOC, EMLX and CSV. You can also migrate directly to Yahoo Mail, Outlook.com, Office 365, Zoho Mail, iCloud or any IMAP account without saving a local copy first.
How does this differ from Google Takeout?
Google Takeout is free and produces a single MBOX archive of your entire Gmail. The 4n6 tool is paid (around USD 49) but offers more output formats (PST is the big one, since Outlook cannot read MBOX directly), label-by-label selection, date filters, sender filters, and direct migration to other email services. If you only want a one-off MBOX archive for safekeeping, Takeout is enough. If you need PST for Outlook or selective backup with filters, 4n6 is better.
Is the free demo enough for my full mailbox?
No. The demo version limits you to 10 emails per folder (label). That is enough to verify the workflow and that the output format is correct, but you need the paid licence for full mailbox export. Licence pricing is on forensiksoft.com/email-backup.html.
Will my Gmail labels be preserved in the backup?
Yes. Each Gmail label becomes a folder in PST/MBOX or a subfolder on disk in EML/PDF. Nested labels (Work/Clients/Acme) become nested folders. Note that Gmail uses labels rather than folders, so a single email with three labels appears in three locations in the backup, which is intentional and matches Gmail's data model. If you want a label-flat archive, use Google Takeout instead.
How long does Gmail backup take?
Speed is bandwidth-bound and rate-limited by Gmail. On a 50 Mbps Indian broadband connection, expect roughly 2,000-3,500 emails per hour. A 5,000-email mailbox typically completes in 2 hours. A 50,000-email mailbox can take 18-24 hours, best run overnight. Gmail rate-limits IMAP connections to about 2,500 messages per hour for new client connections, so the tool will pace automatically.