Google Takeout
to Transfer Drive & Gmail Content from School to Personal Account
Google Takeout Service
Since your school Google account will no longer be active after you
graduate, it is important for you to make a copy of your work in order to
take it with you. Google Takeout is a tool offered by Google that allows you
to download all of your work from the Drive and then take it with you.
Video Tutorial
Step by step instructions are available in this short tutorial video HERE.
Preparing to Copy & Transfer
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.
Transferrable Content
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, Google MyMaps & other third party content in Drive
Personal Google account
You will need a personal Google / Gmail account (must end in @gmail.com) to transfer your files to. If you
don’t already have one, visit https://accounts.google.com/SignUp to create your free account.
Using Google Takeout to Copy & Transfer your
Files
1. Sign in to your school Google account and go to
takeout.google.com/transfer
2. Enter the email address of the destination Google account - this is where
your files will by copied and saved to. NOTE: A personal Gmail account can be used OR, in some cases
you can transfer to another GSuite EDU account but only IF that school has this service turned on.
3. Click “Get Code” and a code will be sent to your personal account. NOTE: This code is only active for
24 hours.
4. Go to your personal email & copy the verification code to paste into the Takeout Menu
5. From your school account, return to takeout.google.com/transfer and paste in the verification code,
then choose “Verify”.
6. 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.
Details about Your Copied Files & Email
● 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)
○ Not all shared files copy over - only those that you have “Added to Drive”
○ 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.
