How do you download and delete your data with Google Takeout?
From photos to email, from location history to searches โ what's in your account? Download it all, and have what you don't need deleted automatically.
There's more data piled up in your Google account over the years than you think: emails, photos, contacts, calendar, location history, YouTube watch history, search records. Takeout lets you download all of it in a single archive.
The second job, just as important as downloading: putting the data you no longer want kept on automatic deletion. That way your history is cleaned up, and from then on it's deleted by itself after a set period.
- Time1 hour
- DifficultyEasy
- Steps8
๐งฐ What you need
- A Google account
- Enough disk space
- Patience (preparing the archive takes time)
Steps
- Go to the Takeout pageAfter signing in with your Google account, go to takeout.google.com. You're shown a list of all the services you can download.
- Choose which data you wantBy default everything is selected. Clicking 'Deselect all' and ticking only what you need makes the archive smaller and shortens the wait.๐ก Photos are the biggest item; downloading them as a separate archive is more practical.
- Set the file type and sizeChoose the compression format (zip/tgz) and the part size. Small parts download more safely on a slow connection.
- Create the archive and waitSend the request. Preparing the archive can take minutes or days depending on the size of your account; an email arrives when it's ready.
- Download it and back it upThe link is valid for a limited time. Download the archive and copy it to an external drive or somewhere you trust.
- Turn on automatic deletionIn the Data & privacy section of your Google account, set an automatic deletion period for Web & App Activity, Location History and YouTube History (3 months, for example).๐ก Automatic deletion doesn't only work going forward; it clears the past according to that period too.
- Remove unnecessary accessReview the third-party apps connected to your account; revoke the access permission of the ones you don't use.
- If you're going to close the account, keep to the orderIf you're thinking of deleting the account, first make sure you've downloaded the archive and moved the accounts that use two-step verification to another email address.๐ก Once the account is deleted, your Gmail address isn't given to anyone else, but it doesn't come back to you either.
โ This guide is general information. Yudum cannot be held responsible for the outcome of following it; for official procedures always rely on the institution's own statement. Steps and fees change over time.
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