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May 8, 2013

Use Google Takeout To Download Your Data

What does Google Takeout do?

Google Takeout is a tool that lets you quickly and easily download data that you created in (or imported into) a number of Google products. It provides the data in a variety of open, portable formats so that you can easily import the data into other internet services.
The user can elect to export all of the available services or choose services from the above list. Takeout will then process the request and put all the files into a zip file. Takeout then optionally sends an email notification that the export is completed, at which point the user can download the archive from the downloads section of the website. The zip file contains a separate folder for each service that was selected for export.

Usage


Google Takeout processing an archive request
Users can select different services from the list of options provided. The services that can be exported as of February 21st, 2013 are as follows:
The user can elect to export all of the available services or choose services from the above list. Takeout will then process the request and put all the files into a zip file. Takeout then optionally sends an email notification that the export is completed, at which point the user can download the archive from the downloads section of the website. The zip file contains a separate folder for each service that was selected for export.

History

Google Takeout was created by the Google Data Liberation Front on June 28, 2011[1] to allow users to export their data from most of Google's services. Since its creation, Google has added several more services to Takeout due to popular demand from users.[citation needed]
Takeout started with exports of only Google Buzz, Google Contacts, Google Profile, Google Streams, and Picasa Albums.[1] The next month, on July 15, 2011, Google added the export of Google +1's to the list after it was frequently requested by Takeout's users.[2] Later in 2011 on September 6, Google added Google Voice to their export service.[3] A big milestone was the addition of Youtube video exports to Takeout next year on September 26, 2012.[4] Google took another big step with the addition of Blogger posts and Google+ pages on February 17th, 2013.[5]

Criticism

While Google has been expanding the services included in Takeout, it still does not allow users to export of some other core Google services. Most notably, these include Google Search history, Google Talk chat history, and Google Wallet details.[6]

You can get to the site here: www.google.com/takeout


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