Downloading all your Google account data can be a tedious job, especially when you have used different applications to access Google. With the hundreds of photos and files uploaded, downloading them one at a time is hardly an idea that is worth considering.Instead of surfing and scrolling page after page as you download each file, one at a time, be it files and data from Buzz, Google+, Google Docs, a photo album on Picasa or even contacts, consider using Google Takeout.
Get started
To download your files, you will need to access the account settings. Tap the user profile button and the click ‘Account.Alternatively, you can open the account by browsing
myaccount.google.com.On the ‘Account settings’ page, scroll down to ‘Account tools’ and tap on ‘Download data’. One of the first prompts you will notice is the ‘Select none/all’ option. When you hit ‘Select none’ everything is deselected, meaning that if you want to download specific Google account data you can go through again and select the one you want.This allows you to download one particular item or create custom archives.There is one thing that you should keep in mind. The format that the archives you want to download come in varies. Some can be XML, others HTML, while others might even come in JSON.Once you have selected the data you want to upload, move to the next step by clicking ‘Next’ to continue.
Create and download your archive
The next page tells you how many products you have selected. You are then allowed to customize the downloading format.If you choose to archive in ZIP, you should have no issues opening it on any computer system. However, in case the archives to be downloaded are larger than 2GB, it is split among multiple files.Additionally, the TBZ and TGZ archives are the lesser known formats and may need additional software to open. The good thing about these archives is that they can easily handle files larger than 2GB.Do not forget to decide if you want to get the archive by an emailed link or to have it added to the Google Drive. After making choices, hit ‘Create archive’ and it is assembled for you.When the archive is ready, you’ll get an email. If you decide to use Google drive, open the ‘Google Takeout’ folder. You will find your archive there. No matter which method you use, you’ll still have to download your archive and then open it on a computer to work with the contents.Clicking on any Google product icons shows you what each one of them contains. This is quite useful for quick looks as you will not have to go hunting through each folder.
