How to export Google Workspace email to PST

Moving mail out of Gmail into Outlook or Microsoft 365 can be done four different ways, and picking the wrong one costs days. Google Takeout and an MBOX-to-PST converter is the route most guides describe — and for a live business mailbox it is usually the worst of the four.

The four methods, and when each one is right

A file on a disk is not a migration. If the person still needs to send mail tomorrow, move the mailbox, not the messages.

Method 1 — native batch migration (recommended)

Microsoft's batch migration tool handles Google Workspace as a first-class source. In the Exchange admin center you create a migration batch, choose Migration to Exchange Online, then Google Workspace (Gmail) migration as the type. The automated variant does most of the setup for you and is the one to reach for; the manual variant exists for cases where the automation can't be used.

What you need in place before you start:

• Google super-admin access and the ability to create a service account with domain-wide delegation.
• Licensed mailboxes already provisioned in Microsoft 365 for every user being moved.
• Your domain verified in the Microsoft tenant, with current MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records documented before you touch DNS.
• A real inventory — users, aliases, groups, shared mailboxes, forwards, filters, mailbox sizes and any suspended accounts you still need.

What the tools do not bring across

Every method loses something. Plan for these rather than discovering them on cutover day:

• Gmail filters and rules — recreate them as Outlook rules
• Google Tasks and resource calendars
• Label colours, which have no direct equivalent in Microsoft 365 category colours
• Drive and Shared Drive content, which is a separate migration from mail
• Vault holds and eDiscovery data, which should be exported separately if you need to preserve them

Gmail labels become folders. A message carrying three labels exists once in Gmail but lands in three places in Outlook, so mailbox sizes routinely grow on arrival. Warn people before they see it and assume they have been double-charged for storage.

Method 2 — the Takeout route, step by step

Still the right answer for a single mailbox, a leaver's archive, or a personal Gmail account with no Workspace tenant behind it.

1. Export from Google Takeout

   At takeout.google.com, deselect everything, then select Mail. Gmail always exports as MBOX. Choose an archive size — the export splits into numbered ZIP files above the size you pick — and request the export. Google's own instructions are in the Takeout support article.

2. Download it before the link expires

   Preparation takes anywhere from minutes to several days depending on mailbox size, and the download link expires after about seven days. Miss it and you start again. There are also daily export caps, so a very large mailbox can span days. Keep the original ZIP — if the conversion goes wrong, it is your only clean copy.

3. Convert MBOX to PST

   Outlook cannot open MBOX in any version, on any platform, so the archive has to be converted. BitRecover MBOX Converter and Stellar Converter for MBOX are the two we use most; Aid4Mail and SysTools are equivalent alternatives. Run a small label through first and check the output before committing the whole mailbox.

4. Import the PST into Outlook

   In classic Outlook, File → Open & Export → Import/Export → Import from another program or file. Choose whether to allow, ignore or replace duplicates before you start, not after.

5. Verify before you delete anything

   Check message counts against the original mailbox, confirm attachments open, spot-check the oldest and newest messages, and confirm folder structure matches the labels you expected. Only then consider removing the source.

The deadline that should shape your timing

What the tools cost

Native batch migration is included with your Microsoft 365 licences — there is no additional migration cost, which is a large part of why it is the default recommendation.

For third-party tooling, BitTitan MigrationWiz is licensed per user: a mailbox licence sits at roughly $14 per user, with bundles that add documents, archives and Teams content costing more. Current figures are on the BitTitan pricing page — always check before quoting, as licence tiers change.

MBOX converters are one-off purchases in the tens of pounds, which makes them cheap for a handful of mailboxes and false economy for fifty, once you count the hours.