Gmail Takeout MBOX into Outlook

1. Export your Gmail with Google Takeout

1. Go to takeout.google.com and sign in.
2. Click Deselect all, then tick Mail. Under All Mail data included you can choose specific labels instead of everything.
3. Choose .zip and a file size, and click Create export.
4. Google emails you when the export is ready, which can take hours or days for large mailboxes. Download it.

2. Find the MBOX file

Unzip the download. In Takeout/Mail there is one .mbox file, usually named All mail Including Spam and Trash.mbox (or one per label you selected).

Gmail labels are not folders: every message is in the file once, with its labels written in a header (X-Gmail-Labels). The whole file becomes one folder in Outlook.

3. Convert the MBOX to PST

Open MBOX to PST, drop the .mbox file and name the new PST. Preview the import for free: it shows how many messages will be imported and anything that cannot be. Then create the PST and save it.

Large Takeout files can hold hundreds of thousands of messages. The import keeps the messages in memory while it writes, so it needs about four times the MBOX size in free memory; for a very large file, export a few labels at a time instead.

4. Open it in Outlook

• To look through the mail: File › Open & Export › Open Outlook Data File and choose the PST.
• To copy it into your mailbox: File › Open & Export › Import/Export › Import from another program or file › Outlook Data File (.pst).

Frequently asked

Is my Gmail uploaded to you? No. The conversion runs in your browser; the file is read from your computer and the PST is written back to it.

Do I need Outlook to read the result? No: the PST Viewer opens it in your browser.