Google Takeout
Latest
Google Photos bug sent private videos to strangers
If you used Google Takeout to back up your Photos files from November 21st to 25th, 2019, a stranger out there may have a copy of your videos. The tech giant has started sending out emails, warning users about a bug that may have affected their backup requests. During that period last year, the email reads, "some videos in Google Photos were incorrectly exported to unrelated users' archives." That means someone out there may have a copy of your (hopefully wholesome) videos, and you may have a copy of someone else's, as well.
Mariella Moon02.04.2020
Google's data-transferring tool gets a shiny new interface
Google already makes it very simple for you to pull your data from some of its many services, via the Takeout transfer tool on the web. Up until today, however, Google Takeout wasn't necessarily pleasing to the eye, despite being extremely useful at letting users extract their archives. As a way to alleviate that, the search giant has quietly given Takeout a design makeover, bringing the user interface more in line with its other products, like Gmail and Google Drive. Still, it's not all about the visuals here -- Google Takeout is now also more thorough, allowing you to pull specific data from each service. For example, with Google Play Books, you can choose to include select files, rather than only having the option to download all at once. Just don't go too crazy creating archives, since they do take up space from your Drive's free storage allotment.
Edgar Alvarez09.26.2014
Google now lets you download your Gmail and Calendar data
Sure, if you delve far back enough into your Gmail history, you'll likely find some conversations you've been happy to forget, but remembering that job offer/email from grandpa/successful eBay bid is sure to brighten your day. Starting today, Google's rolling out the ability to export copies of your Gmail data in the MBOX format for backing up or moving to another service. And this new feature isn't just for nostalgia's sake; if you're transitioning to a new mail platform, you'll also appreciate that you can export Google Calendar info, in addition to preserving relevant Gmail correspondence. You can choose to download your entire inbox or narrow it down to particular labels -- the same goes for calendars; pick which ones you'd like or select them all. And if you want a thorough documentation of your history across Google products, you can also download an archive file that includes your data across Calendar, Drive, Gmail, Google+ and YouTube. Several of Mountain View's products are already downloadable via Takeout, but today's announcement adds much more functionality to that service. Hit up the source link below for more info.
Sarah Silbert12.05.2013
Google gives users an easy out, adds YouTube to Takeout data transfer tool
Breaking up with a web-based ecosystem is hard to do, especially when you have several gigabytes of data invested in a specific platform. However, things just got a whole lot easier for disgruntled vloggers. Google recently added YouTube to its Takeout data migration service, which now gives users the ability to pull all of their uploaded videos from the company's servers in a single stroke. This groovy tool should definitely come in handy when you're busy shopping around your latest foreign film to different movie studios. In addition to being extremely easy to use, the service will also send an email letting you know that your download has finished. Simply set it and forget it!
Mark Hearn09.28.2012
Google Takeout introduces transfer tool for Google+ circles, merges your work and personal life
Those who extol the virtues of keeping one's personal and professional life separate probably never had to juggle two Google+ accounts. Folks saddled with a Google+ profile for both their personal Gmail account and their organization's Google Apps account can now migrate circles, blocks and other information from one account to another using Google Takeout. The new tool won't eliminate your double digital life completely, however -- content such as posts, profile information and comments don't migrate. The process takes time, too, kicking off with a seven day waiting period before restricting the user's Google+ access for 48 hours while Takeout boxes up the data. Still, this should make managing Circles across multiple accounts a little simpler. Check out the official Google help page at the source link below.
Sean Buckley07.14.2012
Google Takeout comes to Voice, get your SMS and voicemail to go (video)
Those militant leftists at the Data Liberation Front are at it again, bringing their tool for fomenting revolution, Google Takeout, to Google Voice. With the information emancipating service, users will be able to download their call history, voicemail and text messages, recorded calls, and even greetings. All audio is delivered in MP3 format, while SMS is spit out as an HTML file. Check out the video below for a brief, if not entirely informative, announcement from the guerrilla data warriors.
Terrence O'Brien09.07.2011
Google Takeout promises radical left wing-themed data extraction for Circles, more (video)
A team of khaki-clad Google engineers, calling itself the Data Liberation Front, has taken up the cause of freeing your data from the restrictive confines of El Goog's servers. Google Takeout, as the program has been billed, rips your various stashes of data from Buzz, Circles, Picasa, Contacts, and your Google Profile, and quickly bundles them in a zip file for download. The resulting booty is yours to do with as you choose. Takeout was announced the same day Google's latest social initiative sprung to life, offering an alternative to the notoriously hard to transfer data of its obvious competitor. But we're sure that was just a coincidence. Right? A hilariously nerdy promo video awaits you after the break.
Christopher Trout07.01.2011