Everyone widely uses Gmail to exchange essential information since it is easily available without any kind of annual maintenance. In addition, it offers ample storage space, making it one of the most preferred platforms. Gmail’s interface is designed in such a way that the status of every item is clearly mentioned in real-time, including deleted, spam, labeled, and important folders.

However, to stay updated with the technologically advanced times, users are making a switch to Microsoft Outlook. It is undoubtedly a platform with many features including simultaneous access to multiple accounts, offline mode, more storage space, etc. However, it becomes difficult for some users to access their Gmail account mailbox data into Outlook email client. It is because the Outlook email client supports PST file format.

Reasons to export emails from Gmail to Outlook

There can be several reasons behind users shifting from Gmail to Outlook. Let's have a look at some of them:

  • When a business organization wants to switch their Gmail email to a more advanced platform.
  • Outlook offers you to easily collaborate with other applications of Office 365 suite.
  • When compared to Gmail, Outlook offers a more secure network to safeguard the data from loss, theft, and malware attacks.
  • Outlook offers you access to your data files even when you are not connected to the internet.
Manual method to export Gmail to PST format-

The manual method involves three key steps, which we have mentioned below. Follow them carefully for accurate conversion:

  1. Turn on the IMAP settings
    First, you must turn on Gmail’s IMAP settings. Follow the below mentioned steps carefully:
    1. Login to your Gmail account on your system.
    2. Click on the Settings icon on the top right and select See all settings option. Select all settings option
    3. Under the Forwarding and POP/ IMAP tab, change the IMAP access status to Enable IMAP. Lastly, click on Save Changes. Enable IMAP
  2. Add account to Outlook
    1. Open the Outlook application and click on File.
    2. Select Add Account. Add account to Outlook
    3. Type all the required credentials on the Auto Account Setup page and click on Next.
    4. Once the configuration is done, your Gmail account will appear with other Outlook accounts.
  3. Export Gmail messages to desktop
    1. Open Outlook and click the File tab. Click on Open & Export and then, Import/Export. Click on Open & Export and then, Import/Export
    2. From the Import and Export Wizard, select Export to a file and click on Next. select Export to a file from Import and Export Wizard
    3. Choose Outlook Data File(.pst) and click on Next to continue. Choose <strong>Outlook Data File(.pst)
    4. Click on the email address and folders which need to be exported. Again, select Next. Select email address and folders need to be exported
    5. Click on Browse to choose a location to save this PST file on your desktop. Select Finish. provide location to save PST file
Limitations of the manual method

The following shortcomings make this approach a non-effective one:

  • It is a lengthy process that involves multiple sub-steps.
  • The user must have access to their Gmail account and Outlook application.
  • It does involve a slight risk of data loss.
  • It consumes a lot of time which is not productive.
  • This is not a suitable procedure for unskilled users.
An automated tool to export Gmail to PST format

To overcome the limitations of manual methods, you can rely on an automated tool with much better abilities. One such brilliant tool is Kernel for MBOX to PST Converter that efficiently export Gmail emails to PST format while maintaining data integrity and folder hierarchy. Moreover, this tool provides other benefits as well, they are mentioned below:

  1. Kernel for MBOX to PST tool supports around 20 MBOX email client applications including Apple Mail, Mozilla Thunderbird, PocoMail, Eudora, Postbox, Opera, Gmail etc.
  2. It allows you to export your MBOX files directly to Outlook in no time and with full data security.
  3. This tool allows you to migrate multiple bulky files at a time seamlessly.
  4. Save the converted mailbox data from MBOX file to PST, MSG, EML, DBX, PDF, TXT, HTML, or MHTML file formats.

Conclusion

Exporting emails from Gmail to Outlook is needed in some scenarios and this can be performed manually. We have elaborated a manual method for exporting emails from Gmail to PST. However, the given method may not work in every scenario, therefore using a third-party tool becomes a need. Kernel for MBOX to PST tool migrates data with complete accuracy. Additionally, the tool allows users to save their MBOX files in different formats, such as PST, MSG, EML, etc.