Creative Tech Support

Google has an automated function for archiving data. Or you might preserve data on your computer by downloading it into your apps. See the following instructions.

Archiving Gmail

Configure Mac Mail or Outlook for Gmail before the account is deactivated. Messages will remain in the email app even after the account is eliminated.

1. Configure Mac Mail or Windows Outlook for Gmail.
2. Open Mail or Outlook. Click each mailbox folder (label) and make sure all messages have been synced.
3. On a Mac, click the Mail menu and choose Preferences. Select the account, click Advanced and uncheck Include when automatically checking for new messages.

Disabling Outlook downloads

For Windows, disable the account in Outlook to avoid error messages after it is discontinued.

1. Click Send/Receive (Tools-Send/Receive in Outlook 2007), then Send/Receive Groups and Define Send/Receive Groups.
2. Select the group All Accounts. Set Outlook to Schedule an automatic send/receive every 5 minutes.
3. Click Edit. Select the Gmail/Google account on the left.
4. Uncheck the box for each folder. Click OK.

Archiving Google Calendars

Save a copy of your calendar events in a file on your computer.

1. Sign into Google. Make sure you’re using the correct user account.
2. Click Calendar at the top of the page.
3. Click the arrow to the right of My calendars and choose Settings.
4. Click Export Calendars. They are saved on your computer. If you have one calendar it’s saved as a .ics file. Multiple calendars are exported as .ics files archived in a .zip file.

Archiving Google Drive & Docs

1. Install and configure Google Drive for Mac or Windows PC.
2. Wait for sync to complete –watch the Google Drive icon.
3. When sync is finished, click the Google Drive menu and choose Preferences (Properties). Click Disconnect Account.
4. Navigate to the Google Drive folder on your computer. On Mac, click the Finder, then the Go menu at the top of the screen and choose Home. On Windows, open My Documents.
5. Rename the Google Drive folder by adding a date at the end. Avoid slashes – we recommend something like 2014-09-15 for September 15, 2014.
6. The folder remains untouched even if you activate another Google Drive account. You can copy files between them if necessary.
7. Using Google Apps for your organization? You can transfer documents to another user. Log into Google Apps admin and click Settings. Click Drive and the Tools tab. Enter the old user and new user, then click Transfer documents.

See other tips for archiving Google Data at the Data Liberation site.

When you’ve completed archiving data, consider forwarding email to another user or delete the account entirely.

Learn more about Google Workspace administration.