January 11, 2012

Gmail Backup

Last update: 10/2020

For most people, e-mail is a critical part of their life. Many important documents and collections of information can be stored there, the loss of which can be devastating. But we all assume that "since it's stored in the cloud, it must be safe, right?"

Well, yes and no.

While most companies have server-level backup and disaster recovery plans, they may not support account-level recovery. So for example, if one of their data-centers burns down, everything can be safely restored to another data-center. But if the contents of your specific account are lost, there may be no way to get it restored. This is generally true of Gmail*, although there are some cases where messages deleted as a result of a compromised (hacked) account may be able to be restored.

Because of this, it's critical that people provide their own backups of their e-mail accounts, and in fact all important information that is stored in "the cloud". There are various ways the information can be lost, the most common of which is a compromised (hacked) account, and the provider may not have a way to restore the lost data.

For Gmail accounts, you have three primary backup paths to choose from:
  • An e-mail client (like Thunderbird, Outlook, etc).
  • A stand-alone backup utility.
  • A cloud-based backup service.

There are a number of advantages and disadvantages to using an e-mail client:
  • The saved messages can be easily viewed with the client.
  • The messages can be sorted or have other actions performed that Gmail may not support.
  • It may not be possible to do automated backups, you may have to manually open the client and do an update.
  • It may not be obvious where the messages are saved on the computer.
  • The file format may not be convenient to use by anything other than the e-mail client.
  • It may not be easy or obvious how to restore the messages back to a Gmail account.
  • Configuration errors could result in messages being deleted from from Gmail or the client when it synchronizes (using IMAP).

A stand-alone utility will have a different set of advantages and disadvantages:
  • It will be a smaller program than a full e-mail client.
  • The utility will probably be easier to setup and use than a full e-mail client.
  • The utility should provide an easy way to restore the backup.
  • The location where it stores the messages will be easier to determine so they can be included in normal computer backups.
  • The utility probably won't be able to view the messages (although, depending on the format, an e-mail client might be able to view the message files).
  • The utility probably won't support restoring the backup to an account leaving you to figure that out yourself.

Finally, a cloud-based service has some things to consider:
  • It requires no local storage space on your computer.
  • It is probably fully automated with a regular schedule requiring no actions on your part.
  • The service may support backups of other Google services: Docs, contacts, etc.
  • If available, free accounts tend to be small (2GB-4GB) and crippleware. Paid accounts are subscription based so the expense is ongoing.

Additionally, be aware that most tools/services are account specific. That means you may only be able to restore to the specific account you were doing backups on. That's fine if you loose the contents of the account, you can just restore them. But if you loose the account itself (deleted, disabled, lost password, etc) and you can't restore to a new account, then the backup becomes worthless.

The following is a partial list of stand-alone utilities and cloud-based services you can use to backup your account. Some are much better than others. Some are free, some cost money. Some support restoring the backup, some don't.

The last section lists some services to support Google's domain products: Legacy Google Apps, G Suite, and Google Workspaces. An advantage to these services is they often include multiple products like Gmail, Contacts, Drive, and perhaps others. These aren't useful for regular Gmail accounts, but are listed for completeness.

  • Recommended
    • Got Your Back - https://github.com/jay0lee/got-your-back/wiki
      This is the current best-in-class for a Gmail backup solution. It's supported, and written specifically for Gmail (which means proper handling of labels and other tags). It can restore to the original account, or a different account (if the original was lost). It's a command-line tool which is important to be able to run it as a scheduled task. It's only negatives are that it's command-line only (there is no graphical interface), and setup has become more challenging due to increased account security by Google. As an aside: this is the tool I use.
  • Acceptable
    • IMAPSize - http://www.broobles.com/imapsize/
      A free stand-alone program to backup and manage an e-mail account using IMAP. Very flexible, but treats labels as folders.
    • OwnMyCopyhttp://ownmycopy.com/
      This one appears to be full-featured (backup and restore, handles labels), it's a paid utility (which ranks it below a free one).
    • Spinbackup Personal - https://spinbackup.com/solutions/individual-use/
      A cloud-based free or paid service that handles GMail, Contacts, Drive, Calendar, Sites, Photos. The free 4GB version is crippleware and may not be optimal for most people.
  • Inadequate
    • MailStore - http://www.mailstore.com/
      A paid utility (free for home use) generic backup tool. Since it's generic it doesn't fully handle Gmail labels (treating them more like folders) which would create some issues for a restore.
    • Gmail Backup - http://www.gmail-backup.com/
      This used to be the preferred solution for a free Gmail backup utility. Unfortunately, it's no longer supported, and has an IMAP bug that causes it to mark all messages as read when doing a backup.
    • BackupGoo - http://en.backupgoo.com/
      A paid utility that does not support restore.
    • SysTools - https://www.systoolsgroup.com/gmail-backup.html
      A paid utility.  Can not do restore.
  • Obsolete (past options that are no longer available, links are not safe)
    • BackupMyNet - http://backupmy.net/
      No longer exists.
    • Backup Gmail - http://backupgmail.m4ss.net/
      No longer exists.
    • Beyond Inbox - http://www.beyondinbox.com/
      No longer exists.
    • Gmail Keeper - http://gmailkeeper.com/
      Obsolete, replaced by OwnMyCopy.
    • Simplicato - http://www.simplicato.com/
      No longer exists.
    • TheGmailBackup - http://www.thegmailbackup.com/
      No longer exists.
    • UpSafe - http://www.upsafe.com/
      No longer exists.
  • G Suite / Google Workspaces
    • AFI - https://afi.ai/
      A cloud-based subscription service that handles GMail, Contacts, Drive, Calendar, Sites. Correctly handles Gmail labels.
    • Backupify - http://www.backupify.com/
      A cloud-based subscription service that handles GMail, Contacts, Drive, Calendar.
    • CloudAlly - http://www.cloudally.com/
      A cloud-based subscription service that handles GMail, Contacts, Drive, Calendar, Sites.
    • Spanning - https://spanning.com/
      A cloud-based subscription service that handles GMail, Contacts, Drive, Calendar, Sites.
    • Spinbackup - https://spinbackup.com/
      A cloud-based subscription service that handles GMail, Contacts, Drive, Calendar, Sites, Photos.
    • SysCloudSoft - http://www.syscloudsoft.com/
      A cloud-based subscription service that handles GMail, Contacts, Drive, Calendar, Sites.

    The G Suite / Workspaces options are all pretty similar. The main differences are in price, the user interface, and storage limitations (some are unlimited, some aren't). The other BIG question for the context of this article is if they correctly handle the restoration of conversations (not as individual messages) and of labels (including nesting). Most sites aren't clear on that meaning the only way to be sure is to test it with a free demo (which was beyond the scope of this article).

    While prehaps not 100% objective, here is a review of the above Google Workspace solutions that goes into more detail, and covers more providers: https://afi.ai/blog/best-g-suite-backup-solution. As a footnote: this is the tool I use for my Legacy Google Apps account.

    As you can see there are a variety of good choices to protect your Gmail account (if you're willing to spend some money).  There are also a number of "feel good" choices (you feel good because you're doing a backup, but the inability to access the backup or restore it may make them less useful).

    Of course, when using a stand-alone utility, once the messages are saved to your computer, you can and should include them in your normal computer backup, or you can manually save them to an external device (like a USB drive).

    Some may well ask if it's really safe to use a cloud-based service to backup another cloud-based service (e-mail). The key to a good backup is both redundancy and separation. You want multiple backups, and you want them in multiple locations. So, for example, an external USB disk setting on top of the computer it's used to backup is not a good idea. You only have one copy of the backup, and if the location is hit by fire/flood/disaster, both the computer and the backup will be lost. But the odds of two independent companies experiencing a major disaster with data loss is small enough to justify a cloud-based backup.

    Whatever backup method you choose, make sure it either gives you access to the messages (like an e-mail client) or a well-defined way to do a restore (like Got-Your-Back). A backup you can't view or restore isn't a backup at all. And if it's a manual process make sure you do it on a regular schedule as a badly out-of-date backup isn't of much value either.

    So now you know why, you know how, and you know what tools to use. Set it up today so tomorrow you aren't another statistic posting to the forum: "Help, my account was hacked and everything deleted. How do I get it all back?"




    * Gmail is a trademark of Google, Inc. This page is not sponsored by or affiliated with Google.