When looking to leave Gmail, Google Takeout often appears as the miracle solution: a complete data export in just a few clicks. On paper, it\'s appealing. In practice, with a 50 GB mailbox, it\'s often more complicated than a standard IMAP migration. Let\'s break it down.
What Is Google Takeout?
Google Takeout is Google\'s official tool for exporting your personal data from Google services (Gmail, Drive, Photos, YouTube, etc.). For Gmail, it generates an archive of your emails in MBOX format, a standard format readable by most email clients.
What Takeout Exports
- All your emails – Inbox, sent, drafts, archives
- Labels – Preserved as metadata in the MBOX
- Attachments – Embedded in each message
- Conversations – Grouped as in Gmail
Available Export Options
Google Takeout lets you customize the export:
| Option | Available choices |
|---|---|
| Archive size | 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 10 GB or 50 GB |
| Format | .zip or .tgz |
| Destination | Download, Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box |
| Filtering | By labels or date ranges |
If your mailbox exceeds the chosen archive size, Google automatically splits the export into multiple files (e.g., 50 GB of emails with 10 GB archives = 5 or more files).
How to Export Your Emails with Takeout
Step 1: Access Google Takeout
Go to takeout.google.com and log in with your Google account.
Step 2: Select Gmail
- Click "Deselect all" to uncheck all services
- Scroll down to "Mail" and check it
- Click "All Mail data included" to filter by labels if needed
Step 3: Configure the Export
- Choose "Export once" (or scheduled export if needed)
- Select the format (.zip recommended)
- Choose the archive size (10 GB max recommended to avoid issues)
- Select the destination (direct download or cloud)
Step 4: Launch and Wait
Google prepares the archive in the background. Depending on your mailbox size, this can take from a few hours to several days. You\'ll receive an email when the export is ready.
Availability Duration
Takeout archives remain available for download for 7 days. After that, you\'ll need to restart the export.
Takeout\'s Limitations: Where Things Get Tricky
On a small mailbox of a few GB, Takeout works fairly well. But once you tackle large volumes, problems pile up.
Export Quotas and Limitations
Google imposes restrictions that aren\'t officially documented but are very real:
| Limitation | Approximate Value |
|---|---|
| Exports per day | 2 to 3 maximum |
| Attempts per day | 3 maximum |
| Exports per week | 7 maximum |
| Practical max size | ~50 GB (beyond that, frequent failures) |
Common Problems with Large Mailboxes
- Archive failures – The export fails without a clear explanation; you have to start over
- Interrupted downloads – On multi-GB files, network drops are fatal
- Corrupted archives – The downloaded file won\'t open or is incomplete
- Unpredictable delays – Sometimes 2 hours, sometimes 3 days for the same volume
Real-World Experience
For a 50 GB mailbox, expect multiple attempts and a lot of patience. Failures are frequent, and you\'ll need to monitor and manually restart failed exports.
The Large MBOX File Problem
Even if the export succeeds, you end up with one or more enormous MBOX files. And that\'s where the trouble continues:
- Catastrophic performance – Most email clients (Thunderbird, Apple Mail) start struggling at 4-5 GB per file
- Endless imports – Importing a 10 GB MBOX can take hours
- Corruption risk – The larger the file, the higher the import error risk
- Non-standard format for mail servers – MBOX is a local archive format; you always need to go through an email client to "push" it to an IMAP server
How to Import MBOX into Infomaniak
The MBOX format isn\'t designed for direct import to a mail server. Whatever the destination (Infomaniak or otherwise), you need to go through an intermediate email client to "push" the emails via IMAP.
Method 1: Via Thunderbird (Recommended)
- Install Thunderbird – Free and open source email client
- Configure your Infomaniak account – Via IMAP in Thunderbird
- Install the ImportExportTools NG extension – To import MBOX files
- Import the MBOX file – Right-click "Local Folders" > ImportExportTools > Import MBOX file
- Copy emails to Infomaniak – Select all imported emails and drag them to the Infomaniak IMAP folders
- Wait for synchronization – Thunderbird uploads the emails to the Infomaniak server
Tip: Split MBOX Files
If your MBOX files are larger than 4-5 GB, use a tool like MboxSplit to break them into more manageable chunks before importing.
Method 2: Via Apple Mail (macOS)
- Rename the .mbox file by adding the suffix (e.g., "archive.mbox")
- Double-click to open it in Apple Mail
- Configure your Infomaniak account via IMAP
- Drag the emails to the Infomaniak folders
Estimated Processing Time
For a 50 GB mailbox, expect:
| Step | Estimated Duration |
|---|---|
| Takeout export | 1 to 5 days (with potential failures) |
| Archive download | Several hours |
| Thunderbird import | 2 to 8 hours per 10 GB file |
| Upload to IMAP server | Several days (depends on your connection) |
Total: easily 1 to 2 weeks of manual operations, with lots of hands-on intervention.
Takeout vs IMAP Migration: The Comparison
| Criteria | Google Takeout | IMAP Migration |
|---|---|---|
| Complexity | High (multi-step) | Medium (initial setup) |
| Reliability | Low (frequent failures) | Good (incremental sync) |
| Automation | None | Possible (imapsync, wizard) |
| Error recovery | Manual (start over) | Automatic (delta sync) |
| Total duration (50 GB) | 1 to 2 weeks | 3 to 4 weeks |
| Human intervention | Extensive | Minimal (monitoring) |
| Label preservation | Partial (metadata) | Converted to folders |
When to Use Takeout?
Despite its shortcomings, Google Takeout remains relevant in certain cases:
Takeout is suitable if:
- Small mailbox – Under 5 GB, the export/import process remains manageable
- Pure archival – You want a local backup with no intention of reimporting
- Selective export – You only need certain labels or date ranges
- Google account being deleted soon – You need to extract data quickly before closure
- Migration to a non-IMAP service – The destination only accepts MBOX imports
Takeout is not recommended if:
- Large mailbox – Over 10-15 GB, problems accumulate
- Professional migration – Need for reliability and traceability
- Service continuity – You\'re still receiving emails during migration
- Multiple mailboxes to migrate – The manual process becomes unmanageable
Our Recommendation
For a Gmail to Infomaniak migration, prefer a direct IMAP migration. Infomaniak offers a built-in migration wizard that automatically handles Google quotas and incremental synchronization. It\'s much more reliable than Takeout, especially for large mailboxes. Reserve Takeout for archival or small volumes.
Conclusion
Google Takeout is a handy tool for retrieving your Google data, but it\'s not the best solution for migrating a professional mailbox. Export limitations, unwieldy MBOX files, and lack of automation make it an obstacle course for large volumes.
For a 50 GB mailbox:
- Takeout = 1-2 weeks of manual operations with risk of failures
- IMAP migration via the Infomaniak wizard = 3-4 weeks automatically, hands-free
The choice is clear: the Infomaniak migration wizard does the work for you while you sleep peacefully. Takeout requires constant monitoring to restart failed exports.
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