How to Export Gmail to PST (3 Routes, With or Without Outlook)

Backup & migration

Gmail Exporter Guide

PST (Outlook Data File) is Microsoft's format. MBOX is the format Google uses when you download Gmail. Almost every "Gmail to PST" guide online is really an ad for a converter, so this one sticks to the routes Microsoft and Google document themselves, what each one costs you in time and fidelity, and how to check that nothing went missing.

If you are a personal Gmail user with Outlook on Windows, Route 1 is the one to use. If you have no Outlook, Route 2. If you administer Google Workspace, Route 3.

Short answer: Gmail exports MBOX, not PST

Google's Takeout help page describes the Mail download as MBOX, split into several archives if it goes over the size you choose. MBOX is a plain-text mailbox format described in RFC 4155. PST is a binary Outlook format. Nothing in Gmail's settings converts one into the other, so every route has a middle step.

Route 1: Add Gmail to classic Outlook (IMAP) and export to .pst

This is the route Microsoft documents. Outlook downloads your Gmail over IMAP, and then its own wizard writes the account to a .pst file. It needs no extra software if you already have the desktop version of Outlook for Windows. Microsoft calls this classic Outlook.

Before you start

• IMAP is already on. Google says that since January 2025 IMAP access is always turned on in Gmail, so there is no setting to enable.
• Use "Sign in with Google". The same Google page recommends that option over typing your password into another app. It also warns that older clients such as Outlook 2016 may not support the security standards Gmail recommends.
• Save the file locally. Microsoft advises not exporting the .pst to a OneDrive location, because OneDrive blocks syncing of .pst files.

Steps

1. Add the Gmail account to classic Outlook. Use Outlook's add-account flow with your Gmail address and pick Sign in with Google when it is offered.
2. Let everything sync. This is the slow part for a big mailbox. Microsoft notes that some account types download only the last year of mail by default, adjustable from the account's sync settings with a slider set to All. If your version shows that setting, move it to All before you export.
3. Open the wizard. File › Open & Export › Import/Export › Export to a file › Outlook Data File (.pst).
4. Select the Gmail account at the top of the list and keep Include subfolders ticked. Outlook exports one account at a time.
5. Choose where to save it, use a new file name, and optionally set a password. Outlook then writes the .pst.

According to Microsoft, the export is a copy, and it includes attachments. It does not include folder properties, message rules or blocked-sender lists. To bring the file into another Outlook profile afterwards, follow Microsoft's import from a .pst guide.

New Outlook vs classic Outlook

Microsoft's page also lists a .pst export in new Outlook for Windows under Settings › Files › Export. It comes with limits: calendar and contact items in .pst files are not available in new Outlook, and importing a .pst is not supported there. If you need the full, documented path, switch the "New Outlook" toggle off and use classic Outlook. Microsoft's instructions cover Outlook on Windows, not Outlook for Mac or the web.

Gotchas specific to Gmail

• Labels become folders, and duplicates are possible. Gmail syncs "messages and labels" to other clients, so each label shows up as a folder. A message carrying two labels can appear in both folders, and so appear twice in the PST.
• Connection limits. Google allows up to 15 email clients per account at the same time. Too many can trigger a "Too many simultaneous connections" error, so close other clients during a big sync.
• Don't cap folder size for an archive. Gmail offers an optional setting that limits IMAP folders to 10,000 messages to help slow clients. That helps performance, but it also means an incomplete export.

Route 2: Takeout MBOX → PST with a converter

With no Windows Outlook, the usual path is to export Gmail to MBOX with Takeout and then run a third-party MBOX-to-PST converter. Neither Google nor Microsoft publishes a free converter, so you'll be choosing between commercial tools. We don't recommend specific vendors, but these are the questions to ask before you pay or upload anything:

Takeout itself can be the slow or broken part. If the archive never arrives or won't download, see our Google Takeout fixes before you blame the converter. The archive link expires in about 7 days and each archive can be downloaded 5 times.

Route 3: Google Workspace — Vault exports PST

For work accounts on Google Workspace, an administrator can export mailboxes with Google Vault, and Vault lets you choose PST or MBOX for Gmail message content. No Outlook or converter is involved. According to Google's Vault help:

• The person exporting needs the Manage Matters, Manage Searches and Manage Exports privileges, assigned by an admin.
• Export files are available for 15 days, then deleted.
• An organization can have no more than 20 exports in progress at the same time.
• An export that hasn't finished after 24 hours stops with partial results. You can continue it.
• Vault needs a license: it is included in some editions, such as Business Plus and Enterprise Standard/Plus, and otherwise available as an add-on, per Google's Vault overview.

A regular Workspace user without admin rights can't use Vault. Ask your admin, or use Routes 1 and 2 if your organization allows IMAP and Takeout. For the full admin walkthrough, including the Data Export tool and departing-employee checklists, see how to export a Workspace mailbox with Vault.

Which route for which person

Here's a quick way to choose. Find your row and use the first route listed.

For legal matters, this table is a technical map, not legal advice. Who may export whose mailbox, and how, depends on your organization's policies and jurisdiction.

Verify the PST before you delete anything

Converter pages rarely mention it, but a PST that opens is not the same as a PST that's complete. Before you close an account or delete mail, run this checklist:

1. Count in Gmail first. Get message totals for your main labels and for all mail. Gmail's interface counts conversations, not messages, so use the method in count your emails to verify the export.
2. Count in Outlook. Open the .pst in Outlook and check the item count of each folder (folder properties show it).
3. Compare per folder, not just totals. Expect Outlook to be higher when messages carry several labels (duplicates), and lower if a sync stopped early or a folder was capped.
4. Spot-check the edges. Open your oldest message, your newest, one with a large attachment and one with non-English characters in the subject.
5. Check Sent mail. Make sure your sent messages made it, not only received ones.
6. Keep two copies. Store the .pst on a second drive or backup service, and keep the original Takeout MBOX too if you used Route 2.

Is there a PST size limit?

Yes. Microsoft documents a default maximum of 50 GB for Unicode .pst files in Outlook 2010, 2013 and 2016, and about 2 GB for the older ANSI format. Admins can change these limits through the registry. For big mailboxes, it's easier to export several .pst files, for example one per folder or per year.

Do you actually need PST?

PST makes sense when the destination is Outlook or a system that only takes PST, such as some archiving and legal-review tools. It's a mailbox container that keeps full messages and attachments so they can be re-opened in a mail client.

Many people who search for "Gmail to PST" really want something else: a list of clients, a record of invoices, or a spreadsheet of who wrote when. For that, a mailbox file is the wrong tool. You'd convert, open Outlook, and then export again to CSV. It's quicker to export Gmail to CSV instead, straight from the Gmail view you already have open. And if the goal is to switch mail providers rather than archive, see how to move Gmail to Outlook, which covers syncing and contacts.

What you get: the free CSV includes email, subject, body preview and sending service. Dates, sent/received direction, and names and phones from signatures are in the one-time Pro upgrade. Attachments as ZIP and exporting all folders at once are in Business. See the plans. It isn't a PST tool and doesn't pretend to be. It's for when the goal is a spreadsheet.