Corbett
Corbett Gmail Backup Software copies a Gmail mailbox to your own disk as PST, MBOX, EML, MSG, PDF, HTML, CSV or TXT. Labels arrive as folders, attachments and dates come with them. Several accounts per run, no mailbox size limit, Windows only.
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Your mailbox is read on your own machine. Nothing is uploaded to a Corbett server.
Free demo, verified clean by VirusTotal and 30 days to claim your money back.
Lifetime licence from $99 Free trial saves 10 emails per folder
Gmail specifics
Gmail Backup Tool copies mail, attachments and dates onto your own disk. Gmail stores mail as labels rather than folders, so a few things translate and a few do not. Both sides are listed below.
Comes across
Folders read
Not included
A message can sit under two labels at once
Gmail allows that, a folder tree does not. Back up All Mail for one copy of everything. The other choice is to pick individual labels and accept that a few messages appear twice.
Core features
Four screens from the Gmail backup wizard, in the order a Gmail email backup runs.
Connect
Choose Gmail from the list and the server details fill themselves in. Paste the app password you generated in your Google account and the mailbox loads. There is no IMAP setting to find, because Google removed it.
Label selection
Every Gmail label appears as a branch with a checkbox and a message count. Nested labels keep their shape. Backing up one project label instead of the whole Inbox is one checkbox rather than a search and an export.
Message preview
Each message opens in a preview pane. Four analysis views sit next to the reading view, which is what matters when a Gmail account is being copied for a discovery request rather than for an archive.
Selective backup
Filters run before anything is written. Everything from one client across one tax year comes out on its own. That is the usual reason for a Gmail backup, rather than taking the whole account.
Output options
The destination is picked after the preview. Write a file to a folder you choose. The mail can also go straight into another mailbox. Document formats carry a naming scheme so a folder of PDFs stays searchable.
Before you connect
Google changed how third party software connects to Gmail. Most guides still describe the old way, so here is what applies when you sign in.
Already done
You do not enable IMAP
Google removed that switch in January 2025. IMAP is always on for personal Gmail, so a guide telling you to turn it on is out of date. Our note on Enable IMAP in Gmail not showing explains it.
Required
An app password, not your own
Google switched off less secure app access in March 2025, so your normal Gmail password is now rejected by every mail client. Switch on two factor authentication on Gmail, also called two-factor authentication, then generate an app password and paste that instead.
Different
Workspace needs the admin
A work or school address on a custom domain is a Google Workspace account, covered by the Google Workspace backup tool. IMAP there is controlled in the Admin console. App passwords are switched off.
One more limit applies. Gmail allows 15 mail clients connected to an account at a time, counting phones, tablets and old installs. Sign out of anything you no longer use if a connection is refused.
Free demo
Run it on your own Gmail first
Install it, paste the app password, tick a label and pick a format. Nothing is written until you start the backup.
Download free demoBefore you buy
Gmail syncs across your devices, which is not the same as a backup. Delete a message on the phone and it disappears everywhere. Anything in Trash is removed permanently after 30 days. Google gives you a free export instead. It works well for one export and badly for several.
| Task | Google Takeout | Gmail Backup Tool |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | $99 one time |
| One full archive, once | Exactly what it is built for | Also does it, but you are paying for the rest |
| Choice of output format | MBOX only | Eight formats including PST and PDF |
| Pick individual labels | Labels yes, date range no | Labels, dates, senders and attachments |
| See the mail before exporting | Not offered | Full preview with headers and raw source |
| How long you wait | Hours to days, Google decides | Starts immediately |
| Several accounts | One at a time, signed in separately | Queued together |
| Opening the result | MBOX needs Thunderbird or a viewer | PST opens in Outlook, PDF opens offline anywhere |
Rows tinted green are the ones where Takeout wins.
If you want one archive of one account and MBOX suits you, Google Takeout does it at no cost and Gmail Backup Tool is not needed. Our notes cover opening Google Takeout files and Google Takeout not working.
Specifications
Download details
System
Supported editions
Runs on Windows 11 through 7, either 32 or 64 bit. Windows Server builds from 2008 up to 2025.
No macOS or Linux build.
Building Windows email utilities since 2020. The people who answer support tickets are the people who write the code.
Working process
Rather read it? The written guide walks the same run with screenshots.
Common questions
Signing in, what transfers and where Gmail Backup Tool stops.
Because syncing is not backing up. A message deleted on one device is deleted everywhere. Trash empties itself after 30 days. Google makes no promise to keep an account open forever. A copy on your own disk is the only version nothing else can reach.
Because Google stopped accepting it. Since March 2025 no mail client can sign in to a Google account with the normal password. Switch on two-step verification, generate an app password at your Google account security page and paste that into Gmail Backup Tool instead.
There is not one any more. Google removed the switch for personal Gmail accounts in January 2025 and IMAP is now always on, so nothing needs turning on before you connect. Google Workspace accounts are different, since an administrator still controls IMAP there.
Yes, provided the administrator allows IMAP for the account. Workspace stopped accepting app passwords in May 2025, so the sign-in there goes through the standard Google consent screen rather than a generated password.
Yes. Each label becomes a folder in the output and nested labels keep their shape. One thing to know is that Gmail lets a message carry several labels at once, which a folder tree cannot represent, so that message appears under each label you select.
All Mail gives you one copy of everything with no repeats, which suits an archive you may never open. Individual labels suit a smaller selection such as one client or one project. They are also much faster.
No. Gmail Backup Tool copies mail out and changes nothing in the account, so your 15 GB is untouched. Delete the messages in Gmail yourself once you have checked the backup opens offline.
Yes. Accounts are added one after another and the backup runs across all of them in a single run. Each needs its own app password.
No. Gmail Backup Tool reads the mailbox over IMAP, so it copies mail, attachments, contacts and calendar entries. Files in Google Drive are a separate store and stay where they are.
Attachments and inline images are saved with the messages. Contacts, calendars and tasks come across where the account holds them. Contacts can be written as vCard and calendar entries as ICS. Attachments, email addresses, phone numbers and contact photos can also be pulled out on their own under Extract.
No. The licensed edition puts no cap on account size or message count. A large mailbox takes longer because Google throttles how fast a client may read, but nothing stops part way. If the connection drops the run resumes where it stopped.
Gmail allows 15 mail clients connected to one account at a time and counts phones, tablets, browser add-ons and old installs. Sign out of anything you no longer use, wait for the sessions to close and try again.
No. Gmail Backup Tool runs on your machine and connects from your machine straight to Gmail. Messages are written to the disk you choose. Nothing is stored or relayed by Corbett.
No. Gmail Backup Tool is a Windows application only, from Windows 7 through Windows 11 and Windows Server 2008 through 2025. There is no macOS or Linux build.
It connects to any Gmail account, loads every label and gives you the full preview and all the filters. The backup itself stops at 10 emails from each folder, which is enough to check the output opens the way you expect.
Step by step
Gmail Backup Tool is covered above. Each guide below walks one task from start to finish.
Other providers are covered on the email backup software page. Moving a Gmail account into another account is the Gmail migration tool, part of the email migration tool. Turning a saved file into another format is the email converter tool. Putting a saved file back into an account is the email recovery software. Reading a file without writing anything is the free email viewer software. On Apple, the iCloud backup tool does the same. A hosting or cPanel inbox is the Webmail backup tool. Sibling pages: Outlook.com backup tool, Hotmail backup tool, Office 365 backup tool and Yahoo backup tool.
User testimonials
Across 683 reviews of the backup and restore wizard.
Collected across 683 reviews from software directories and direct customer feedback. The three here are quoted as received.
I was looking for a quick solution to back up Gmail emails and save them in PDF format. Before this I had tried to copy my emails using a bunch of free methods that I found over the internet. However, the copied files turned out to be missing key data. After a quick search, I came upon this Gmail backup tool.
A colleague suggested this Gmail account backup software to help me copy my Gmail emails to a desktop email client. This application works really fast and efficiently perform all the task. The best part is I was able to copy multiple emails at a single go.
After the recent break down of Google services, I became concerned for the integrity of my Gmail data and started to look for efficient Gmail account backup solutions. That's when I found out about the Corbett Gmail backup tool. The software is really amazing as far as it comes to backing up Gmail emails.
Get started
Download the demo, paste an app password and save 10 emails from every label at no cost. Personal licence $99 one time, with 30 day money back.
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87.4 MB · Windows 11 to 7 and Windows Server 2025 to 2008 · 30 day money back