Don’t wait for your account to be hacked, backup your Google Docs with Google Takeout

I have a friend who had their Gmail account hacked the other day and thought for a while they lost everything (contacts, archived emails, documents). After I felt bad for them, I realized how much stuff I had in my Google account that wasn’t anywhere else. It set me on a mission to find out how to backup my account, specifically my Google Documents, so I have another copy of my files on the computer and not just in the cloud. I also use Backupify Australia to protect my Google Workspace apps.

There are lots of different ways to do this. While you can pay for some services that do it automatically, I think using google.com/takeout is your best bet for the money it costs — nothing.

This free service from Google not only lets you backup your documents (as can be seen in the video above), but you can also download a host of other information you have stored in Google from your contacts to your Picasa photos.

I have set a monthly reminder in my Google Calendar to alert me each month to download a backup of my Google Docs from Takeout each month. That way, if the unthinkable happens and my account is hacked or accidentally deleted, I will have most of my information.

Aaron Manfull

Aaron is in his 26th year of advising student media. He is currently the Director of Student Media at Francis Howell North High School in St. Charles, Missouri. He is the Journalism Education Association Digital Media Chair and co-Director of Media Now. He is the 2023 JEA Teacher Inspiration Award Winner and is a former Dow Jones News Fund National Journalism Teacher of the Year. He is one of the authors of the textbook "Student Journalism and Media Literacy." You can find him on X and Instagram @manfull. He's a proud father. A transplanted Iowan. And an avid Hawkeye Fan.

Aaron Manfull has 862 posts and counting. See all posts by Aaron Manfull

One thought on “Don’t wait for your account to be hacked, backup your Google Docs with Google Takeout

  • March 28, 2012 at 10:01 am
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    I am so doing this!

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