Often, departing students may choose to import their Emerson email or Google Drive data into an outside or personal Gmail account. This article describes several methods for doing this.

Backing Up or Migrating Google Drive Data

To backup or move your Google Drive data to a personal Google Drive account or download the data locally, use one of the below methods.

• Go to takeout.google.com and log in as your Emerson account and use the tools there to export Google Drive data. Learn more about using Google Takeout.
• Share your files and folders with a personal Google Drive account, then log into that personal Google Drive account and right-click the files/folders you need and click Make a Copy. This will create a copy of that data in your personal Google account that only you own. You can then delete or otherwise discard the original version that still is in your Emerson account.
• Download the data locally to a hard drive or computer by right-clicking the files-folders and click Download.

Note: Transferring ownership (sharing a file/folder with an outside account and then under Share settings, clicking Transfer Ownership) will not work, as Google prohibits transferring ownership to an outside domain through this method.

Backing Up or Migrating Gmail Data

Prepare to lose access to your Emerson email

In addition to migrating your Emerson Gmail data, remember that you will want to also update all contacts to no longer use your Emerson email address, as you will be losing access. To ensure a smooth transition:

• Any services (newsletters, websites, streaming services, social media etc.) for which you use your Emerson alumni email address, log into those and update the email address on file to a different or personal address.
• Set an out of office message on your Emerson email address saying that this email address is no longer checked, and to please send to your other contact.
• Notify your most important contacts that have been emailing your Emerson Alumni email address and inform them to update their contact for you to your personal address.

Importing Email with POP

To automatically migrate all email from your Emerson Gmail to your personal email:

• You will first need to set a unique password for Google for your Emerson account. Because we use Duo (single sign on) at Emerson, you don't typically need a native Google password, but you will need it for this. To obtain this, contact the Help Desk (helpdesk@emerson.edu) and ask them to generate and send you your Google password. Once done, you will receive an email with the subject Your Google Account password for Emerson College has been reset by your administrator. Click Reset Password and set it to something unique (you can set it to your Emerson password you use for all other Duo applications if you wish).
  • Note for Help Desk administrators only (these instructions are not applicable to departing students, and are intended only by the Help Desk staff aiding with a Google password reset): To perform a secure password reset, log into https://admin.google.com, search for the user requesting the password reset, click Reset Password, select Automatically generate a password and click Reset. Then, click Email Password and enter the user's email address to send them the password reset email described above.
• Go to https://myaccount.google.com and make sure you're logged in as your Emerson account (under the user icon in the top right. To make absolutely sure you are logged in as your Emerson account, you can open Google Chrome, click the three dots in the top right corner, click New Incognito Window, and then go to https://myaccount.google.com and log into your Emerson email address). Click on Security on the left and scroll down until you see Less secure app access. Click the link Turn on access (not recommended) and click the slider Allow less secure app: OFF to ON.
• Log into your Emerson Gmail (gmail.emerson.edu) and go to Settings > See All Settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP. Check Enable POP for all mail and click Save Changes at the bottom.
• Log into your personal / non-Emerson Gmail account. If your personal account is a Gmail address, go to Settings > See All Settings > Accounts and Import (Note: if this option isn't there, or is just labeled "Accounts," your non-Emerson email doesn't support importing email, so this won't work and you'll need to use the alternative instructions below). If you're migrating to a different mail provider (Yahoo, etc.), follow their instructions for importing, and use the same parameters detailed below.
• Next to Import mail and contacts, click Import mail and contacts.
• Enter your Emerson email address and click Continue.
• For the password, use the one you were sent in email and reset from Step 1.
• For POP username, enter your full Emerson email address.
• For POP server, enter pop.gmail.com. Click Edit next to Port and change it to 995. Check Use SSL. Click Continue.
• Select the import settings you prefer and start the import!
• Once the import is complete, log back into your Emerson Gmail (gmail.emerson.edu) to verify the data is there. If it is, go back to Settings > See All Settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP. Check Disable POP for all mail and click Save Changes at the bottom.
• Log back into https://myaccount.google.com and turn off Allow less secure app (this will also automatically turn off after a period of time when you turn off POP).

Alternative Method: Export Emerson Gmail as a File

In the event that the above cannot work (if, for instance, your destination email does not support importing through POP):

• Go to https://takeout.google.com and make sure you're logged in as your Emerson account (under the user icon in the top right. To make absolutely sure you are logged in as your Emerson account, you can open Google Chrome, click the three dots in the top right corner, click New Incognito Window, and then go to https://takeout.google.com and log into your Emerson email address).
• Click Deselect all at the top, and then click the checkmark next to Mail in the long list.
• Scroll to the bottom and click Next Step. Determine how you want to receive the data and click Create Export. Gmail will download as an MBOX file.
• If you want to import that MBOX file (and all your Emerson email content) into a personal email account:
  • Mac Users: Add the personal Gmail account to Apple Mail. Then, import the MBOX with Apple Mail. The messages will be in a new mailbox called Import in the Mail sidebar. You can drag folders and messages from the Import mailbox to new or existing folders, and once done, you can delete the Import MBOX.
  • Windows Users: Download and install the mail client Mozilla Thunderbird. Add your personal / non-Emerson account to Thunderbird. Select Tools > Add-ons and search for ImportExportTools NG and click Add to Thunderbird and restart Thunderbird when it's finished. Then, in the left pane, select/highlight Local Folders, then click Tools > ImportExportTools NG > Import mbox files > Import directly one more more mbox files, click OK,  and select your MBOX file and click Open. You can then select all messages in the imported folder and then drag and drop them to the corresponding folder in your destination account. Once done, delete/remove the imported mbox file.