Export Gmail on Mac When Takeout Is Disabled
Your IT admin has disabled Google Takeout — but you can still export your Gmail history using Apple Mail or Thunderbird. Here's how.
To check: open Gmail → Settings (gear icon) → See all settings → Forwarding and POP/IMAP. If you see an IMAP section and it says "IMAP is disabled" — or the tab is missing entirely — your admin has disabled IMAP too. In that case, contact your IT department and ask them to enable IMAP access for your account.
Use Apple Mail (built-in)
Apple Mail is already installed on every Mac. This is the simplest route if you've never used a third-party email client.
Enable IMAP in Gmail
In Gmail, click the gear icon → See all settings → Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.
Under IMAP access, select Enable IMAP and click Save Changes.
If this option is greyed out or the tab is missing, IMAP has been disabled by your admin. Contact IT and ask for IMAP access to be enabled for your account.
Add your Gmail account to Apple Mail
Open the Mail app (search Spotlight for "Mail" if it's not in your dock).
Go to Mail → Add Account… in the menu bar. Select Google and click Continue.
Sign in with your Gmail or Google Workspace credentials. When prompted, make sure Mail is ticked, then click Done.
Wait for your mailbox to sync
Apple Mail will download your emails in the background. For large mailboxes this can take several hours.
Check progress in Window → Activity. Keep your Mac plugged in and on Wi-Fi.
You can keep using your Mac normally while Mail syncs. The download continues as long as the Mail app is open.
Export as MBOX
In the Mail sidebar, find your Gmail account and right-click the folder you want to export (for a full backup, right-click All Mail).
Select Export Mailbox… and choose a save location (e.g. your Desktop or Downloads folder).
Mail creates a .mbox bundle — this is your exported archive.
Upload to Evermail
Go to app.evermail.ai, create a free account, and upload your .mbox file.
Evermail indexes every message so you can search by sender, keyword, date, or attachment — without staying inside Gmail.
Upload MBOX free →Use Thunderbird (free, open-source)
Thunderbird gives you more control over folder selection and export formats. It also works if Apple Mail is unavailable or has trouble authenticating.
Download and install Thunderbird
Download Thunderbird from thunderbird.net and install it like any Mac app (drag to Applications).
Add your Gmail account
Open Thunderbird. On the setup screen choose Email, enter your name, Gmail address, and password.
Thunderbird will auto-detect Gmail's IMAP settings. Click Done to finish setup.
If your Google Workspace account uses Single Sign-On (SSO), Thunderbird will open a browser window for authentication — sign in there.
Install ImportExportTools NG
Go to Tools → Add-ons and Themes. Search for ImportExportTools NG and click Add to Thunderbird.
This free add-on adds export functionality to Thunderbird's folder menus.
Sync and export your folders
Wait for Thunderbird to finish downloading your messages (watch the status bar at the bottom).
Once synced, right-click a folder (e.g. All Mail) → ImportExportTools NG → Export folder → MBOX format.
Choose a save location and click OK.
Upload to Evermail
Upload the exported .mbox file to app.evermail.ai.
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