Updated in

Guide: How to Export Your GMAIL Inbox to mbox in

An Easy Step-by-Step Tutorial.

By Alex

How to Export Gmail Inbox to mbox format

For GoodByEmail to work its magic and identify your biggest inbox offenders, we'll need you to export an archive of your GMAIL inbox first. Here's a simple step-by-step guide to creating and downloading this archive. You'll end up with an mbox file, ready to be utilized by the GoodByEmail app.

Step 1 - Create an archive of your GMAIL Inbox using Google Takeout

Head over to the Google Takeout page. Keep the default settings as they are ("All Mail data included") and hit the "Next Step" button:

Step 2 - File Type, Frequency, and Destination Settings

There's no need for any changes here. Just click on "Create Export".

Don't Miss Out!

Subscribe to GoodByEmail's newsletter. Our updates are filled with tips on how to manage your inbox.

Step 3 - Waiting for Your Archive Email

The system will send an email with your archive. This could take anywhere from an hour to a day. You'll receive an email like the one below:

Step 4 - Download all the zip files

Click on the “Download 1 of X“ button. This will take you back to Google Takeout. From here, you just need to download all the files. Depending on your inbox size, this might mean downloading more than just one file:

Step 5 - Unzip all the files

Once you've downloaded all the zip files to your computer, use your preferred method to unzip everything. You'll end up with one or more mbox files.

Easy, right?

Quick Plug: Clean up your Gmail storage, privacy-first 💪

Isn’t it frustrating to constantly receive that "Your storage is 95% full" message?

Scared of using Email Cleaning, Unsubscribe or Declutter tools that snoop around your emails, even though they swear they are safe?

We got your back! If you haven’t tried GoodByEmail, it’s about time. Not only does it identify which email senders—many of whom you likely don’t care about anymore—are consuming all your storage space, but it also allows you to effortlessly unsubscribe from mailing lists with complete safety!

GoodByEmail uses a unique privacy-first approach by design: It simply cannot connect directly to your email provider. It does not require you to share any logins, credentials, oauth tokens, nor any sort of invasive permissions whatsoever. All the processing happens on your computer and no emails are ever uploaded to GoodByEmail's servers. Plus, you can even use it offline for maximum privacy!

Could you really trust other cleaning solutions available in the market, knowing they have direct access to your emails? Some services monetize by selling your data. Even if they claim it's secure, it raises concerns about the accessibility and potential misuse of your personal information.

GoodByEmail works with every email provider, you name it: Google, Microsoft, Fastmail, AOL, Yahoo Mail, iCloud, Office 365, Outlook, Zoho, Bluehost Mail, Namecheap Mail, Alibaba Mail, Alimail, Alyun, Gmail, Mail.com, Comcast Xfinity, Live, Hotmail, Yandex Mail, G Suite, MSN, Godaddy Mail, GoogleMail, and so many more.

You only need to make a one-time secure export of your inbox in mbox or .pst format, and GoodByEmail will find out who are the senders eating up all your inbox storage space, without anyone else getting a look at your emails. Plus, you can also easily unsubscribe from those pesky subscription emails. It’s easy to do! Need help? This guide has a step-by-step.