Use the default data import method for Gmail and Google Drive

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You can use the default data import method to import your personal Gmail messages and Google Drive files to your organization's Google Workspace account. Except where indicated, you complete these steps in the Google Admin console for the Workspace account you're importing to.

Workspace requirements

Before you begin

  • If you exit a data import and then start a new import for the same data set, the second import might create duplicate files in Workspace. To prevent duplicates, avoid creating 2 separate imports for the same data set.

Step 1: Connect to Gmail & Google Drive

  1. In the Google Admin console, go to Menu and then Data and then Data import & export and then Data import.

    You must be signed in as a super administrator for this task.

  2. For Gmail and Google Drive, click Import.

  3. For Source email address, enter the email address for the personal Gmail account you want to import from, and click Request connection.

    The Gmail account owner gets an email request to connect their account and must authorize the request before you can continue. If you own the account, you can authorize the request directly from the Admin console.

  4. Wait for the data import tool to check whether the connection request is authorized. If the Pending authorization message disappears before the request is authorized, click Verify connection to check again. One of the following statuses is shown:

    • Pending authorization—Wait for the account owner to authorize the request, and then continue the import process.
    • Connected—The account owner authorized your request.
    • Authorization denied—The account owner rejected your connection request. Click Cancel request before you send a new request to the same account or a different account.
    • Request expired—Connection requests expire if the account owner doesn't authorize them within 24 hours. Click Refresh request to send a new authorization request.

Step 2: Select a Workspace account

  1. For Target account, enter the email address for the Google Workspace account you want to import data to.
  2. Click Save.
  3. Click Tasks to confirm that the file was successfully uploaded.
  4. If the CSV file doesn't upload:
    1. Select the file and click Delete and then Yes to confirm.
    2. Create a new file and try to upload it again.
  5. If you encounter this issue more than once, contact Google Workspace support.

(Optional) Step 3: Configure import settings

  1. Click Edit settings to choose which data to import.
  2. For Choose the data you want to copy, check one or both boxes:
    • Email messages
    • Files
  3. To copy data from a specific start date, check the Copy data after a specific date box and select a date. The data import tool copies email messages sent or received after that date and files created or modified after that date. If you don't select a start date, the data import tool copies all data starting from January 1, 2000.
  4. To specify whether the import should include other email messages and folders, for Message options, check any of the following boxes:
    • Import deleted emails—Import deleted email messages.
    • Import spam emails—Import email messages in spam folders.
    • Exclude specific labels from data import—Exclude messages in specific folders. Enter the excluded folder names, separated by commas. For details, go to Exclude folders from importing.
  5. To skip specific file types, check the Exclude specific file formats box and then enter the file extensions to exclude. Separate different file extensions with a comma, such as tmp, log, and bak.
  6. To skip large files, check the Exclude files larger than the following size box, enter a maximum size, and select MB or GB.
  7. Click Save changes.

Exclude folders from importing

  • Add each folder or subfolder name separately.
  • If you exclude a folder, the data import also excludes its subfolders and any email messages in them.
  • To exclude a subfolder, enter the full path and separate the parent folder from the subfolder with a forward slash, such as Travel/Asia. If you enter both Travel and Travel/Asia, all subfolders in Travel are excluded.
  • To exclude a folder that has a forward slash in its name, replace each forward slash with an underscore. For example, to exclude Folder/with/slash, enter Folder_with_slash.
  • You can also exclude default Microsoft folders, such as Deleted Items, Inbox, or Junk email, and user-created folders.

Step 4: Start the import & check its progress

Before you begin

  • The data import tool's initial phase might take 15 minutes or longer. During this time, the progress summary might not show changes. Don't stop or exit the import.
  • Starting a data import grants domain-wide delegation and creates a client ID for Data import in Workspace. For details, go to Control API access with domain-wide delegation.

Start the data import

  1. Click Start import.

  2. Review real-time updates while the data import is in progress:

    • Discovered items—Total number of messages, labels, files, folders, and other tasks that were imported, skipped, or couldn't import.
    • Warning—Number of items that were imported, but failed to complete as expected.
    • Failed—Number of items that couldn't import due to an error.
    • Skipped—Number of items that were skipped.
    • Successful—Number of items that imported.
    • Users processed—Number of users whose import is complete for all selected data types.
    • Emails discovered—Number of email messages found in the source Gmail account.
    • Emails imported—Number of email messages that imported.
    • Emails skipped—Number of email messages that were skipped, such as messages already copied in an earlier import.
    • Emails failed—Number of email messages that couldn't import.
    • Files discovered—Number of files found in the user's Google Drive.
    • Files imported—Number of files that imported from Google Drive.
    • Files skipped—Number of files that were skipped.
    • Files failed—Number of files that couldn't import.
    • Folders imported—Number of folders that imported.
    • Discovery issues—Number of folders from the user's Google Drive that couldn't be crawled.

    You can leave the import page without interrupting the import. The import continues unless you stop it.

  3. (Optional) To export a report while the data import is in progress:

    1. Click View data import logs or Export user report.
    2. If the Tasks list doesn't open automatically with the exported report, click Tasks and then the report link.
    3. Click Open in Google Sheets to open the report in Sheets.

  4. (Optional) To stop an import in progress, click Stop import. It can take a few minutes to stop an import. The tool doesn't roll back completed tasks. Any Gmail messages or Drive files imported before the stop remain in Workspace.

When the import is complete, you get an email with import statistics and any attached reports. For details, go to Understand Gmail and Google Drive data import reports.

(Optional) Step 5: Run a delta import

After the initial import completes, you can click Run delta import to copy eligible new or updated data to Workspace. You can also run a delta import to try again for items that didn't import in the initial import.

When the delta import is complete, you get an email with import statistics and any attached reports.

About delta imports

  • For Google Drive, delta imports only include files and folders that are newly created or that didn't import in the initial data import. They don't include files or folders modified in Drive after the initial import.
  • If you exit a data import and start a new import for the same data set, the second import might create duplicate files in Workspace. To prevent duplicates, avoid creating 2 separate imports for the same data set.
  • For Gmail and permissions, a delta import updates previously imported items when email labels, read status, or sharing permissions change. Any unchanged items are skipped.
  • Exact permission imports aren't guaranteed and might be delayed. To help permissions transfer accurately, don't move data in the personal Gmail account or the Workspace account during or between data imports. Review permissions in your Workspace account, and check the data import report for missing or failed permissions.
  • A delta import doesn't delete data already imported to Workspace. If a previously imported message or file is deleted from the source account, the imported copy stays in Workspace.

Step 6: Exit a completed data import

Before you begin

  • After you exit a data import, you can no longer access its configuration data or reports. Don't exit an import until it's complete and you no longer need to run delta imports.
  • You can run delta imports and review reports for a completed import in the Admin console until you exit the import.
  • You must exit a completed import before starting a new one.
  • If you exit a data import and start a new import for the same data set, the second import might create duplicates in Workspace. To prevent duplication, avoid creating 2 separate imports for the same data set.

Exit the data import

  1. (Optional) To save logs from a completed import, click View data import logs and Export user report. For details, go to Understand Gmail and Google Drive data import reports.
  2. Click Exit import and then Exit and delete import.

When you exit, the system deletes the client ID and removes Data import from domain-wide delegation in the target account.


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