Import email from a Gmail account

Use the data import tool to copy email data from a personal Gmail user to a user within your organization's Google Workspace account or from one user to another within your organization's Google Workspace account. Except where indicated, perform the following steps in the Google Admin console for the Workspace account you're importing to.

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

Before you begin

Step 1: Request authorization

You must be signed in as a super administrator for this task. Resellers can't import data for their customer accounts.

  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, click Import.
  3. For Source email address, enter the address of the user's Gmail account and click Request authorization.

    The owner of the Gmail account receives an email with a request to connect their account. To proceed, they must authorize the request. If you're the owner of the account, you can authorize the request directly from the Admin console.

  4. A Pending authorization message appears as the data import tool automatically checks if the connection request has been authorized. If this message disappears and your request still hasn't been authorized, click Verify connection to continue checking for authorization.
    One of the following messages is displayed:

    • Pending authorization—Wait for the account owner to authorize the request, then continue the import process.
    • Connected—The account owner authorized your request.
    • Authorization denied—The account owner rejected your request to connect to their account. You must cancel your current request before sending a new request to connect to the same account or a different one.
    • Request expired—If the account owner doesn't authorize your request to connect to their account within 24 hours, the request expires. Click Refresh request to resend the authorization request.

Step 2: Specify the target user

  1. For Target account, enter the email address of the Google Workspace account you want to import data to.

    The user of this account must have a Google Workspace license and have the Gmail service turned on. For details, go to About importing email with the data import tool.

  2. Click Save.

Step 3: (Optional) Select the import settings

  1. Click Start date and enter the date that you want messages imported from.
    • The data import tool imports messages from the selected date to the date that you start the import.

    • If you don't select a start date, by default all messages sent or received for your organization will be imported starting from Jan. 1, 2000.

  2. (Optional) To import email messages that have been deleted, check the Import deleted emails box.

  3. (Optional) To import email messages with the Spam label, check the Import spam emails box.

  4. (Optional) If you don't want to import messages that have specific labels, check the Exclude specific labels box, and enter the label names, separated by a comma.

    For details, go to How to exclude labels on this page.

  5. Click Save.

How to exclude labels

  • Specify each label or sub-label separately.
  • When you add a sub-label, use the full path and separate the parent label from the sub-label with a forward slash (/).

    Example: You want to exclude the label Travel and its child label, Asia. To do so, you enter Travel,Travel/Asia.

  • If you add All Mail, the data import tool doesn't import any email messages.

Step 4: Start & view the progress of the import

  1. Click Start import.

    This action also grants domain-wide delegation and creates a client ID for Data Import in the target account. For more information, go to Control API access with domain-wide delegation.

  2. The status changes to In progress and the following information is updated in real time:
    • Discovered tasks—Total number of items (messages, labels, and other tasks) that were imported, skipped, or failed
    • Warning—Number of items that were imported, but failed to complete as expected
    • Failed—Number of items that failed to import, due to an error
    • Skipped—Number of items that were skipped
    • Successful—Number of items that were imported successfully
    • Emails discovered—Number of email messages that were imported, skipped, or failed
    • Emails imported—Number of email messages that were imported
    • Emails skipped—Number of email messages that were skipped
    • Emails failed–Number of email messages that didn't import

    When the import is complete, you get an email with import statistics. Any reports are attached.

  3. To export and interpret the report, go to Understand email import reports.

Step 5: Run a delta import

To move data that has been added to the source account since the primary import, start a delta import. For details, go to Run a delta import.

Exit a completed import

Important: Once you exit an import, you can no longer access its configuration data or reports.

The Admin console displays information about a completed import until you exit the import. You can't start a new import until you exit a completed import:

  1. (Optional) Download the data import report.
  2. Click Exit import and then Exit and delete import.

When you exit, the system deletes the client ID and removes Data Import as a client in the domain-wide delegation setting in the target account. It also removes OAuth access in the source account.