How to Cancel Google Workspace But Keep Your Email?
4.9based on 1207 user reviews
Are you attempting to cancel Google Workspace but keep email? You’re certainly not the only one. Whether you’re shifting to a new email provider, reducing costs, or simply don’t need the services offered by Google Workspace anymore, the issue of what happens to your email history becomes paramount.
Fortunately, it is indeed quite possible to cancel your Google Workspace account subscription but keep your email. However, this is only possible if you backup Google Workspace emails. If you cancel your Google Workspace account, you will immediately lose access to Gmail, and after some time, Google will make sure your mailbox is no longer recoverable.
This guide explains what happens when you cancel google workspace but keep email using 3 methods with step-by-step instructions and how to cancel your Google Workspace account correctly without losing any important information.
How to Cancel Google Workspace But Keep Email?
Can You Cancel Google Workspace But Keep Email?
We can confirm that you have the option to keep your Google Workspace email messages intact by exporting or making a backup of your mailbox prior to discontinuing your subscription.
Following your subscription termination, your Workspace Gmail account will be made inactive. This will result in your inability to log in, send or receive email from your old account.
Google retains the data for a limited time after your account is terminated for recovery purposes. However, this should not be regarded as a backup solution, and it will only work for a limited time.
What Happens When You Cancel Google Workspace Plan?
If you want to cancel Google Workspace but keep email then before you cancel your subscription, you should understand what happens. Most users believe they will continue to have access to their old emails for some time after the cancellation of their account, but that’s not the case with Google Workspace.
Once your subscription is cancelled, your access to Gmail and other Workspace products is also suspended. Although Google keeps your account data for backup purposes for a certain period of time, you cannot plan on it for accessing your mailbox in the future. Without creating a backup before your cancellation, you will lose all of your emails.
Best Ways to Keep Google Workspace Emails When Cancelling the Subscription
If you wish to cancel Google Workspace but keep email, you can simply download them to a secure external storage or move its data to an active account. The method you choose will depend on the size of your mailbox, the number of user accounts you manage, and how you expect to access the email in the future.
Method 1: Use Professional Tool to Keep Emails Even After G Suite Cancellation
When you need to cancel Google Workspace but keep email, your best bet is to employ a dedicated tool.
With Email Backup Software, it is possible to download huge amounts of mail directly from your mailbox without any tedious manual work needed. Besides being quick, it keeps all the information, like data about folder hierarchy, labels, attachments, properties, messages, and more.
Another positive aspect is versatility. This software allows you to export your emails not only in one format, but in many other formats, such as PST for Outlook, PDFs for document storage, EML for single emails, MBOX for Thunderbird, Apple Mail and others. Besides, most of them have the ability to work with a great number of user accounts, which is very helpful for companies having a lot of employees.
Moreover, using this all in one tool, you can also migrate Google Workspace emails to Gmail, Office 365, another Google Workspace account, Exchange Server, IMAP Server, or any other account.
Steps to Keep the Emails After Google Workspace Cancellation
Follow these steps to use the tool if you want to cancel Google Workspace but keep email
- Download and open the tool, then select Google Workspace as the source.
- Just enter Google Workspace email address and securely sign in to your account using Google OAuth.
- Pick the required Google Workspace mailbox folders (which are important for you).
- Sort the desired Google Workspace data using Advanced Filters.
- Enable Incremental Backup option to download only newly arrived emails in mailboxes.
- Pick a Schedule date to automatically let the software backup your data to desired path.
- Choose a Savings option according to your requirements.
- Browse the destination path to save the data on an internal or external device.
- Lastly, hit the Backup button to start the process.
- Lastly, hit the Backup button to start the process.
Why choose this method?
Reasons to use the tool when trying to cancel Google Workspace but keep email
- Can handle bulky mailboxes as well as many users’ accounts.
- Ensures folder structure and email layout is retained.
- Offers exporting of the emails into selected formats.
- Saves attachments with the mail.
- Also export Google Workspace contacts.
- Enables you to have backup copy that can be used even after your subscription to the Workspace stops.
Method 2: Export Emails Using Google Takeout
Google provides an export service that is free of charge and gives Workspace admins a way to download company data before they terminate their subscription. This is Google’s official manner of exporting Gmail and other similar data so as to avoid having to rely on a third party.
While Google Takeout is as trustworthy as possible, it does have its drawbacks. One is that because exports are done on Google’s servers, large mailboxes can take several hours or even days before the export is finished. In addition to this, the mails are delivered in MBOX format, meaning that a suitable email client is needed in order to view your emails.
- Visit https://takeout.google.com/.
- Go to the Data option and click on Data Export.
- Request a new export.
- Be patient as Google processes your request.
- Once you receive an email notification from Google, download your ZIP files.
- The downloaded files should be stored on the computer or external device prior to terminating your subscription.
Drawbacks:
- Exporting can be a lengthy process.
- Emails are retrieved in only MBOX format.
- To access the email file, an email client such as Thunderbird is necessary.
- Large companies could end up with numerous archives.
- Can fail and take a lot of days.
Method 3: Use Thunderbird to Cancel Google Workspace But Keep Email
If you happen to be whether using a small mailbox or not and want to find an effective free method of saving emails, Thunderbird is a valuable free option. Thunderbird is an application installed on the laptop or desktop clients that works with your Google Workspace email account by means of IMAP and saves a local copy of your inbox.
This approach is perfect for private users and small companies with small amounts of email data. However, if you try to download large-sized mailboxes, you should expect that it will take you much time to synchronize them.
- Install Thunderbird on your system.
- Access Thunderbird and set up your Google Workspace email account.
- Login into the account with your Google Workspace credentials and enable IMAP access.
- Now wait for Thunderbird to sync all your folders and save all emails and attachments.
- After the synchronization is finished, you can keep your mailbox in Thunderbird.
Limitations:
- Time-consuming for synchronizing large amounts of data.
- Only stores emails locally within the Thunderbird application client.
Which Method Should You Choose?
You can use any of these three methods to keep your emails before you cancel your Google Workspace subscription, but each has a different aim. Professional software is the best choice if you need a thorough backup of your mailbox, have several export formats, or need to back up several user accounts. Google Takeout is advisable if you are looking for a free solution and don’t mind waiting until your email archives are ready. Thunderbird is a good option for users who are looking for a simple offline access of their emails.
FAQs: Cancel Google Workspace But Keep Email
Q 1: Will cancelling Google Workspace delete my emails?
Yes. When Google Workspace is cancelled, access to Gmail will be denied right away. Google keeps your data during the recovery period, but when it is finished, your emails will be deleted for good. Therefore, you should make sure to back it up before cancellation.
Q 2: Can I cancel Google Workspace but keep email address?
You can continue to use your email address if you change the domain to another email hosting service prior to cancelling your Google Workspace. Otherwise, it won’t be able to receive any new messages.
Q 3: Is Google Takeout enough to cancel Google Workspace but keep email?
Google Takeout is a good free option that allows basic backups of my email box. However, it can take some time to back up a large email box as it only allows you to export emails in MBOX format. If you want to export emails in PST, PDF, or EML and keep several email boxes, software can be a better option.
Q 4: What file format is best to keep emails when deleting Google Workspace plan?
The best format to cancel Google Workspace but keep email depends on what you want to do with the data. If you want to use Outlook, then PST is the most suitable format. If you want to archive or print emails, then PDF format is better.
Conclusion
The termination of your subscription to Google Workspace doesn’t mean you will have to let go of years of essential emails. If you want to cancel Google Workspace but keep email then download the complete mailbox as it will help in sending and receiving messages, including attachments, contacts, and mailbox account details. While using free methods like Google Takeout and Thunderbird can be very helpful for performing basic backups, they contain several limitations and challenges. Hence, a better option is to use dedicated software that provides great flexibility and speed as it offers a variety of export options, makes it possible to retain an original mailbox structure, and provides easy backups in one or several accounts.
Once you are sure that you have made a backup of your emails, you can proceed to cancel Google Workspace and keep emails.
4.9
based on 1207 user reviews