How to Back up Your Google Hangouts Data Before It’s Gone Forever

Later this year, Google Hangouts will be replaced by Google Chats, adding another entry to the ever-growing list of dead Google services . The outage is scheduled for October, but Google is already beginning the transition. While the process will mostly take place on Google’s side, the company is warning users that some Hangouts messages and conversations won’t automatically move to chats.

Google will notify affected users before permanent shutdown, but there is a way to protect your Google Hangouts data right now by backing it up on your computer or smartphone. This will keep all of your conversation history secure, even if it can’t be transferred to Google Chats.

To do this, you will need to use the Google Takeout tool , which allows you to download archives of almost all the data associated with your Google account, although you will only need to download your Hangouts messages for this process. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open Google Archiver in a web browser. It works on desktop and mobile devices. (You can also find this menu in your Google account settings under “Data privacy” > “Data from apps and services you use” > “Upload your data” .)
2. Sign in with your Google account if prompted.

1. At the top of the Takeout screen, click Deselect. If you don’t, you’ll have to download your entire Google account archive, which is a much larger file.
2. Scroll down the list and check the Google Hangouts box.
3. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page and select Next Step.
4. On the next screen, you can change the archive file settings and how it will be delivered to you. In this case, you can probably stick with the default settings, but our guide to backing up all your Google data has more information on your options if you’re interested.
5. If you’re happy with your export settings, click Create Export.
6. Wait a few seconds for your Hangouts data to be collected. The timing depends on the size of your archive.
7. When the file is ready, the page will refresh and a download link will appear. ( Note: you can also close this page and Google will email you the download link.) Click Download to save the data to your device.

You now have a secure Google Hangouts data backup, but there’s not much you can do with it. It cannot be imported into Google Chats or other messaging applications. However, if you unzip the archive and then open the JSON files with any text editor (such as Notepad on Windows), you should at least be able to read the message history. Yes, it would be better if these conversations could be uploaded to chats, but it’s better than losing them forever.

[ 9To5Google ]

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