Does Using Google Takeout Delete Data?
Does using Google Takeout delete data? No. Takeout only copies your data; your Google account stays the same. How to delete afterwards, in a safe order.
No. Using Google Takeout does not delete any data. Takeout makes a copy of your data and packs it into zip or tgz files; your Google Photos, Gmail, Drive and every other product stay exactly as they were.
Nothing leaves your account, and nothing changes in it. If you want to delete data after the export, that is a separate step that you do yourself, and the order you do it in is important.
What happens when you export
When you create an export at takeout.google.com, Google reads the products you selected and writes a copy into archive files. During the export, and after it:
- Your photos stay in Google Photos, with their albums, shared albums and captions.
- Your emails stay in Gmail, and your files stay in Drive.
- Your storage use does not go down. A download does not free any space in your Google account.
- Your phone does not change. Google Photos on your phone shows the same library as before.
This is also true for scheduled exports (every 2 months for one year) and for exports sent to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or Box. Each one is only a copy.
One thing does use space: if you send the export to Google Drive, the zip files count against your Google storage until you delete them. How do I delete files from Google Takeout? shows how to remove them.
Takeout also does not delete information from your photos
A second question hides inside this one. After an export, many photos show today's date on the computer, so it looks as if Takeout deleted the dates. It did not.
Google Photos keeps the date taken, the location and your captions in its own database. Takeout writes this information into a .json file next to each photo, not into the photo. Many photos, for example screenshots, chat images and photos you edited in Google Photos, have no date inside the file. The computer then shows the download date. The real date is in the .json file. supplemental-metadata.json explained shows where.
If you want to delete data: the safe order
Many people export because they want to free space or leave Google. Takeout does not do the delete for you, and that is good: it gives you time to check the copy. Do the steps in this order.
1. Download and check every part
A large export comes in several parts. Download all of them within the 7 days the links work. Check that each zip or tgz file opens without an error. A photo and its .json file can be in two different parts, so unzip all parts into one folder.
2. Compare the count
Look at the number of photos and videos in the unzipped folders, and compare it with the number in Google Photos. The export often has more files, because edited photos come twice and photos in albums can appear in several folders. It must not have noticeably fewer. If it does, read Why is my Google Takeout missing photos?.
Also look at your shared albums. Your export contains the photos you added yourself. Photos that other people added to a shared album are not in your export. Save the ones you want to your own library first, and export again.
3. Fix the dates
Write the dates, places and captions from the .json files into the photos before you delete anything. The .json files depend on Google's own naming, and after you delete your library you cannot export them again.
Takeout JSON Metadata Fixer does this step on your own computer, on Mac, Windows or Linux. It writes the real date taken, the GPS location and the captions into each photo, sets the file dates, and can rename the photos and sort them into folders. At the end it lists every photo it could not match with a .json file. The first 500 photos are free.
4. Check the result
Open the fixed photos in the app you will use, for example Apple Photos, Immich or Windows Photos. Look at photos from several years, including screenshots and chat images. They must show the right date and, where there was one, the right place.
5. Make a second copy
One copy on one disk is not a backup. Copy the fixed library to a second disk or a second service before you delete anything at Google.
6. Delete in Google Photos
Now delete the photos in Google Photos. Remember that this deletes them from every device that uses the same account, including your phone. Deleted items go to the Google Photos Trash first. They stay there for up to 60 days, unless you empty it. Empty the Trash if you want the storage space back at once.
Is it safe to delete my Google Photos after exporting? goes through the checks in more detail.
When to delete the Takeout files
After the steps above, you can delete the Takeout zip files too. Keep them until the fixed library is checked and backed up, because they are your only complete copy with the .json files. Do I need to keep the Google Takeout zip files? lists what to verify first.
Deleting the zip files never deletes anything in your Google account. It only removes your local copy.
Frequently asked questions
Does Google Takeout delete my photos from Google Photos?
No. It copies them. Your photos stay in Google Photos until you delete them yourself.
Does Google Takeout free up Google storage?
No. An export does not change your storage use. An export to Google Drive even uses more storage, until you delete the zip files from Drive.
Does Google Takeout delete my account?
No. Takeout has no delete function. Deleting your Google account or a Google product is a separate option in your Google Account settings.
Does cancelling a Takeout export delete anything?
No. Cancelling only stops the copy. Your data in Google stays the same.
Can I use Google Takeout more than once?
Yes. Each export is a new complete copy of what you selected, and your account stays the same after each one.