How to Export an Email List from Gmail

What is Gmail?

Gmail is the email service from Google. In 2004, it was first rolled out as an experiment, with users joining on an invitation-only basis. The experimentation phase of Gmail ended in 2009, making this email client available to the general public. The service was designed to outperform all the other email services available, offering a huge amount of storage space, an interface that is well-designed and easy-to-use advanced security features and multiple inboxes that are easy to manage thanks to various filters and labels. These excellent features are why Gmail stands out from the competition and why it’s so popular as an email client worldwide today. Gmail comes included with G-Suite, but can also be used as an independent program.

How to Export Google Contacts

If you need to download an email list from Gmail, you’ll be glad to hear that no matter what your reasons are for doing so, all it takes is a few simple steps. To start, click on the Gmail drop-down menu that can be found on the left side of the navigation pane in your Gmail account. Select ‘Contacts’ from the next drop-down menu that appears.

This will bring up a dialogue box from which you can select ‘Group’. Then, choose the group from which you want to download your email list. You can choose your main contact list, a list of the most contacted recipients, or any other group you have created. Click on ‘All Contacts’ if you want to export all your contacts to your Gmail account.

Once you do this, the download wizard will direct you to a page where you can choose the file format you wish to save your downloaded email list. If you want to use your exported contact list outside of Gmail, then CSV format is the most recommended option. Once you’ve chosen your desired file format, click on ‘Export’.

This will bring up a new dialogue box to save the downloaded list. Click ‘Save File’ and then ‘OK’ before choosing the location where you wish to save your file. Name your file, and finally, click on ‘Save’ before checking that it has successfully been saved to your chosen location.  

How to Export Emails as Well as Contacts in Gmail

Along with exporting all of your contacts from Gmail, there is also the option to export email messages. You might want to do this to back your messages up or simply because you wish to move them to a different platform. To export your email messages from Gmail, start by opening your web browser, heading to Gmail, and signing in if needed. Once you’ve logged in, click on Google Apps. This is a nine-rectangle symbol that is located in the top-right corner. Once the drop-down menu appears, click on ‘Account’ and head to ‘Personal Info & Privacy’. Then, select ‘Control Your Content’ from the top-left corner. Select ‘Create Archive’ and click on ‘Select Data to Include’. Press ‘Next’, and select the desired formatting option from the available choices. Once complete, click on ‘create archive’. Wait a few seconds or minutes for Gmail to export all your emails. You will then receive an email in your Gmail inbox containing a zip file that includes all your archived email messages.

Why You Should Organize Your Gmail Contact List

Before exporting your contacts from Gmail, you might want to organise them into different lists and folders. If you’re running a business using Gmail, your contacts are especially important. Even if you’re not exporting your list, keeping them well-organized can make communication with important people easier and help you achieve business success. Organisation and management of your Gmail contacts help with faster and hassle-free exporting and can also be a critical step in strengthening your business relationships.

Perhaps, like many Gmail users, you’ve not given much thought to your Gmail contacts. The good news is that Gmail offers a range of excellent contact management tools that allow you to use your Gmail contacts when using Google’s other tools for productivity, such as the Calendar.

Why is My Google Contacts List Important?

You might wonder why having a well-organized and managed contact list is so important. After all, Gmail will conveniently automatically store any contacts you send emails to. However, taking the time to sort and organize your contacts will make it easier for you if you export them in the future, enabling you to use better the full list of features that Google offers. Bear in mind that over time, you might end up with lots of contacts in Gmail, some of which you have no reason to contact again in the future. Organising them into groups that make sense is always better, allowing you to find and reach the contacts you are in touch with more quickly.

Since your Gmail contact list is a part of your overall Google account, the list you set up in Gmail will be the same as the one you might use with other G-Suite tools, which can make it easier when sharing documents and files or sharing your calendar, for example.

How to Import Gmail Contact List

If you are moving to Gmail from another email client, then the first step to getting names on your Gmail contact list is to import them. To do this, log into your Gmail account and select More, then Import, on the left panel of the Contacts window. This will bring up a box entitled ‘Import contacts from other accounts’. Once this appears, click on the email client you currently use where your contacts are saved. You will usually be prompted to agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and then asked to enter your login details to access your other email client. Follow all the prompts until your contact list is imported to Gmail. Once complete, your Gmail account will display a list of imported contacts. They will usually be placed in a contact group called ‘Imported (Your Email Client) Contacts. You can change the name of this group later if you wish. Remember that you can only use this method to import up to 3,000 contacts at once. If you need more email contacts to import, then you should use your other email client to create an export list in CSV format that can be separated into lists containing less than 3,000 names.

How to Create a New Contact in Gmail

Sometimes you want to add somebody you have just met as a contact in Gmail, for example, if you’ve been given a business card containing somebody’s email address. To add a new contact in Gmail, head to the search bar at the top of the window, where you can look for a contact by typing in the address. Alternatively, you can use the icon on the lower right of the window. Click on the ‘Add new contacts’ icon and type the name of the contact that you wish to add when prompted. You may be provided with suggestions based on the name that you type using existing Google+ profiles. Then, click on ‘Create’, which will bring up a blank contact card. Enter all the information you want to store on your new contact and click the ‘Save’ button.

How to Build Gmail Contacts List or Group

The Groups feature allows you to better organise your Gmail contacts by grouping them together based on your chosen criteria. For example, you may have one group for friends, another for family, one for co-workers, one for clients, one for employees, and so on. To create a group, head to the Contacts window and click on ‘New Group in the side panel. This will bring up a pop-up. Name your group and then click on ‘Create Group’. Then you can add contacts by clicking on the ‘Add person’ button on the lower right. Click on the person’s name to add them to the group, or click on ‘Create’ to create a new contact to add to this group.

Gmail is one of the most popular email clients today for many good reasons. Exporting contacts and many other contact management options is easier than ever with the Gmail client.