Can You Save Emails to External Hard Drive?

How to Backup Outlook Emails to Flash Drive
How to Backup Emails to Flash Drive

Backing up emails from Outlook or Gmail to a flash drive is possible and you can check the following 3 sections to know the detailed steps. In this section, we are going to know the 3 main reasons why we should backup emails to a flash drive.

  • Offline Access: After saving emails to a flash drive, the emails can be viewed offline. This can be very helpful when your network connection is unstable but you want to check the email content urgently.
  • Protection against Data Loss: Emails may accidentally be lost because of computer glitches, server issues, or other problems. You may panic if you face that dilemma. But if you backed up emails to your flash drive before, you can also access those emails even though they are deleted in email servers.
  • Reducing Server Load: When you finish backing up emails to a flash drive, you can delete them on Gmail or Outlook to free up storage. By doing so, the performance of email servers can be optimized and you can have a better user experience.

How to Backup Emails to Flash Drive via MultCloud[Gmail & Outlook]

If you want to save multiple emails to a flash drive as PDFs, MultCloud is recommended to you. MultCloud is a free cloud-managing service that supports multiple cloud drives and email servers to transfer files and emails with various functions like Cloud Transfer, Cloud Sync, Cloud Backup, Email Migration, and Email Download.

  • Cloud Transfer: Automatically move files from one cloud to another.
  • Cloud Sync: Sync files between clouds with various sync modes.
  • Cloud Backup: Backup and restore files and securely protect your data.
  • Email Migration: Directly save emails to a cloud drive in PDF format.
  • Email Download: Batch-export emails from email servers as PDFs.

To backup Gmail or Outlook emails to a flash drive, you can use MultCloud Email Download and there are several reasons to explain why this method is recommended.

  • Email Download backs up emails as PDFs. This file type is convenient for you to read the email content since it won't mess up the original format.
  • Email Download supports selective backup. You can choose to backup what you want instead of the whole folder of emails.
  • Gmail or Outlook emails can share the same way to be backed up to flash drives. Thus, you don't have to spend time learning multiple methods for different email servers.

The steps for backing up Gmail emails to a flash drive are shown below. To avoid the trouble of additionally transferring files from your computer to the flash drive, you can change the downloading destination to your USB in the browser settings as a preparation.

Step 1: Enter MultCloud and sign up for a MultCloud account.

Step 2: Click “Add Email” and the Gmail icon to add Gmail to MultCloud. You should log in to your Gmail account when a pop-up window shows up.

Add Gmail
Add Gmail

Step 3: Tap Gmail in the left sidebar and choose folders or emails that you are willing to backup to the flash drive. Then click “Download” in the upper bar.

Choose Gmail Emails
Choose Gmail Emails

Step 4: Name the package and check the options below. Finally, click “OK” and you finish all your operations on how to backup emails to flash drive.

Download Gmail Emails
Backup Gmail Emails to Flash Drive

Note 1: This solution can be also used on how to backup Outlook emails to a flash drive. The steps are similar: Add Outlook > Open it and choose the emails > Click "Download" > Check Download Settings > Click "OK" to start backing up. But Outlook will be released in early September, and you cannot find it on MultCloud now.

Backup Outlook emails to USB
Backup Outlook emails to USB

Note 2:

  • If you download only one email, it will be displayed in a single. But if there is more than one email that you choose to backup, they will be included in a package.
  • Every user is allowed to convert 50 emails to PDFs every month at most. Thus, if you have quantities of emails to backup to a flash drive, 50 emails may be not enough. At this point, you can upgrade to premium to freely convert and backup emails without limitation.

How to Backup Emails to Flash Drive via Google Takeout [Gmail]

Google Takeout enables users to easily download their data from Google services for backup or migration purposes. The Gmail emails that are exported via Google Takeout will be in MBOX format. You can also choose which Gmail folder to export but some emails in this folder are not allowed. Besides, Google Takeout cannot directly download emails to your flash drive. You have to download the emails from a link.

Step 1: Open Google Takeout and click "Deselect all" in the right corner.

Click Deselect All
Click Deselect All

Step 2: Scroll down the page, find "Mail", and tick the box beside it. Then continue to scroll down the page and tap on the blue "Next step" button.

Choose Mail in the Menu
Choose Mail in the Menu

Step 3: Choose "Send download link via email" under "Destination". Then set the transfer frequency, file type, and file size. At last, click "Create export" to start exporting emails.

Export Gmail Emails
Export Gmail Emails

How to Backup Emails to Flash Drive via Import/Export Wizard [Outlook]

Outlook Import/Export wizard is an Outlook feature that is used to import or export emails to or from Outlook. It also supports backing up multiple emails to a flash drive. However, the emails will be changed to PST file type instead of PDF. Besides, it exports the whole email folder at once. Thus you are not allowed to choose the specific ones to backup.

Step 1: Plug your flash drive into your computer and enter the Outlook interface.

Step 2: Click “File” in the upper-left corner, choose “Open & Export”, and tap “Import/Export”.

Click Import/Export
Click Import/Export

Step 3: Select “Export to a file” in the box and click “Next”.

Choose Export to a File
Choose Export to a File

Step 4: Choose “Outlook Data File (.pst)” and click “Next”.

Choose Outlook Data File
Choose Outlook Data File

Step 5: Pick the folder that you want to backup to on the flash drive, tick “Include subfolders” if you need them, and click “Next”.

Step 6: Click “Browse” to choose the flash drive as the downloading location. Then give a name to the file and click “OK”.

Change the Export Destination to the Flash Drive
Change the Export Destination to the Flash Drive

Step 7: Check the options and click “Finish”. You can set a password for the file if you want. After that, click “OK” and the Outlook emails are backed up to a flash drive.

Conclusion

When you read here, you must master the 3 simple solutions on how to backup emails to flash drive. If you want to try a way that can be used on any email client, MultCloud can meet your needs in a wonderful way because MultCloud Email Download supports several email clients.

Besides, if change your mind and want to backup emails to cloud drives, you can also find the best solution on MultCloud. By Email Migration, emails can be easily sent to Google Drive, OneDrive, or other clouds as PDFs without downloading and uploading.

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