How to Migrate Email from Google Workspace to Gmail Free?

Rollins Duke
Published: September 18th, 2024 • 9 Min Read

Do you want to migrate email from Google Workspace to Gmail for account cost reasons? Here, in this blog, we are going to explain the complete procedure to downgrade Google Workspace to Gmail account with attachments and email attributes.

Both Google Workspace (formerly G Suite, Google Apps for Work, Google Apps) and Gmail accounts are cloud-based services provided by Google, but they differ in many ways. The main difference that exists between the Gmail and Google Workspace accounts is the account cost.

Gmail is a free service, and Google Workspace is a paid one. The Gmail account is mainly used by normal and home users to manage their personal data. On the other hand, Google Workspace is the business account used mostly by small, medium, and large organizations. Also, G Suite includes different plans like Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, and Enterprise. The organization selects the plan according to its requirements.

Why Downgrade Google Workspace to Gmail?

Costing: Gmail is a free web-based email service provided by Google, which means users do not need to pay any type of cost to access its services. The Google Workspace, however, is based on different subscription plans. Hence, the user needs to pay the cost according to the plan they choose.
Email Address: In Gmail, all email addresses end with “@gmail.com“. But in G Suite, the organizations/users can customize their email address according to their needs like “[email protected]“.
Feature: The features and services offered by Gmail are equally available to all users. However, in the Google Workspace account, the features and services offered differ according to the subscribed service plan.
Control Over the Account: For Gmail, there is no admin feature, which means each user is fully free to use his account. But in G Suite, the user accounts are created, and the acceptability is controlled by the admin account.
Cloud Storage: G Suite offers more storage when compared to Gmail. When considering email storage, Gmail provides 15 GB while Google Workspace provides 30 GB to 5 TB storage according to your subscription.

Here, we have only provided a comparison between basic features. There are a lot more features/services in which they are different.

How to Migrate Email from Google Workspace to Gmail Manually?

Gmail provides a built-in feature to import data from other webmail accounts called “Import Mail and Contacts” option. Also, you can use “Google Takeout” which permits you to export MBOX from Gmail and Google Workspace. Thereafter, users can easily import MBOX to Gmail manually to finish the task. Let’s follow the upcoming instructions to learn more about switching Google Workspace to Gmail.

#1 Manual Method to Add Google Workspace Email to Gmail

Sign in to your destination Gmail and choose “Settings“.
Then, select the “See all settings” option.
After that, choose “Accounts and Import” from Settings.
Tap “Import mail and contacts” to add the source account.
Type your source Google Workspace email ID and click “Continue“.
Enter Google Workspace password, username, and server details.
Then, press “Continue” to authenticate the account successfully.
Now pick items to import in your Gmail and tap “Start Import“.
Click “OK” to start adding Google Workspace email to Gmail.
See importing process is running and will take up to 2 days.

Suggestions and Limitations

Suggestions:

Make sure your Google Workspace account has POP access.
If you use 2-step verification, then create a new app password for GWS.

Limitations:

This manual method requires technical knowledge about the POP Server, Port Numbers, App Password, 2-step verification, etc.
Users receive different types of error messages while validating destination account authentication.
This manual approach takes up to 2 days when you add Google Workspace email to Gmail account.
It requires various settings in your computer, browser, source, and destination email accounts.

#2 Manual Method to Migrate Email from G Suite to Gmail

Phase1: Use Google Takeout to Export GWS Emails

Sign in to your Workspace account and open Google Takeout.
Deselect all Google items and select only the Mail option.
Then, select the Delivery method as Send download link via email.
Choose ZIP as the file type from the Customize archive format.
Then, select archive size and click the Create archive button.
Google Takeout is preparing mailboxes to export.
Download archive when you’re your Google data archive is ready.

Note: After downloading the Takeout archive data in the ZIP file, please extract it and get the MBOX file. This mailbox file stores all your Google Workspace emails.

Phase2: Configure Destination Gmail in Thunderbird

Download, install, and launch Thunderbird client.
Choose Tools and then select Account Settings.
Next, click Account Actions and choose Add Mail account.
Enter your Gmail account credentials and click Continue.
After that, check the IMAP option and tap on the Done button.

Note: Thunderbird is an open-source client that is available free of cost that we have used and discussed in 2^nd phase.

Phase3: Import Workspace Exported MBOX in Thunderbird

Add ImportExportTools add-ons to Thunderbird.
Right-click on Local Folders in Thunderbird.
Choose ImportExportTools >> Import MBOX File >> Individual MBOX File.
After that, select the exported MBOX file and press the Open button.
Now you see the MBOX file under local folders.
Lastly, drag and drop MBOX from local folders to configured Gmail account.

Note: After drag and drop, the MBOX file will start to synch with your configured Gmail account. After completing the synchronization, login to your destination Gmail account and access Google Workspace emails.

Suggestions and Drawbacks

Suggestions:

IMAP should be enabled in your destination Gmail account.
Don’t forget to check IMAP while adding a Gmail account in Thunderbird.

Drawbacks:

You need to finish several stages to migrate email from Google Workspace to Gmail account.
This manual method requires technique expertise in account configuration, IMAP, Thunderbird, etc.
It requires several third-party programs like Thunderbird and ImportExportTools add-ons.
Non-technical users may face the problem while migrating email from G Suite to Gmail.

Professional Solution to Migrate G Suite Account to Gmail

BitRecover Google Workspace Backup Wizard is the most reliable solution that permits to migrate email from Google Workspace to Gmail directly with full data security. Data migration is almost a necessity for every person. The tool helps to transfer G Suite emails to Gmail account easily without any concern about data loss or the security of data.

Download Now Purchase Now

Note That: Before using this software, you’ll need to provide your email addresses and app passwords for both your Gmail and Google Workspace accounts. Make sure to create app passwords for Google Mail beforehand.

How to Migrate Email from Google Workspace to Gmail?

Firstly, download and install software that has a separate option to transfer G Suite to Gmail account.
Enter your Google Workspace email account credentials and click the Login button to continue.
After that, select Google Workspace email folders from the software interface. Also, select Gmail from the list of saving options.
The tool offers multiple advanced filter options to migrate selected emails from Google Workspace to Gmail.
Fill Gmail account login details in specific fields and click the Backup button to continue.
Google Workspace to Gmail migration process is running. Please wait for a while.
Lastly, after completing of the task, login to your Gmail account to preview the imported Google Workspace email folder.

Unique Features and Benefits of Software

Instant G Suite Data Transfer: The tool allows us to directly migrate email from Google Workspace to Gmail. It helps with the instant downgrade Google Workspace to Gmail.
Folder Structure Management: While converting Google Workspace account to personal account, the tool helps to preserve the folder structure. It maintains the structure of all folders and subfolders in Gmail as same as that of G Suite.
Supports Multiple Languages: The tool makes software installation easier by supporting multiple languages such as English, French, Deutsch, Italiano, and Dutch. It helps users from different countries to complete the installation without any confusion.
Management of Email Attachments: Even after the migration, all the attachments of G Suite emails are maintained as it was in Gmail. This means that all email attachments are moved to their original format without any errors.
No Size Limitation for Migration: The tool supports G Suite to Gmail migration with no file size restrictions.
Live Migration Progress Status: The tool provides the live migration progress status of the migration process. Users can easily track the migrated data with the converted data count.
Simple to Operate: Users can easily add Google Workspace emails into the software panel by entering account credentials. Thereafter, it asks for output Google account login details to complete the Google Workspace to Gmail migration process.

Final Words

Most users search for a safe and secure solution to migrate email from Google Workspace to Gmail. In this blog, we have explained the top 3 methods to add Google Workspace email to Gmail. All are tried and tested techniques so you can opt for any accordingly. However, software is highly recommended because this is an easy-to-use approach.

A free trial edition of the application is also available, which allows users to import 25 emails from G Suite to Gmail account. Users can purchase the software to avail its full functionalities. We hope that after reading this blog, users are not left with any queries or confusion regarding queries.