The 2017 ultimate guide to Gmail backup Want to make sure you have a local or backup copy of all that mission-critical business and personal history in your Gmail archives? David Gewirtz takes you through an array of options.

A few years ago, I moved off of Office 365 and Outlook and onto Gmail. Many of you thought I'd regret the move, but I have to tell you that Gmail has been a nearly frictionless experience. I don't think I'd ever go back to using a standalone email application. In fact, I'm moving as many applications as I can to the cloud, just because of the seamless benefits that provides.

Many of you also asked the one question that did have me a bit bothered: how to do backups of a Gmail account? While Google has a strong track record of managing data, the fact remains that accounts could be hacked, and the possibility does exist that someone could get locked out of a Gmail account.

Many of us have years of mission-critical business and personal history in our Gmail archives, and it's a good idea to have a plan for making regular backups. In this article (and its accompanying gallery), I will discuss a number of excellent approaches for backing up your Gmail data.

By the way, I'm distinguishing Gmail from G Suite, because there are a wide range of G Suite solutions. Even though Gmail is the consumer offering, so many of us use Gmail as our hub for all things, that it makes sense to discuss Gmail on its own merits.