How to export your Google Keep notes
Google Keep has no export button, but Google Takeout can download every note, checklist, label and image you have. It takes about two minutes to set up. Here is exactly what to click, what you get, and what to do with it.
Updated 30 September 20266 minute read
Before you start
You need a computer or phone browser and the password for the Google account your notes live in. If you use more than one Google account, check which one is signed in at the top right of Takeout before you start: the export only covers the account you are signed in with.
Work and school accounts are managed by an administrator, who can switch Takeout off. If Keep doesn’t appear in the list, that is usually why; ask your IT team.
Export step by step
- Open Google Takeout. Go to takeout.google.com.
- Click “Deselect all”. Takeout starts with every Google product ticked. Clearing them first keeps the download small and quick.
- Tick Keep. Scroll down the alphabetical list to Keep and tick its box. There are no extra options to set for Keep.
- Click “Next step” at the very bottom of the page.
- Choose how you want it. Destination: “Send download link via email”. Frequency: “Export once”. File type:
.zip. Leave the size at 2 GB unless you have a lot of images (see large accounts). - Click “Create export”. Google starts preparing your archive. You can close the tab.
- Download it from the email. Google emails you when it’s ready, usually within minutes for Keep. The link works for about 7 days and up to 5 downloads, and Google may ask you to sign in again first.
Tip: if you want a regular backup rather than a one-off copy, choose “Export every 2 months for 1 year” at step 5. Our Google Keep backup guide covers that in detail.
What’s in the download
Unzip the file and open Takeout/Keep. Every note appears twice:
- An .html file you can open in any browser to read the note.
- A .json file with the same note in a structured form: title, text or checklist items with their ticked state, colour, whether it was pinned, archived or trashed, its labels, links, and when it was created and last edited.
Images and other attachments sit alongside as ordinary files, and your label names are listed too. The JSON files are what other apps read to rebuild your notes faithfully.
Large accounts
Notes themselves are tiny; images are what make an archive big. If your export is larger than the size you chose at step 5, Google splits it into several numbered files (takeout-…-001.zip, -002.zip and so on). Each part is a valid archive. To keep everything in one file, choose a larger size, such as 10 GB, before creating the export.
If something goes wrong
The email never arrives
Check spam, then go back to Takeout and open “Manage exports” to see its progress. Big exports can take hours, occasionally longer.
The link has expired
Links last about a week. Create a new export; it only takes a minute.
Keep isn’t in the list
On a work or school account your administrator has probably disabled Takeout or Keep. On a personal account, make sure you are signed in to the right one.
What to do with it
The HTML files are fine for reading one note at a time, but they are not a notes app: no board, no search across notes, no reminders. To get a working copy back, import the .zip into Tack Notes. It rebuilds your board with the same colours, labels and pins, and you can keep adding notes from there.