How to download your Google+ data before it shuts down this April

Ben Schoon | Oct 8 2018 - 12:55 pm PT

Well, it finally happened. Google+ is officially being shut down. The ill-fated social network never really had mass adoption, but its core user base is certainly already pretty vocal about it going away, though. If you’re an avid user, here’s how to download Google+ data before it gets shut down.

How to download Google+ data before it shuts down

Visit Google Takeout
Select the data you want to keep
Adjust download formats
Choose where and how your data is stored

Google+ is set to officially shut down its consumer version on April 2nd, 2019. Features are already being killed off, so if you’ve got a lot of data stored on your Google+ profile, you’ll want to get this process taken care of sooner rather than later before the platform is gone for good. So, here’s how to download your Google+ data.

Note: Google says that it will take “a few months” to fully complete, so you may have time past the April deadline. Still, you’ll want to get this taken care of before anything gets deleted.

1. Visit Google Takeout

To download Google+ data, or any data tied to your Google account, you’ll want to use a tool called “Google Takeout.” This handy tool conveniently lets you download any of the data from your Google account that you want all from one location. You can access Google Takeout at takeout.google.com.

2 .Select the Google+ data you want to keep

Once within the Google Takeout tool, you’ll need to select the data you want to make a downloadable file of. If you only want to download data from your Google+ account, you’ll want to use the “Select None” button to unselect everything. Once done, you can go down the list and make specific picks on what to download. To download Google+ data, you’ll need to select the following options:

+1s
Google+ Circles
Google+ Communities
Google+ Stream
Hangouts
Hangouts on Air
Profile

3. Adjust formats for downloaded data

For a few of those options, you’ll be able to select exactly how the data is stored. For example, Google+ Circles can be stored at vCard files which easily let you import them into contact applications. Alternatively, you can switch to an HTML file or as comma-separated values (CSV). For Google+ Communities or the Google+ Stream, you can also filter out bits of data as you prefer. This is entirely optional, though.

4. Choose where and how your data is stored

Finally, you’ll want to select where your data gets stored. Google also makes this process very easy. You can store the file as a .zip or .tgz file with file sizes ranging from 1GB to 50GB (2GB being the default). Google will compile the data in the background once the process starts and it can automatically be uploaded to cloud sources such as Google Drive or Dropbox. Alternatively, a download link can be sent over email once the data is compiled and ready for download.

Alternatively, Google+ Exporter is a third-party method of exporting this data. It promises to export the data in a better-structured way. It can even export the information directly over to Blogger or WordPress. Keep in mind, though, that you’ll need to have a Windows, Linux, or MacOS computer to use the tool.