Photo: Piotr Swat, Shutterstock
Google Hangouts will be replaced by Google Chats later this year, adding another entry to the growing list of dead Google services. The shutdown is expected to occur in October, but Google is already beginning the transition. While the process will be conducted primarily by Google, the company warns users that some Hangouts messages and conversations won’t automatically pass to Chats.
Google will notify affected users before the final shutdown, but there is a way to protect your Google Hangouts data right now by backing it up on your computer or smartphone. This will ensure that your entire conversation history is securely stored, even if it can’t be ported to Google Chats.
To do so, you’ll need to use the Google Takeout tool, which allows you to download files of almost all data linked to your Google Account, although for this process, you only need to download your Hangouts messages . Here’s how to do it:
- Open Google Takeout in your web browser. It works on computers and mobile phones. (You can also find this menu in your Google Account settings in Data Privacy> Data for the applications and services you use> Download your data).
- Sign in with your Google Account if prompted.
- At the top of the Takeout screen, click “Deselect All.” If you don’t, you’ll end up downloading the entire file from your Google Account, which is a much larger file.
- Scroll down the list and check the Google Hangouts box.
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and select “Next step.”
- On the next screen, you can change the settings of the archive file and how it will be delivered to you. In this case, you can probably stick to the default settings, but our guide to backing up all your Google data has more information about your options if you’re curious.
- When you are satisfied with the export settings, click “Create Export”.
- Please wait a moment while your Hangouts data is being collected. The time will vary depending on the size of your file.
- Once the file is ready, the page will refresh and the download link will appear. (Note: You can also close this page and Google will send you the download link via email.) Click ‘Download’ to save the data to your device.
You now have a secure backup of your Google Hangouts data, but you really can’t do much about it. Cannot import into Google Chats or other messaging apps. However, if you unzip the file and open the JSON files with any text editor (such as Notepad in Windows), you can at least read the message history. Yes, it would be better if these conversations could be posted to Chats, but it’s better than losing them forever.
[9To5Google]