# Google Takeout Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-takeout/ 28 people recommended Google Takeout in Hacker News comments, 4 had mixed feelings and 32 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 12 months, in 19 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** More people criticize it than recommend it. People use it to download a local backup of their Google data, and it generally works. Caveat: exports come as many zip files that are awkward to download. Summary written by Claude from the comments below. ## What people warn about - Splits into many separate zip files (4 comments in the sample): "the format isn't that great (it's a ton of separate zip files), but it does eventually work" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50217141)) "Takeout is a single zip file. Once you have a photo repository of a certain size, that approach becomes difficult" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49539363)) "The problem with google takeout is that it generates hundred of files to download as ZIP." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49792982)) - Manual, slow exports for regular backups (3 comments in the sample): "initiate a 'Takeout' request to export their account data into an archive, wait until the request was done" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48482987)) "It's actually somewhat annoying to export in bulk, you pretty much have to use takeout." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46170484)) "my awful, awful, awful workflow is to use the Google Takeout functionality" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46175026)) - Metadata or content altered or missing (3 comments in the sample): "Depending on the device that uploaded the media and your country, they may have stripped GPS metadata from your media." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50218490)) "they revert all their processing and deduping, leaving you with 20 copies of the same file scattered in random places" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48572992)) "When you export your personal data Google hides all model responses leaving just user messages." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48631966)) - Hard to download in bulk (3 comments in the sample): "Downloading the takeout files is miserable through, the download link is only valid when being downloaded via human interaction in a web browser." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46839466)) "I tried Google Takeout but with 900GB of photos is almost impossible to download." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50217338)) "google would force 2fa re-auth if you waited literally 30 seconds between files" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48773108)) ## Why people recommend it - Backs up all your Google data (6 comments in the sample): "I urge anyone reading this to do a Google Takeout request and make a local backup of all the data they hold." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49554430)) "Google Takeout is a very useful way to quickly create a backup of everything Google." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47783823)) "I also love Google Takeout so that I can backup it all up periodically." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46238211)) - Export works reliably for people (5 comments in the sample): "I've never had a problem with Google Takeout the multiple times I've used it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47116660)) "Takeout actually works. You can just download your photos and leave." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47713966)) "Google takeout is pretty good with exporting photos." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49539144)) - Provides data portability from Google (3 comments in the sample): "I'm just grateful they at least have takeout." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47116934)) "it's the only way to protect your Google data" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48009453)) "they do actually provide data portability" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49140015)) - Exports photos for moving libraries (2 comments in the sample): "you can request a Google Takeout of your photos and then point immich-go at it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49792597)) "I exported something like 450GB photos in chunks of 50GB iirc." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49539581)) ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://accounts.google.com/v3/signin/identifier?continue=https://takeout.google.com/&followup=https://takeout.google.com/&osid=1&passive=1209600&flowName=GlifWebSignIn&flowEntry=ServiceLogin&dsh=S1865410662:1793623599461977) ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Google Takeout", https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-takeout/ (28 recommend, 4 mixed, 32 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.