Options to preserve former employee data

If a user leaves your organization and you want to preserve their Google Workspace data, there are several alternatives for handling their information. This table outlines some options for storing email, Google Calendar events & resources, Google Chat, Google Contacts, Google Drive folders & files, Google Groups, Google Keep, Google Meet recordings, and Google Voice so it’s accessible to certain administrators, managers, or users in your organization.

Note: Administrators also can suspend a user temporarily, which blocks a user's access to your organization's Google services. For more information about what happens to a suspended user's data, go to Suspend a user temporarily.

Data source / option Google Takeout In-app export & import Data migration service Google Drive transfer During user deletion (3) Data Export tool Export with Google Vault Archived User license
Who can do it? User User or admin Admin Admin Admin Admin Admin Admin
Email       (1)
Calendar      
Chat         (1)
Contacts          
Drive folders and files, including Meet recordings   (1)(2)
Groups         (1)
Keep (1)         (1)  
Voice         (1) (1) (1)

Notes

(1) Export only; no import.

(2) Files only; no folders.

(3) When a user leaves your organization, you can delete their account. Super administrators can transfer a user's files and data to a new owner. If you don't transfer the content to another user, the content is deleted.

Export or migrate your data

The selections for each data source listed above are divided by role in more detail below. Additional product and manual migration options for both end users and administrators are also included.

Once the data is migrated, moved, or exported, admins should have access to the former employee’s data provided they have access to the destination account. Any special data access restrictions, such as for Archived User (AU) licenses, are outlined individually.

Note: While the use of these options requires no fee, Google Workspace license fees for the account holding the transferred data are still necessary. This includes AU licenses.

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