How to Download Data from Hangouts and Switch to Google Chat

Starting November 1, 2022, Hangouts was fully upgraded to Google Chat. Access to Hangouts on mobile and on the web is no longer available. Google Chat offers a feature-rich experience, including rich-text editing, searching and sharing GIFs, emoji reactions, seamless integration with Gmail, and dedicated to organizing people, topics, and projects in Google Workspace. If you want to download data from Hangouts or switch to Google Chat, you can read through this guide to learn how to back up Hangouts data or transfer it to Google Chat.

What is the difference between Google Chat and Hangouts?

Google Chat is a messaging app designed for teams and businesses, with features such as rooms, threaded conversations, and integrations with other Google Workspace apps. Hangouts, on the other hand, is a more consumer-oriented messaging and video calling app that allows you to chat with friends and family, make audio and video calls, and share photos and stickers.

Google Chat

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Google Chat (Hangouts Chat) lets you collaborate with your teammates securely and conveniently.

Business

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How to download data from Hangouts?

Starting January 1, 2023, users can only download attachments that you sent in Hangouts via Google Takeout. Other types of data are no longer available for download from Google Takeout. And below are the steps to download attachments from Google Takeout.

1. Go to Google Takeout (http://takeout.google.com) and sign in with your Hangouts account.

2. Select "Hangouts" and deselect the rest options in the list.

3. Click on "Next Step".

4. Choose the Hangouts data you want to download and how often you want to download the backup.

5. Click on "Create Export".

6. Wait for Google to prepare your data. This may take several hours or even days, depending on the amount of data you are exporting.

7. Download the attachments you sent from Hangouts when it's complete.

Hangouts

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Google Hangouts is a free video chat and messaging app to let you communicate with colleagues and friends easily

Communication

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How to switch from Hangouts to Google Chat?

Normally, conversations you made in Hangouts will be automatically migrated to Google Chat. So you don't need to transfer the data manually, and you can search for the messages in Google Chat as well.