A note before we start: this guide documents how I switched from Gmail to Proton Mail and what I did with everything I left behind in Google. It is not the only way. It is not the definitive way. It is a map through a process I found scattered across forum threads and help docs and one very useful Reddit comment from 2022. I wrote it down so you do not have to start from scratch.
This is Descartes’ research. Not an expert. Just someone who went looking so the next person does not have to.
WHY SWITCH FROM GMAIL
Google’s business model is advertising. Advertising works by knowing things about you. Email is one of the most intimate data sources that exists. It contains your medical history, your financial records, your relationships, your fears, your plans. Google has always been clear, in the fine print, that your Gmail data informs their products. What has changed is the explicitness of how that data is being used as AI training becomes central to their business.
The policy button is real. The opt-out exists. But a policy can be updated. An opt-out today does not guarantee an opt-out after the next terms of service revision. If you want structural privacy rather than procedural privacy, you need infrastructure that is not built on an advertising model.
That is what this guide is about.
GMAIL ALTERNATIVES WORTH KNOWING
Proton Mail is what I use and what this guide covers in detail. But it is not the only option. Here are the main alternatives worth researching:
PROTON MAIL (proton.me)
– Based in Switzerland, subject to Swiss privacy law
– End-to-end encrypted by default
– Free tier available, paid plans start around $4/month
– Open source, independently audited
– Best for: most people making this switch for the first time
TUTANOTA (tuta.com)
– Based in Germany, subject to EU privacy law (GDPR)
– End-to-end encrypted
– Free tier available
– Open source
– Best for: people who want a Google-free alternative with strong EU legal protections
FASTMAIL (fastmail.com)
– Based in Australia
– Not end-to-end encrypted but strong privacy practices, no advertising model
– No free tier, starts around $3/month
– Best for: people who want something that feels and works most like Gmail
SELF-HOSTED EMAIL
– Full control, maximum privacy
– Significant technical complexity
– Best for: people who have already done the Proton or Tutanota step and want to go further
– A future guide will cover this
For this guide we are focusing on Proton because it has the strongest combination of ease of setup, strong encryption, and a business model that does not depend on reading your email.
STEP 1: DOWNLOAD YOUR GOOGLE DATA FIRST
Before you do anything else, download everything Google has on you. This is important for two reasons: you will want your old emails, and you should see what they have collected.
Go to: takeout.google.com
This is Google Takeout. It lets you export your data from every Google service.
What to select:
– Gmail (your emails, exported as .mbox files)
– Google Drive (your documents)
– Google Photos (your photos, more on this below)
– Google Contacts (you will need these for your new email)
– Google Calendar (if you use it)
Select your file format (zip is fine), your delivery method (download link sent to your email), and your file size (2GB chunks is manageable).
Click Export. Google will email you when it is ready. usually within a few hours, sometimes up to a day or two depending on how much data you have.
Keep this export somewhere safe. It is your archive.
STEP 2: SET UP PROTON MAIL
Go to proton.me and create an account.
The free tier gives you:
– 1 proton.me email address
– 1GB storage
– End-to-end encryption on all emails between Proton users
– Access via web browser
The free tier is enough to start. You can upgrade later if you want a custom domain (youremail@urbild.org style) or more storage.
Choose your address carefully. This is going to be your email going forward.
Setup takes about five minutes. Proton walks you through it. There is nothing technically complicated about this step.
STEP 3: IMPORT YOUR OLD EMAILS (OPTIONAL)
If you want your old Gmail emails in Proton:
Proton has a built-in import tool called Easy Switch.
Go to: Settings → Import via Easy Switch → Gmail
You will be asked to authorize Proton to access your Gmail account. This is a one-time access to pull your old emails over. Once imported they are encrypted and stored on Proton’s servers.
This can take a while depending on how much email you have. Let it run in the background.
Note: emails imported from Gmail are encrypted after import. Emails that were in Gmail before the import are not retroactively removed from Google. This is about starting fresh, not erasing the past.
STEP 4: IMPORT YOUR CONTACTS
Export your Google Contacts first:
Go to contacts.google.com → Export → Google CSV format
Then in Proton:
Go to Contacts → Import → upload the CSV file
Your contacts will now be in Proton.
STEP 5: START MOVING YOUR ACCOUNTS OVER
This is the long part. You do not have to do it all at once.
Start with the accounts that matter most: banking, healthcare, anything sensitive. Change the email address on those accounts to your new Proton address first.
Then work through the rest over time. Every time you log into something and see your Gmail address, update it.
A practical approach: set a rule that any time you interact with a service you update the email. Three months of this and most of your important accounts will be on your new address.
Set up a forward from Gmail to Proton in the meantime so you do not miss anything:
Gmail → Settings → See all settings → Forwarding and POP/IMAP → Add a forwarding address → add your Proton address
This keeps you from missing emails while you transition.
STEP 6: MOVE YOUR PHOTOS TO PROTON DRIVE
If you use Google Photos, your photos are currently backed up to Google’s servers automatically.
Proton Drive (drive.proton.me) offers encrypted cloud storage. The free tier includes 1GB shared across mail and drive. Paid plans give you more.
To stop Google Photos from auto-backing up:
Open the Google Photos app → Profile photo → Photos settings → Backup → turn off Backup
To set up Proton Drive on your phone:
Download the Proton Drive app → enable automatic photo backup in settings
Your photos will now back up to Proton’s encrypted servers instead of Google’s.
Note: your existing Google Photos are not automatically transferred. You can download them via Google Takeout (you already did this in Step 1) and upload them to Proton Drive manually, or use a tool like rclone if you are comfortable with command line tools. A future guide will cover this in more detail.
THE HARD DRIVE STEP: OWN YOUR OWN BACKUP
Here is something worth saying plainly: moving your data from Google to Proton is trading one cloud for another. Proton’s business model is better and their encryption is real, but they are still a company, their servers are still somewhere you cannot see, and their terms of service can still change.
The most honest version of this guide has to include this: buy an external hard drive and back up your own data locally.
This does not have to be complicated. A 1TB external drive costs around $50 and plugs into your computer like a USB stick. That is enough storage for most people’s photos, documents, and email archives.
A simple schedule that works:
Once a month, plug in the drive and copy over anything new. Photos, documents, anything you would be upset to lose. Set a recurring reminder on whatever calendar you use. The first time takes a while. After that it is ten minutes.
For your Google Takeout archive: download it once, put it on the hard drive, done. That is your history. It lives with you now, not on someone else’s server.
For ongoing Proton data: Proton does not currently offer a one-click local backup tool the way some services do. The practical workaround is to export important emails periodically using Proton’s export feature and save them locally. A future guide will cover this in more detail.
The goal is a system where you are not completely dependent on any single company staying operational, staying affordable, or staying ethical. Cloud storage as one layer of backup is fine. Cloud storage as your only copy is a vulnerability.
Own the hard drive. Set the schedule. Do it once a month.
WHAT THIS DOES NOT DO
This is important to say plainly.
Switching to Proton Mail does not make you invisible. Google still has your historical data. Every website you visit with a Google tracker still phones home. Your Android phone still reports to Google if you have not addressed that. Your Google searches still happen if you have not switched to a different search engine.
This is one step. A meaningful one, but one.
The goal is not to achieve perfect privacy in a single afternoon. The goal is to stop feeding the machine one piece at a time, starting with the piece that contains the most sensitive version of who you are.
Email is a good place to start.
WHAT TO THINK ABOUT NEXT
If this step felt manageable, here are the next ones worth researching in roughly ascending order of complexity:
– Search engine: DuckDuckGo or Brave Search instead of Google Search
– Browser: Firefox or Brave instead of Chrome
– Maps: OsmAnd or Organic Maps instead of Google Maps
– Documents: Proton Drive or a self-hosted Nextcloud instead of Google Drive
– Calendar: Proton Calendar (included with Proton account) instead of Google Calendar
– Phone: GrapheneOS on a Pixel device if you want to go further than most people need to
Each of these is its own guide. The point is not to do all of them at once. The point is to know they exist and to move in the direction of infrastructure that answers to you.
WANT TO CONTRIBUTE?
This guide documents one person’s experience. If you have done this differently, found better tools, or have a process that works for your situation, Urban Wilderness wants to hear from you.
Community guides are what make this a resource rather than a blog. Submit yours by joining the collective.
Resources used in this guide:
– proton.me/support
– takeout.google.com
– tuta.com
– fastmail.com
– r/privacy on Reddit (search “gmail alternative” for years of community discussion)
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