# How to export Google Tasks *Last updated 2026-09-27 · Matthew Blode* Google Tasks exports through Google Takeout as JSON, not CSV. What the file keeps, what it drops, and how to move it into another task manager. ## The short answer > To export Google Tasks, go to takeout.google.com, select only Tasks, create the export, and download the zip from the email Google sends. The archive holds your lists as JSON, not CSV. Due dates keep the day but not the time, and deleted tasks are left out, so note times and repeats before you move. ## Key takeaways - Google Takeout is the only way to export every Google Tasks list at once. - Takeout gives you a JSON file, because Google Tasks has no CSV export. - Google's due date field keeps the day and drops any time of day. - Completed tasks are in the export, and deleted tasks are not. - Print list gives a readable copy of one list, not a file to import. --- Google Tasks has no export button. The full export runs through Google Takeout, Google's download tool for account data, and it gives you JSON rather than a spreadsheet. ## Choose the right way to export Takeout is the route for a backup or a move. Print list is for reading one list on paper or in a PDF. | Route | What you get | What it misses | | ------------------------ | ----------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | | Google Takeout | Every list and task as a JSON file | Deleted tasks, and the time of any date | | Print list | One list, readable, as paper or PDF | Anything another app can import | | A destination's importer | Tasks copied into the new app | Whatever that importer does not read | | Copy by hand | Task titles | Dates, notes, subtasks, and completion | A work or school account may not offer Takeout at all. A Google Workspace administrator can switch it off, and [Google's admin help](https://knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/users/advanced/allow-or-block-google-takeout) says the service then disappears from your Takeout page. Ask your administrator before you plan a move around it. ## Export every list with Google Takeout Use a computer if you can. [Google's Takeout help](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3024190?hl=en) recommends downloading and opening archives on a desktop rather than a phone. 1. Sign in to the Google account that holds your tasks and open [takeout.google.com](https://takeout.google.com). 2. Takeout selects every Google product you use. Uncheck all of them except **Tasks**. 3. Select **Next step**. 4. Under **Delivery method**, choose **Send download link via email**. Leave the export as a one-time archive and the file type as **.zip**. 5. Select **Create export**. 6. When the email arrives, select **Download archive**. Google may ask for your password again. Google says most people get the link the same day. Download the archive promptly: Google says it expires in about seven days, and each archive can be downloaded five times. After that, create a new export. Taking the export changes nothing in Google Tasks. Your lists stay where they are, and Google keeps its copy. ## Find your tasks in the archive Extract the zip and open the **Tasks** folder. Find `Tasks.json`. The archive also contains `archive_browser.html`, which Google adds to explain the files. Google's help pages do not describe the folder layout, and other guides disagree about it. You may find one `Tasks.json` that holds every list, with each list's tasks nested inside it, or a separate JSON file for each list. Open the JSON file in a text editor to check it. Search for a list name you know, then a task title. Each task sits inside its list, and fields such as `"title"`, `"notes"`, `"due"` and `"status"` appear beside it. A `"status"` of `"needsAction"` means the task is open, and `"completed"` means it is done. Subtasks are separate entries with a `"parent"` field that names the task they belong to. A converter or importer that ignores `"parent"` turns every subtask into an ordinary task. ## Know what the export keeps [Google's export help](https://support.google.com/tasks/answer/10017961?hl=en) lists what a Google Tasks download includes. List titles, task titles and descriptions come through in full. So do completion and the time each task was completed, the parent IDs that keep each subtask attached to its task, links such as the email a task was made from, and starring. Tasks assigned from Docs or Chat keep the assignee and assigner emails. Google also lists the repeat schedule, though an importer may not read it. Deleted tasks are not exported. [Google's Tasks API reference](https://developers.google.com/workspace/tasks/reference/rest/v1/tasks) says the due field keeps only the date and discards the time. A task you set for 9 am arrives as that day with no time. Google also describes that field as the day the task should be done, which is closer to a scheduled day than a deadline. Destination apps disagree about which one it becomes, so check a dated task after any import. ## Turn the export into a CSV You may not need a CSV. Check whether your next app reads the Takeout JSON first, because an importer that understands the file keeps the list and subtask structure that a spreadsheet flattens. If you need a spreadsheet for a report or an app that only reads CSV, convert the JSON with a script or a converter you trust. Keep these columns so the structure survives: 1. The list name, so tasks do not all land in one pile. 2. The task title and notes. 3. The due date, as a plain date. 4. The status, so completed tasks stay completed. 5. The parent ID, so subtasks can be matched to their tasks. Read the converted file before relying on it. Notes often contain commas and line breaks, and a converter that does not quote them splits one task across several rows. ## Print a list for a readable copy [Google Tasks can print](https://support.google.com/tasks/answer/12298851?hl=en) one list at a time. Open Tasks in the side panel of Gmail, Calendar or Drive, choose the list, then select **List options → Print list**. Choose **Save as PDF** in the print dialog if you want a file. To include finished work, open **Completed** at the bottom of the list first. Print list has no option to print every list at once, so a backup of several lists needs Takeout. ## Stay on Google Tasks if you live in Gmail If you work inside Gmail and Calendar all day, Google Tasks may still suit you better. Tasks sits in the side panel of the apps you already have open, and a separate task manager adds another window. Take a Takeout export as a backup and keep going. ## Import Google Tasks into Done Bear Done Bear reads the Takeout file directly, so you do not need a CSV. Open **Settings → Import**, choose **Google Tasks**, and upload `Tasks.json`. If Takeout gave you a file for each list, upload each file in its own import and check the project name after each one. Done Bear shows a preview before it writes anything, and the import never changes Google Tasks. You can [start free and open the Google Tasks importer](/sign-up?returnTo=%2Fonboarding%3Fintent%3Dimport%26source%3Dgoogle-tasks). Each list becomes a project with the same name, including an empty list, and completed tasks stay completed. Due dates arrive on the same day they had in Google Tasks. A plain subtask becomes a checklist item on its parent task, and a subtask with its own date or notes becomes a task. Done Bear doesn't read Google's repeat settings, so a repeating task arrives once. The preview lists the fields Done Bear skips. Task order is not kept, so check a long list, and each task's created date becomes the import date. Choose where the tasks go: your Google lists as projects, one project, or the Inbox. The [Done Bear import guide](/docs/help/importing) explains the preview, repeat imports and undo. If you use Google Tasks on an Android phone, Done Bear has no Android app yet. The [Android waitlist](/android) is open. Compare other task managers on the [comparison page](/compare) before you pick one. ## Keep the archive until you have checked the move A Takeout link expires about seven days after Google creates the archive, and each archive downloads five times. Save the zip somewhere other than your Downloads folder on the day the email arrives. Once the link lapses, the only way to get the file again is a new export, and that export holds your tasks as they are then, not as they were. Before you delete anything in Google Tasks, open each list next to its new home. Check a dated task and a task with subtasks, because those are the parts of a Google Tasks list that change shape in a move. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can I export Google Tasks to CSV? Not directly. Google Takeout exports Google Tasks as JSON, and the Tasks app has no CSV option. Check whether your next app reads the JSON first, because that skips a conversion step. If you need a spreadsheet, convert the file with a script and keep columns for the list, the parent task, and completion. ### Does Google Takeout include completed tasks? Yes. Google lists completion timestamps and whether each task was completed among the data in a Tasks download. Deleted tasks are not included, because Google says deleted data cannot be exported. If a finished task matters as a record, keep it completed rather than deleting it, then export before you tidy up the list. ### Does the Google Tasks export keep due times? No. Google's Tasks API reference says the due field records only the date and discards the time portion. A task you set for 9 am arrives as that day with no time. Write down any times that matter before you move, and set them again as reminders in the new app. ### Can I export repeating tasks from Google Tasks? Partly. Google lists the schedule of task recurrences among the data in a Tasks download, but importers do not all read it. Done Bear doesn't read Google's repeat settings, so a repeating task arrives once, as an ordinary task. List your repeating tasks and their schedules before you move, then set each repeat again. ### Can I export Google Tasks from my phone? Not from the Tasks app. Google's export help points to Takeout and names no export inside Google Tasks itself. Takeout runs in a browser, and Google recommends downloading and opening the archive on a computer rather than a phone. Start the export on a laptop or desktop if you can. ## Where this information comes from - [Google, Export your data from Google Tasks (a Google Tasks download includes due dates, parent IDs, completion, links, starring and recurrence data, and deleted data cannot be exported)](https://support.google.com/tasks/answer/10017961?hl=en) - [Google, How to download your Google data (Takeout exports as zip or tgz, an archive expires in about 7 days and can be downloaded 5 times)](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3024190?hl=en) - [Google, Google Tasks API, REST resource tasks (the due field records only the date and discards the time, and hidden marks completed tasks cleared from a list)](https://developers.google.com/workspace/tasks/reference/rest/v1/tasks) - [Google, Print your tasks (Google Tasks prints one list at a time from List options, then Print list)](https://support.google.com/tasks/answer/12298851?hl=en) - [Google, Manage repeating tasks in Google Tasks and Google Calendar (Google Tasks can repeat a task by day, week, month or year, and subtasks cannot repeat)](https://support.google.com/tasks/answer/12132599?hl=en) - [Google, Allow or block Google Takeout (a Google Workspace administrator can turn Takeout off, which removes the service from the user's Takeout page)](https://knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/users/advanced/allow-or-block-google-takeout) - [Done Bear, Importing from another app (Done Bear reads the Google Tasks Takeout file, previews every import, and can undo one)](https://donebear.com/docs/help/importing) --- Every Done Bear page is listed at https://donebear.com/llms.txt. Any page has a markdown copy at its URL plus `.md`. Start from the map rather than guessing a path.