Did you know that Google's free Gmail service does not guarantee safeguard of your email data. At any point can your data become corrupt or be lost. I have seen and read about cases where a Gmail user's emails disappeared right in front of their eyes.
Because Gmail is a free service there is no support and if your email data is gone it will stay gone. Unless... you have a backup.
Backing up Gmail emails should be a regular focus to ensure data recoverability in case of loss, corruption or malware infection.
Most Gmail users that have a Gmail account will eventually run in to the 15GB limit imposed. Others may already have reached this limit and will be faced with a message from Gmail " Gmail is out of space". One you reach this limit your email no longer receive new messages.
A simple way to clear out space is to delete old messages but, this may not be an option for you. Lets look at another option, making a backup of the Gmail emails on to a computer.
The backup data includes email messages and attachments. To see what else is included follow the link to Gmail's article on exporting your data from Gmail.
How To Download Gmail Emails To A Computer
Head over to Google's download your data page.
Select the checkbox next to "Mail" then click the "next step" button.
Choose a destination to receive the download, in this case I chose "send download link via email"
Choose export size as 50GB then click "create export".
Now just wait until the export has been created and the link is emailed, then proceed to click the link to download the Gmail backup to your computer.
Remember to place the downloaded file in a safe place as anyone can now use this file to view your emails.