Hi, I am Martin.

Why I built it

I requested my own Google Takeout, waited for the email, and opened a ZIP full of folders of JSON. Timestamps in milliseconds, coordinates as raw numbers, a search history split across files. Everything was there and none of it was readable. So I wrote the code to turn it into a report I could actually read, and then put it on a page so that anyone can do the same without touching a line of code.

TakeoutReader has been online since January 2026. TakeoutReader is built by one person and sold at one price. There is no team, no investors and no plan to sell your attention to anyone.

I also build TimelineMileage, which turns a Google Maps Timeline export into an IRS mileage log.

Why your data never reaches me

A Google export is about as personal as a file gets. I did not want to be responsible for holding anyone's, so the site was built so that it cannot. The ZIP is read and parsed by JavaScript running in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, there is no server that could receive it, and you can check: open your browser's network tab while the report builds, or load the page and switch off your wifi. The report still generates. The full architecture is described in the privacy policy.

What the guides are

Every guide on this site is written by me, from real exports, and updated when Google changes something. They exist because the questions people type into Google before they export (how long does it take, is it safe, how do I open the files) deserve a straight answer, whether or not you ever use the tool. Start with what is Google Takeout if you are new to all of it.

What TakeoutReader reads

Open your Takeout ZIP and the report covers these categories, as far as your export contains them:

• Inferred ad profile: the age range, gender, household and interest segments Google infers about you, and the advertisers holding your details.
• Google Photos: how many photos and videos are backed up, spread by year, country and city, and how many faces have a name.
• Location History: the places you visited, the countries, the main cities and the most tracked years.
• Search history: total searches, busiest periods and what kinds of things you look for.
• YouTube: videos watched, your most active year, likes and comments.
• Chrome: synced page visits and your most visited sites.
• Android: app activity records and the apps you use most.
• Gmail: how many emails are in the archive.

A Google Maps Timeline export is a different file and gets its own tool, the Timeline Reader, which draws every place and journey on a map.

What it costs

The preview is free and shows the main numbers in every category. The full report, with every category unlocked and exports to PDF, text, Markdown and CSV, is a one-time payment of $9. No subscription, no account, no card kept on file. Payment goes through Stripe; the terms are in the terms of sale.

Where it runs

Any modern browser: Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge, on a computer. The export is downloaded on a computer anyway, and large exports (over 2 GB) need the memory a phone does not have. It accepts ZIP and TGZ archives, or an already unzipped folder.