A few months back, there was a whole lot of hub bub about how Google Reader was going away forever. Several bloggers I know tackled to subject of what to do next because people were freaking out that they would lose their beloved RSS feed reader forever.
I decided not to worry about it until it was too late which is my usual style and when Google Reader officially died, I shrugged my shoulders and decided that a forced edit of my way too long reading list wasn’t such a bad idea.
My mom, however, was not of the same mindset and was determined to figure out a way to rescue her lost Google Reader information. She probably doesn’t have 87 million subscriptions like I do, though.
She asked the folks at Feedler about how to access her data now that Google Reader has gone away and they sent her a nice (but more than a little confusing) email in response. She forwarded said message to me and asked for help deciphering it which ended up being a fairly easy process.
So if you’re like me and failed to plan or you’re like my mom and had no idea the change was coming, check out the 8 easy steps below to retrieve your precious Google Reader data.
1. Go to Google Takeout, ensure that you are logged into your Gmail account and then hit Create Archive.
2. Once the Google Reader files have been archived, download the .zip file.
3. Extract the downloaded .zip files.
4. Navigate to The Old Reader. Register for an account.
5. Once logged in, click Import to add your subscriptions to The Old Reader.
6. Browse to the subscription.xml file that was part of the extracted .zip files you downloaded from Google Takeout, then click Open.
7. Click Import.
8. Wait patiently while your Google Reader data is imported. During busier times of day, it could be a while. You will know it’s done when the screen populates with all your feeds.
And now you’re done. That was easy, right?
Bonus tip: The Feeddler app now has the option to import interface with The Old Reader directly if you’re looking to read your feeds on iPhone or iPad. This app has been a favorite of mine for a long time – you may like it too.
Be sure to let me know if you have any questions, comments or concerns about this process. I’m happy to help!
If you’re new here or just haven’t had a chance to do it yet, please consider donating to my Avon Walk for Breast Cancer fund! Every little bit helps so any size donation is appreciated.
Leave a Reply