Which export path you have
Google Account. Follow How to download your Google data and leave Google Health selected. Uncheck Mail, Photos, Drive, and anything else you do not want in this copy. Takeout does not let you pick a date range for the whole archive.
Original Fitbit login, if it still works. Google still documents fitbit.com/settings/profile → Data Export → Request Data, then confirm from the email on that Fitbit account. Use this only while that sign-in still works. After 19 May 2026 Google stopped Fitbit-account access to the app; processing to delete unmigrated data began 15 July 2026 and “will take some time.” Use Takeout if you already moved the data into a Google Account. It cannot recover deleted data from an unmigrated account.
One workout as a map file. In the Google Health app, Fitness → the activity → More → Export writes a TCX file. Emberstep does not import TCX, GPX, FIT, or KML as a walking history. Deleted accounts cannot be exported.
Request the copy
Work on a computer. Google recommends a desktop for Takeout.
- Sign in to the Google Account that holds the walking data.
- Open takeout.google.com.
- Select Google Health. Uncheck other products.
- Select Next step.
Google may omit changes made after you click request and before it builds the archive. Let the last day you care about finish syncing, then request.
File type, delivery, and size
Choose Zip. Emberstep reads a .zip or an unpacked folder.
Email delivery sends a download link, not a file on your disk. Open the link and save every part yourself. Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, and Box are other places Google can put the archive; you still download from there if you want a copy you control.
If Google splits the export, download every part. One incomplete part is not a full history.
Do not pick a huge single archive “for Emberstep.” Emberstep accepts one ZIP or one folder per import, with an uncompressed total of 2 GiB and 64 MiB per file inside. Combining unpacked split folders does not raise that cap. Prefer a split size you can store, then check each candidate ZIP against those limits before you import.
A multi-year dump can be larger than the current importer. There is no supported way on this site to merge split ZIPs into one supported import. Keep the original files. If import fails, write to Support with the folder names and the error text only — do not send the health files.
Building the archive can take minutes to a few days. The Fitbit-login path separately says a large request can take up to a few days.
Download and keep the files
When the archive is ready, Google emails a link. You may have to enter your password again. Save the ZIP (or every split part), then open it on that computer. Inside, archive_browser.html describes the products in the export.
Downloading does not delete the data on Google’s servers. The download link expires after about seven days; that is not the same as the account data expiring. Request a new archive if the link is gone.
Keep the original archive after any import so you have a copy independent of the app.
What you will not get back
Days Google never put in the archive, and data already deleted, cannot be rebuilt. Emberstep scores walking days it can read. It does not restore Fitbit badges.
A family archive on the Fitbit-login path can contain a folder per child. Import only your folder.
After you have the files
Use Check a walking-history export to see which JSON files Emberstep reads. When the app is installed, the control is Choose file. This website does not accept uploads.
Sources checked in September 2026
See Google’s export instructions, Takeout help, and Fitbit account migration guidance for current account and export availability.