By now, podcast fans have probably heard the devastating news that Google Podcasts is shutting down. First announced back in September 2023, last orders have now been called on the service.
The internet giant officially retired its dedicated podcast platform on April 2, though fortunately users have until July to use the migration tool and export their Google Podcast subscriptions to YouTube Music or another service.
That might seem like it’s still lightyears away, especially as some reports indicate that Google Podcasts is still working for subscribers, but trust us: if you don’t migrate to a new service now, you may live to regret it come summer.
With that in mind, here’s how to migrate from Google Podcasts to YouTube Music the easy way.
How to Migrate From Google Podcasts to YouTube Music
While many Google Podcast users are still fuming about the shutdown, the time has come to put those ill feelings aside and move on to the important task of migrating to a new service.
Google is somewhat predictably suggesting that exporting your podcast lists to YouTube Music is the easiest and most natural move. It has even set up a migration tool to make the switch as painless as possible.
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Here are the steps you need to take to switch from Google Podcasts to YouTube Music today.
- Download YouTube Music if you haven’t already done so
- Ensure you are signed in to your Google account
- Now, open Google Podcasts
- Click on Export subscriptions on the banner at the top of the app’s home screen
- Under Export to YouTube Music, select Export
- Allow the YouTube Music app to open, then select Transfer
- When prompted, tap Continue
- Wait for the transfer to complete, this might take a few minutes
- Finally, Go To Library and check that your subscriptions have successfully migrated
If something hasn’t gone to plan in the transfer, you can always try again – or if it’s just one or two podcasts missing, you might just call it quits and opt to re-subscribe to them manually.
How to Export Google Podcasts Subscriptions to Other Apps
If you’re not happy with YouTube Music being your default podcast listening tool, don’t worry: you can easily download your Google Podcasts subscriptions as an OPML file, which can then be imported to most other major Android podcast apps.
Here’s what to do to migrate from Google Podcasts to another replacement app.
- Open Google Podcasts
- Click on the Export subscriptions banner
- On the next screen, tap on Download
- Rename the file if you wish, then select Save to start the download
Once this is done, you’ll have downloaded an OPML file featuring all your podcast subscriptions to your computer or other device.
Unless you saved it to another path, this will be located in your Downloads or Files folder and Google calls the file google-podcasts-subscriptions.opml by default.
Now, to migrate to the new app, all you need to do is open the podcast app you’re going to be using, then navigate the menu bar or icon to the app’s Settings section.
Here, you should find an option to Import OPML Files or similar, with the specifics varying depending on which Google Podcasts replacement you’ve gone with.
Upload the OPML file you download from Google Podcasts using the app’s import tool, then it’s just a matter of waiting for the transfer to complete. Finally, check your new podcast app’s library to see everything is there.
Google Podcasts Shutdown: Other Useful Information
Google’s YouTube Music platform has offered podcasts since April 2023, so even though not everyone is keen on the tech giant’s dedicated podcast app shutting down, know that the alternative is still a fully integrated service.
Like other good platforms, YouTube Music lets you save podcasts for later, download for offline playback, and enable auto-downloading of your favorite shows.
Best of all, listening to podcasts on YouTube Music is 100% free (for now), meaning you don’t need a YouTube Music Premium subscription like you would if you want to access its music streaming library.
