Google Podcasts migration tool now available in the United States

A few days ago, it was officially confirmed that Google Podcasts would stop working in April 2024. The announcement also included some details about how users can migrate their subscriptions and where they can continue enjoying their favorite podcasts.

Now, the Google Podcasts migration tool is live in the United States for those who want to do the process in advance.

Google Podcasts users in the US are already beginning to receive a notice of what is happening through banners, from which they can learn more in-depth details and directly go to the migration process. As an interesting fact, the company just revealed that the exact date of ‘death’ of Google Podcasts will be April 2 (previously they had only mentioned April as a deadline).

According to the post on the official blog, the steps to complete the migration from the Google Podcasts website to YouTube Music are as follows:

1. Visit the Google Podcasts app
2. Select Export subscriptions at the top of the screen.
3. Select Export under ‘Export to YouTube Music’
4. Select Transfer on the YouTube Music app
5. Select Continue
6. Select Go to Library to view your subscriptions once the transfer is complete

Also, the company highlights some things that you should keep in mind regarding migration:

• It may take a few minutes for your subscriptions to transfer, so hang tight!
• Not all podcasts will be available in YouTube Music and you may see a “Content is unavailable” message next to it if that’s the case
• If a podcast is missing from YouTube Music, you can save it to your library using the show’s RSS feed link (more here)

Alternatively, users have the option of downloading an OPML file or Google Takeout to use it in a third-party podcast services or apps that support it. In this way, the company is covering the majority of podcast subscription migration needs.

It’s worth noting that while Google Podcasts will stop working in April, people have until July 2024 to migrate their subscriptions to either YouTube Music or third-party podcast services. So, there’s plenty of time to complete the process, but it doesn’t seem like a bad idea to do it in advance.

The company has not revealed deadlines or details for migrating Google Podcasts subscriptions in markets outside the United States, so we will have to wait a little longer for information on this.