To transfer Google Photos to an external hard drive, use Google Takeout to export your entire library into downloadable archive files, then extract and copy those photos to your drive. This process creates a secure local backup, frees up cloud storage, and provides offline access to all your memories.
Why transfer Google Photos to an external hard drive?
Transferring your photos to an external hard drive offers three key benefits. First, it creates a secure local backup independent of cloud services, protecting your memories from account issues or accidental deletions. Second, it frees up your Google account storage, which is especially important since Google Photos no longer offers unlimited free storage, all photos and videos count toward a shared 15 GB limit across Google Photos, Gmail, and Google Drive as of June 1, 2021. Third, it enables offline access to your entire library, which is invaluable when traveling or in areas with limited internet connectivity.
What you need before you start
Before beginning, ensure you have the following ready:
- An external hard drive with sufficient free space to hold your entire Google Photos library.
- A computer (Windows or macOS) with a USB port to connect the drive.
- A stable internet connection to download your photo archives from Google Takeout.
Step 1: Create a folder on your external hard drive
Connect your external hard drive to your computer. Open File Explorer on Windows or Finder on Mac, locate your drive in the sidebar, and create a new folder. Name it something clear like "Google Photos Backup" to keep your transfer organized. This dedicated folder will hold all your photos and make future access straightforward.
Step 2: Export your library with Google Takeout
- Go to Google Takeout (takeout.google.com) and sign in to your Google account.
- Under "File type," select ".zip" for easy extraction on Windows or macOS.
- Under "Archive size," choose a maximum size between 10 GB and 50 GB. Larger libraries benefit from splitting into these batches to prevent download failures, though 2 GB is a common default.
- Google will prepare your archives and email you when they are ready.
Step 3: Download and extract the archives to your computer
- This may take hours or days depending on library size.
- Click the "Download" button in the email, or go back to Google Takeout and click "Downloads" to access your archives.
- Download each .zip archive file to a temporary folder on your computer. For large libraries, download one archive at a time to avoid interruptions.
- Extract each archive: on Windows, right-click the .zip file and select "Extract All"; on Mac, double-click the .zip file to automatically extract it.
- Inside the extracted folders, you will find your photos in their original formats (PNG, JPG, WEBP) and videos in MP4 format. You will also see separate .json metadata files containing information like the original capture date and GPS coordinates. These .json files may require third-party tools to re-embed the metadata into the image files if desired.
Step 4: Copy the photos to your external hard drive
- Open the extracted folder containing your photos on your computer.
- Select all the photo and video files (you can ignore the .json files unless you want to keep them for metadata purposes).
- Copy the selected files using Ctrl+C (Windows) or Command+C (Mac).
- Navigate to the dedicated folder you created on your external hard drive in Step 1.
- Paste the files using Ctrl+V (Windows) or Command+V (Mac).
- Wait for the transfer to complete. Verify a few random photos open correctly on the external drive to confirm the transfer was successful.
Step 5: Safely disconnect your external hard drive
After the transfer finishes, safely eject the drive to prevent data corruption. On Windows, click the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon in the system tray and select your drive. On Mac, right-click the drive icon on the desktop or in Finder and select "Eject." Wait for the confirmation message before unplugging the USB cable.
Freeing up cloud space after the transfer
Downloading photos via Google Takeout does not delete them from your Google Photos library. To reclaim your Google account storage, you must manually delete the originals from Google Photos. For instructions on how to mass delete photos, refer to our guide on how to organize Google Photos and how to download all photos from Google Photos at once to PC. Note that this process differs on mobile devices; for instructions on how to download all photos from Google Photos to iPhone, see that specific guide. Remember that the direct link between Google Photos and Google Drive was disabled in July 2019, so you cannot use Google Drive to directly access or transfer your photos.
