Google Takeout

Our Google Takeout Guide will walk you through the step-by-step process.

1. Start a Google Takeout export.
2. Wait for Google to prepare your export.
3. Download your export files.
4. Download Google Photos Takeout Helper by The Last Gimbus
5. Run Google Photos Takeout Helper.

Pros

• Free
• Google Photos Takeout Helper by The Last Gimbus is free and open-source.
• Preserves HEIC motion photos.
• Preserves GPS EXIF data.

Cons

• Each export file is 50gb, and can take hours to download. We had to babysit our downloads over the course of a few days.
• The export files contain duplicate data. They're many times larger than your actual photo library.
• The export files are often incomplete. In our testing, we lost date EXIF data on 20% of our library.

Quiver Photos

Follow our Quiver Photos Walkthrough to get started.

1. Sign in and connect your Google Photos library.
2. Import your media item records to the Web App.
3. Download and run the Desktop App
4. Start the download process and keep your computer running until it can finish.

Pros

• 99.9% date EXIF recovery
• Minimized bandwidth; Download each file exactly once
• Free Tier allows 1000 free downloads

Cons

• Libraries over 1000 items will require a paid subscription
• You'll still have to babysit the download. It's easy to restart, but it can fail.
• Converts HEIC motion photos to JPEG
• Does not preserve GPS EXIF data