In todays article we are going to learn everything about moving Photos from Google Drive to Google photos!
This article will discuss following things:
- Google Drive vs Google Photos.
- Why move photos from Google Drive to Google Photos.
- Google Rules
- How to move photos from Google Drive to Google Photos.
If you want to skip the intro you can jump right into how to move photos from Google Drive to Google Photos!
Lets Dive in!
Contents
Google Drive vs Google Photos, What’s the Difference?
Google offers its users 15GB of free cloud space that they can use to store and backup all kinds of personal data. Two of such services that Google users can use are Google Drive and Google Photos. Although not long ago, uploading a photo to one of these services meant it would sync and save in the second service as well. This, however, is no longer the case, and therefore, it is important to know how to move photos from Google Drive to Google Photos. As of June 2021, Google decided to split the two services as stand-alone Google platforms. This means that users can now pick and choose which platform they would rather save their photos on.
Before we get started on the benefits of using one or the other for storing one’s photos, let’s look at the similarity and differences between the two services.
Google Drive
Google Drive is a cloud-based service that users can opt for storing practically any format of files, from photos and videos to written documents. Google Drive also offers its users the ability to organize and sort these files, and consequently, share them with other users. Hence, Google Drive can be used to hold the user’s photos and videos, which count against the 15GB of cloud storage given by Google.
Google Photos
Google Photos is specialized just for storing photos and videos, which the users can employ as an automatic photo and video syncing and backup service. Google Photos comes with an array of advanced options. For example, through the recognition tool offered by the service, users can use the search bar to look for a specific event, pet, or person, and the AI would return with the required relevant photos.
Additionally, Google Photos provides basic photo editing options like adding filters, adjusting lighting, and cropping images, in contrast to Google Drive, which can only be used for storing, previewing, and sharing photos.
Why is it Better to Move Photos from Google Drive to Google Photos?
If you intend on backing up your photos and videos to cloud storage, opting for Google Photos may be the smarter move. This is because Google Photos has all the extra perks of media management that Google Drive simply isn’t equipped with for delivering the same user experience. Not only can you edit and search your pictures much easily on Google Photos, but the overall visual interface is much more intuitive and user-friendly on Google Photos. Not to mention, it makes sense to store all your photos and videos separately from Google Drive which houses all the other file formats like Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides. A clutter-free life is an easier life, isn’t it?
Note that Google Drive and Google Photos are not synced automatically, so having the same file on both platforms means both photos will individually take up space from the 15GB of your free storage, and will not be automatically deleted if they are doubly stored. Keeping all this in view, it is safe to say that moving photos from Google Drive to Google Photos is the best and the most convenient course of action.
Moving photos from Google Drive to Google Photos is actually pretty simple, and there are more than one ways to go about it. In this article, we will discuss all these methods to make your experience easier for you.
Google Rules to Know Before You Move Photos from Google Drive to Google Photos
There are 3 things that you need to keep in mind before you proceed to move photos from Google Drive to Google Photos. These are:
- The image needs to be bigger than 256 pixels.
- The extension or file type of the image must be .jpg, .gif, .webp, .tiff, or .raw.
- If you want to move photos from Google Photos to Google Drive over the work or school network, you would need to use the first solution (the download and upload method).
How Can I Move Photos from Google Drive to Google Photos?
There are several methods that you can adopt for this task. Note that if you wish to save your photos in their original resolution, it is important to check the specific setting in Google Photos. If Google Photos settings are already set to Data Saver (Now known as High Quality) setting, you may want to change it to Original before uploading more files. You can do that simply through the following steps:
- Click on the Settings (gear) icon in your Google Photos window.
- From the list of options now available to you, click on Original under the Upload size for photos and videos option.
- If this is your first time uploading any files to Google Photos, you will be prompted at the time of your first upload to pick between the two options of Original and Data Saver, which will then be saved for all future uploads unless changed manually.
- Now that you have decided what resolution to save your files in, you can follow any of these below methods on how to move photos from Google Drive to Google Photos:
Method 1: Download and Upload Method (Manually)
From your computer, you can move photos from Google Drive to Google Photos manually by using your local PC storage as a transfer medium. To do that, follow these steps:
Step 1: Launch your browser and log in to your Google account.
Step 2: Open Google Drive.
Step 3: If you have many different file types stored in your Google Drive, a simple way is to click the search icon at the top center of the screen.
Step 4: From the formats in the drop-down menu, click on Photos and Images. This will filter out the files that you can now move to Google Photos.
Step 5: Select the photo or photos you want to move to Google Photos. If you wish to select multiple photos, you can:
- Press down the control key and keep selecting the files.
- Click and drag the mouse pointer incorporating all the necessary files.
- To select all the files in the search, simultaneously press the control key and A keys (Ctrl+A).
Step 6: Right-click on the selected files and click on Download. This will download all your photos in a zip folder.
Step 7: You will be able to view your media being downloaded at the bottom-right corner of your screen.
Step 8: Open the zip file using a zip-file opening app and extract all of its contents to another folder.
Step 9: Open Google Photos.
Step 10: Click on Upload in the top right part of the screen.
Step 11: From the drop-down menu, click on Computer.
Step 12: In the file explorer window that opens, go to the file where the extracted files are saved, select the files and click on Open.
Alternatively, you can also select the files in the folder and drag them into the Google Photos window for the upload to begin.
As soon as the uploading finishes you will see the files appear in your Google Photos account. Once this process has been completed, remember to go back to Google Drive and manually delete the files that you have successfully moved to Google Photos to free up the unnecessary space as the files are now doubly saved.
Method 2: Directly Transfer Photos and Videos through Google Photos
This method is also manual and can be especially time-saving. Follow these steps to directly move photos from Google Drive to Google Photos:
Step 1: Launch your browser and log in to your Google account.
Step 2: Open Google Photos.
Step 3: Click on Upload in the top right part of the screen.
Step 4: When selecting the location to upload from, click on Google Drive.
Step 5: In the pop-up window, you will be in the Recent section. For a more cumulative perspective, click on My Drive to view all your Google Drive files.
Step 6: Select all the folders or the photos in your Google Drive that you wish to copy to Google Photos.
Step 7: Click on the orange Upload button in the bottom right corner of the pop-up window to begin the uploading process.
Wait for the files to finish uploading, do not close the tab or the browser window until your files appear in your Google Photos. Once this entire process has been completed, remember to sign in to Google Drive and manually delete the files that you have successfully moved to Google Photos to free up the unnecessary space as the files are now doubly saved.
Method 3: Move Photos from Google Drive to Google Photos via the Google Drive Desktop App
Google Drive for Desktop is a relatively new app for PC (Windows, Mac, Linux) that allows users to access their Google Drive from the comfort of their local storage. It appears as a local drive in This PC and works with exactly the same simplicity as a local drive or folder. The only difference is, whatever changes are made to this pathway is not just local, but it syncs with the actual Google Drive cloud storage. Hence, if you were to add or delete photos or folders from this app, the same would be true for your online Google Drive storage.
So, if you are already a Google Drive desktop app user, here is how you can move your photos to Google Photos:
Step 1: Launch your browser and sign in to your Google account.
Step 2: Open Google Photos.
Step 3: Click on Upload in the top right part of the screen.
Step 4: In the drop-down menu, click on the option of Computer.
Step 5: The pop-up file explorer window will show you Google Drive as a local drive, click on it.
Step 6: Select the photos on your Google Drive that you wish to upload to Google Photos.
Wait for the images to finish uploading before closing the tab or browser. Remember to delete files from your Desktop app for Google Drive after completing the entire process, that you moved to Google Photos to free up the unnecessarily used space.
Use Third-Party Cloud-Based Services to Move Photos or Expand Drive storage
Sometimes, due to browser issues, you may find trouble moving photos between Google Drive and Google Photos. You may even feel like a third-party service offers better options. Some of such services we compiled are mentioned below:
Option 1: Move photos from Google Drive to Google Photos with MultCloud
Create a free account on Multcloud and enjoy the service for syncing all your photos from Google Drive to Google Photos in just a couple of clicks.
Option 2: Expand Google Drive storage with CBackup so you do not have to move to Google Photos
Cbackup merges your Google Drive accounts so that the storage is merged as well and you have more available free space. This is useful if you have two accounts and only one is nearing its full limit. For this to work, you need sign up for a free account and then add the two Google Drive accounts to CBackup and combine them.
Option 3: Use iCareFiles by Tenorshare to merge the Photos from Google Drive to Google Photos
This platform works in a similar way to the aforementioned services. iCareFiles requires you to create a free account and gives you the option to merge content from one cloud service with another. It works for Google Drive, Google Photos, and even DropBox. You can easily migrate entire folders of images and photos between two cloud services with iCareFiles.
Backup and Sync
Backup and Sync used to be a popular option for users wanting to move files from Google Drive to Google Photos. However, as of October 1st, 2021, Backup and Sync is no longer operational. It has been replaced with Google Drive for Desktop App, which is a simpler and more convenient tool. You can refer to Method 3 to see how you can move photos from Google Drive to Google Photos through the desktop app.
We hope you find this article helpful! were you successful in moving photos from Google Drive to Google Photos? Please let us know in the comments below! We would love to hear from you!
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