We ’re all vanish under a virtual avalanche of exposure and videos , and no one ’s really sure about how to organize it all — thoughApple and Google keep try . Android and iOS both have sassy photo service built in nowadays , but what happens when you want to jumpstart from one to the other ? Here ’s what you want to sleep with .

In this guide we ’ll be harness the challenge of moving your whole photo depository library from one service to the other : this is a full traded - in - my - iPhone - for - a - Pixelscenario , a clean break where you ’re throw from Apple Photos to Google Photos or back the other way .

For a lot of people it might be better to have a foot in both camp , at least for some photos or for some of the fourth dimension , but for simpleness ’s rice beer we wo n’t go into every potential scenario here . you may in fact employ these service alongside each other middling easily , but in this case we ’ll tackle go from one to the other wholesale .

Argentina’s President Javier Milei (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., holding a chainsaw in a photo posted to Kennedy’s X account on May 27. 2025.

It ’s also worth noting these are not exactly directly comparable services , with Apple ’s photo offering very much baked into its hardware and computer software , and Google photo very much World Wide Web - first and lock independently of your computers , headphone and tablets .

Switching from Apple Photos to Google Photos

Before you jump to Google Photos you need to decide if you need to store your photos ( and videos ) at their original solving or whether you ’re happy to put up withsome resizing — images are salt away at a upper limit of 16 megapixels and video are stored at a maximum of 1080p HD .

If you choose the second option , you’re able to stack away as much as you want , for free . If you desire to keep everything as it is , you necessitate to think aboutpaying for Google Drive computer memory , as you only get 15 GB for free . price start at 100 GB for $ 1.99 a month .

Once you ’ve decided , you require to form out where your photos are , and given the unlike apps on macOS and iOS , and the late upgrades to both , you could be forgiven for not being too sure . Thankfully , Google Photos is n’t too fuss .

William Duplessie

Download the Google Photosdesktop client for macOSandmobile app for iOSand both will get to work picking up all the image from your computers and iDevices . The desktop app enquire which photo libraries you need to back up when you start it , and the Io app simply back up everything it can see .

The only mental image and videos that might get missed are those you ’ve uploaded to iCloud and deleted from your gadget , if you ’re using iCloud . To get these file cabinet back on macOS , launch Photos , then start the Photos menu , take Preferences , switch to iCloud and make certain Download Originals to Mac is take . On iOS , if you have the space , open options then tap iCloud , Photos and Download and Keep Originals .

If for whatever reason you ca n’t get your iCloud photos back to a Mac or iOS gadget , the exportation option fromiCloud on the webare a little less than stellar . moving-picture show can be downloaded severally well enough , but for bulk downloads you have to expend the Shift or Cmd key fruit to choose multiple detail at once , then get across the download picture . Once redeem somewhere , they can be upload to Google Photos using a screen background client or just your web browser app .

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Switching from Google Photos to Apple Photos

As we ’ve said , Google Photos lives on the web , but fix all your pictures and videos back down again is n’t too unmanageable — though it might take some time if you ’ve got a massive photo library and a sulky cyberspace connection . With Apple Photos , you do n’t have to put in your pictures in the swarm , but if you do then you ’ll in all likelihood need topay for extra storage .

The Google Photos desktop client for macOS does n’t have two - way sync , butthe one for Google Drivedoes . First , go toGoogle Drive on the web , open up the configurations page ( via the cog icon ) and tick the box marked Automatically put your Google Photos into a folder in My Drive under the General tab .

That does n’t change anything about what ’s stored in Google Photos , it just realise everything visible in Google Drive . Then , download and installthe macOS clientfor Google Drive , and verify the Google Photos folder is selected in the inclination of brochure to sync , which will be displayed during the apparatus physical process .

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Hey presto , all your picture and videos are pulled down from the cloud . In the Photos app on your Mac , pick File then Import to dilute in the new download content . It ’s only if you do n’t have a Mac computer to hand that difficulties arise — if you ’re using Apple ’s photograph services entirely on iPhones , iPads , and the web , maybe .

If you have a Windows auto to pass , you could use the same trick as above to get the images and video download . Then , instead of ladder the Photos app on macOS , use iTunes and your iDevice , or just iCloud on the web , to get everything up to the iCloud Photo Library .

Alternatively you could usethe Google Takeout serviceto download all of your pictures and television from Google Photos if you do n’t require to go down the Google Drive syncing route . All of your hooey gets serve up as a compressed booklet which you may then extract and move to Apple ’s apps on the background , on mobile and in the cloud .

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A computer of some kind really is essential though as a make-do between Google Photos and Apple ’s Photos apps , even if you ’re planning to employ nothing but an iPhone and iCloud Photo Library for the residual of your life . In other words you ca n’t go straight from cloud service of process to cloud service .

Without investing too much time and effort you should be up and running on your Modern pic management scheme and ready to take and store impression again — at least until you decide to switch to something new .

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Photo: Jae C. Hong

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