Apple now offers a tool that allows you to transfer photos and videos stored in iCloud to Google Photos very easily. Sharing this content does not delete the content on iCloud but copies it to Google Photos, making sure you don’t lose your files.
This tool is available for European Union member countries, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States.
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Checks to do before uploading photos and videos
Before starting the Transfer of your content, a few checks are necessary:
- Your photos and videos are backed up to iCloud Photos,
- You are using two-factor authentication for your Apple ID,
- You have a Google Photos account and have sufficient storage space.
How to transfer your iCloud photos to Google Photos?
Here is the list of steps to follow to transfer your photos and videos from iCloud to Google Photos:
- Go to the dedicated Apple site: privacy.apple.com and enter your Apple ID,
- In the Transfer a copy of your data tab, select request the Transfer of a copy of your data,
- In select a destination, choose Google Photos,
- Define the contents to copy, then click on continue.
The service will then ask you to sign in with your Google account and grant permission to Apple Data and Privacy, then confirm the Transfer.
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Please note that the transfer process can take from 3 to 7 days, and an email will be sent to you when it is completed.
Types of content compatible for Transfer
iCloud allows you to copy photos and videos to Google Photos in their original formats. The types of formats accepted are: .jpg, .png, .webp, .gif, .mpg, .mod, .mmv, .tod, .wmv, .asf, .avi, .divx, .mov, .m4v,. 3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .m2t, .m2ts, .mts, and .mkv and some RAW files.
If you have photos classified in albums, the files will, as far as possible, be transferred with the albums to which they belong marked “copy of”. Google Photos has a limit of 20,000 photos per album, so if you have an album that exceeds this limit, the additional photos will be transferred out of the album.
It is important to take into account that some content is not compatible with Transfer, namely shared albums, smart albums, Live Photos, photostream, and some metadata.
