Transfer a copy of your iCloud Photos collection to another service
You can request to transfer a copy of your iCloud Photos — photos and videos associated with your Apple Account — to another service.
This service is available to customers in over 240 countries around the world for transfers to Google Photos.
You can request to transfer a copy of photos and videos you store in iCloud Photos to Google Photos. Transferring photos and videos from iCloud Photos doesn’t remove or alter the content you store with Apple, but sends a copy of your content to the other service.
The transfer process takes between three and seven days. We use this time to verify that the request was made by you, and to make the transfer.
Some data and formats available in iCloud Photos — such as Smart Albums, Live Photos or some RAW files — may not be available when you transfer your content to another service. More information about what data is transferred is listed below.
This service isn’t available for child accounts or Managed Apple Accounts. You can’t export photo or video data from iCloud while Advanced Data Protection for iCloud is turned on for your account.
Before you request to transfer photos and video
Before you request to transfer your iCloud Photos content, please make sure:
You’re using iCloud Photos to store photos and videos with Apple.
Your Apple Account uses two-factor authentication.
You have a Google account to use Google Photos.
Your Google account has enough storage available to complete the transfer.
If you add more photos or videos to iCloud Photos before your data transfer starts, you’ll need additional space in your Google account to complete it. If your Google account runs out of space during the transfer, not all of your items will be transferred. If you add, update or delete content after the transfer starts, or if your images and videos are still uploading, these changes or additions might not be included in the transfer.
How to request to transfer your iCloud Photos content
To start a request to transfer the photos and videos in iCloud Photos:
Sign in to your Apple Account at Apple’s Data and Privacy page.
Select Transfer a copy of your data.
Follow the prompts to complete your request.
You’ll be asked to sign in to your Google account to start the transfer.
You’ll receive an email notification of your transfer request and another email when your transfer is complete. If you cancel your transfer request before it’s complete and some photos or videos have already been transferred, they remain in Google Photos.
Check the status of your request at Apple’s Data & Privacy page
About the photos and videos that are transferred
Only content stored in iCloud Photos* is transferred. Photos and videos are transferred either in the original format or in industry-standard formats that are easy to open and read. In some cases, you may find that the transfer didn’t include all the photos, videos or formats that you expected and there are a few reasons why this could happen.
The transfer includes copies of photos and videos that you store in iCloud Photos, associated with your Apple Account. Formats include: .jpg, .png, .webp, .gif, some RAW files, .mpg, .mod, .mmv, .tod, .wmv, .asf, .avi, .divx, .mov, .m4v, .3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .m2t, .m2ts, .mts and .mkv files.
Only the most recent edit of the photo is transferred and not the original version. Duplicates appear as just one photo.
Whenever possible, photos are transferred with their albums. Videos are transferred separately, without their albums.
Once transferred to Google, the filenames of albums and videos start with “Copy of”.
Some content — including shared albums, smart albums, photo stream content, live photos, some metadata, and photos and videos stored in other folders or locations — is not transferred at all.
Your Google account’s total storage space applies to content transferred from iCloud Photos to Google Photos. Google Photos also has a limit of 20,000 photos per album. If you transfer an album with more than 20,000 photos, the additional photos are still transferred but are not added to the album.
It's also possible that the data you were expecting isn't in a format that can be transferred or it may have been held only for a very short time and is no longer on our servers. We work hard to maintain accuracy and consistency, so the data associated with your account and our responses to data requests may change as our means of storage and collection change. Apple strives to collect and store the minimum amount of data required to provide the services you use.
Find out more about Apple’s Privacy Policy
Transfer a copy of your photos and videos to iCloud Photos
Find out how to transfer a copy of your photos and videos from Google Photos to iCloud Photos
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