How to Transfer Google Photos to iCloud

What to Know

• Google Takeout lets you export everything from Google Photos directly to iCloud.
• Another option is to pick which albums or individual files to transfer.
• For a manual transfer, you'll need to download the items and then upload them to the iCloud website.
  

This article explains how to transfer photos and videos from Google Photos to iCloud. You can do this manually or with Google's transfer tool.

How to Migrate Google Photos to iCloud

Follow these steps to use Google Takeout for the transfer. This is the easiest way to copy everything to iCloud from Google Photos because you don't have to do any of the downloading or uploading yourself.

1. Open Google Takeout to the custom transfer page. Log in to your Google account if asked.

2. Select Continue and then log in to your Google account when asked.

   This method does not let you choose specific albums to transfer. It might appear that way, but our tests prove otherwise. Skip to the next set of directions to pick and choose what to copy to iCloud.

   

3. Press Continue to give Google Takeout access to your library.

   

4. Choose Apple - iCloud Photos from the drop-down menu, then press Continue.

   

5. Log in to your Apple account.

   

6. Select Allow to give Google Takeout permission to add photos and videos to your iCloud account.

   

7. Select Agree and continue to trigger the transfer.

   

How to Transfer Specific Photos and Videos to iCloud

Follow these directions for full control over which albums or specific videos and photos are transferred from Google Photos to iCloud. This isn't as streamlined as the above steps because you need to download the items to your computer first, and then upload them to iCloud yourself.

There are two ways to do this, depending on how much you want to transfer:

Export Specific Albums

We have a guide that explains how to export specific albums from Google Photos. Follow those steps to save the albums to your computer and then skip to the bottom of this page to learn how to copy them to iCloud.

Export Specific Items

Don't want to transfer all your Google Photos data? You can download each item you want to put in iCloud. Here's how it works from the Google Photos website:

1. Open Google Photos in your web browser.

2. Find the photos you want to export and select them using the small checkmark in the top corner of the images. Alternatively, mark all for export by selecting the top left-most photo and holding Shift (Windows) or Command (Mac) while you scroll to the bottom of the page.

   

3. Go to the three-dot menu and choose Download.

   

Upload Google Photos to iCloud

With your Google Photos exported, you can now import them into iCloud. One way to upload photos and videos to iCloud is through the iCloud website. Here's how:

1. Open iCloud Photos and log in with your Apple ID/Apple Account.

2. From the Library tab, select the cloud icon on the right.

   

3. Find the folder you exported your Google Photos items to and then choose what to import into iCloud.

   

   You might have to do some consolidation to make all your Google Photos files exist in the same folder for easy upload.

How to Delete a Google Account FAQ

• How do I transfer Google Photos to my gallery?

  You can restore items from Google Photos to an Android phone's gallery app through Library > Trash in Google Photos. Select the photos you're moving, and then select Restore. The item will return to the folders it used to be in, including your gallery.

• How do I transfer Google Photos to my computer?

  You can move Google Photos to your computer's hard drive by downloading them from the website. Sign in to Google Photos, and then hover your cursor over the ones you want to move and select the checkbox. Once you've highlighted all of the items you want, click menu > Download.