{"id":5681,"date":"2020-07-28T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-28T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviancetechnologies.com\/blog\/blog\/how-to-back-up-your-google-photos-library-and-keep-your-metadata\/"},"modified":"2020-07-28T10:30:00","modified_gmt":"2020-07-28T10:30:00","slug":"how-to-back-up-your-google-photos-library-and-keep-your-metadata","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviancetechnologies.com\/blog\/how-to-back-up-your-google-photos-library-and-keep-your-metadata\/","title":{"rendered":"How to back up your Google Photos library and keep your metadata"},"content":{"rendered":"

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How to back up your Google Photos library and keep your metadata<\/h2>\n

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Google Photos is one of the best ways to sync and store the picture you take on your phone, but getting them out of your library is another story\u2014especially if you want to keep your metadata (date, time, caption, etc.). Since\u00a0Photos no longer includes an option<\/a> to sync with Google Drive, keeping a rolling backup of your photos is going to take some work.<\/p>\n

Here and your options are for creating a backup that keeps your photos and metadata intact:<\/p>\n

Google Drive<\/h2>\n

Storage<\/h3>\n

Like before, Google will store high-quality photos and videos in Photos for free, so they won\u2019t affect the space in your Google Drive. If you opt for Original Quality, however, Google Photos will use some of the space in your Google Drive to store your library, even though you won\u2019t be able to see or access the photos. Any photo or video that resides in both places will take up twice the space.<\/p>\n

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The photos in your Google Photos folder in Google Drive won\u2019t be deleted, but new ones won\u2019t be added anymore.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Photos folder<\/h3>\n

If you used Google photos before last July, any photos that were synced until the minute Google turned off the functionality will remain in your folder. You can do whatever you\u2019d like with them, but photos deleted from Google Drive will no longer be removed from Photos.<\/p>\n

Upload from Drive<\/h2>\n

Google has added a new feature to Google Photos called Upload from Drive. Similar to the \u201cUpload\u201d button and the drag-and-drop method, it will let you select photos and videos directly from your Google Drive and import them into Photos. Once something is uploaded to Google Photos, it will live in two places and take up twice the storage. And if you delete a photo from one place, the other will remain.<\/p>\n

Backup and Sync<\/h2>\n

For years, Google has offered a Backup and Sync app<\/a> for Macs and PCs that lets you easily sync photos and videos from your desktop to your Google Drive or Google Photos. It\u2019s not a two-way street like the current Google Photos-Google Drive integration\u2014meaning you\u2019ll need to upload photos and videos to both places\u2014but you can pick individual folders to automatically sync as soon as you fire up your PC. Any new images and videos on your PC will be available through Google Drive.<\/p>\n

Download a photo archive<\/h2>\n

If you want to make sure you have a backup of your photos in addition to the one on Google Photos, you can still download a complete copy of your Google Photos archive though the Google Takeout service. It\u2019s not quite as quick or seamless as the Google Drive sync, but it\u2019ll do the trick.<\/p>\n

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To back upo your full Google Photos library, you\u2019re going to need to download an archive first.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To get started, head over to the Data & Personalization<\/em> tab in your Google Account, scroll down and select Download your Data<\/em>. There are quite a few categories to choose from, but you\u2019ll want to deselect them all and look for Google Photos. Click the checkbox and then scroll down to Next step<\/em>. On the next screen, you\u2019ll be able to choose the delivery method, file type, and archive size, as well as how often you want to receive a copy of your archive. Then select Create archive<\/em> to generate your library.<\/p>\n