Manual method
Preserve available photos and videos plus accompanying metadata from Google Photos.
- For the whole library, open Google Takeout and select only Google Photos; review the included albums.
- Request a one-time ZIP export by download link, then download every numbered archive.
- Extract without flattening folders or discarding sidecar files.
- For a small selection, select images on photos.google.com and use More → Download.
Coverage and limitations: Metadata added within Google Photos can arrive as separate JSON. Keep it beside the media. File-system download dates differ from capture dates. Compression already applied to stored media cannot be reversed by exporting.
Size and time to allow
Illustrative small / central / large case: 5 / 100 / 1000 GB (decimal GB). These are planning assumptions, not a measured average per person. 100 GB illustrates 20,000 photos at roughly 3 MB each plus 40 GB of video. Video length and resolution dominate the variation.
Preparation: Takeout preparation may take minutes to days. Allow a separate transfer window, especially for hundreds of GB.
For the central 100 GB example, network transfer alone is approximately:
| Connection | Estimated transfer |
|---|---|
| 10 Mbps | 31.7 hours |
| 50 Mbps | 6.3 hours |
| 100 Mbps | 3.2 hours |
Assumes 70% sustained use of the stated connection. Provider throttling, many small files, retries, local extraction and copying add time. For online backup use your upload speed. These are not estimates of the provider’s preparation queue. See calculation and large-file advice.
Store and verify the archive
Use an external SSD or hard drive as the main archive. A USB key is suitable for a selected transfer copy, but capacity and sustained speed can be limiting. Keep a second encrypted copy on a separate drive or in private online backup.
Create google_photos/YYYY-MM-DD/originals/, preserve the untouched download, and extract a separate working copy when needed. Allow extra free space for archive plus extraction; compressed text can expand far beyond twice its size. Record account/scope, export date, date coverage and missing items in a local README without passwords.
Open old/new photos, play several videos, inspect embedded dates and retain JSON sidecars and duplicate album references until reconciled. Reopen a sample from the second copy before deleting or replacing any source. Storage choices and verification.
Sources and review
Public documentation was reviewed on 27 October 2026. No signed-in export or restoration was performed. Account options and availability can change; follow the current provider instructions.