You Can Now Easily Transfer Images from Google Photos to iCloud
Back in March 2021, Apple began letting its users easily move their photos from iCloud to Google Photos. More than three years later, Google is allowing people to do the reverse and transfer their images from Google Photos to Apple iCloud.
As reported by 9to5Mac, the new Google Photos to iCloud data transfer tool is part of Apple and Google’s collaborative work on the Data Transfer Initiative (DTI), formerly known as the Data Transfer Project. The DTI is a nonprofit organization that works with technology companies to provide users with the tools required to move data from one service to another. DTI’s founding partners include Apple, Google, and Meta.
“Beginning today, Apple and Google are expanding on their direct data transfer offerings to allow users of Google Photos to transfer their collections directly to iCloud Photos,” writes DTI in a press release. “This complements and completes the existing transfers that were first made possible from iCloud Photos to Google Photos and fulfills a core Data Transfer Initiative (DTI) principle of reciprocity.”
The new tool, powered by open-source Data Transfer Project technology, appears to have rolled out to some users already, although DTI says it should be available to all in the next week.
“At DTI, we’re excited by today’s development. Data Transfer Project-powered tools are best-in-class offerings for direct portability. They help make data portability easier, and are built and tested to ensure a trustworthy and user-centric transfer, and offer an overall better experience for people,” the initiative continues.
Both Apple and Google have published support documentation surrounding the data transfer tools. The companies note that when photos are moved from Google Photos to iCloud Photos, they are not deleted from Google Photos. Further, users do not need to download files or create local copies of their images to transfer them — the transfer happens directly from Google to iCloud. The transfer process can take between several hours and a few days, depending on the size of the photos and videos that are being transferred.
Although complete details and step-by-step instructions are available on Apple’s support page, the basic process requires an Apple ID and sufficient iCloud storage space. Users then use Google Takeout to select the data they wish to move and the appropriate iCloud destination. Apple says only photo and video files can be transferred, not including Motion Photos, Live Photos, or Memories. There is support for JPEG, HEIC, PNG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, and “most” MP4 and MOV video files. Photo and video files that cannot be transferred to iCloud Photos, including RAW files, will be transferred to iCloud Drive.
Once the transfer is complete, the user will receive a confirmation email from Apple, and the photos and videos from Google Photos will appear in a new Photos app folder, “Import from Google.”
Whenever it is made more accessible for people to transfer their photos and videos from one service to another, it is undeniably a win.
Image credits: Header photo created using assets licensed via Depositphotos.
