Google Photos no longer provides unlimited free picture storage. Google has offered everyone unlimited photo storage since its inception in 2015, but that has now come to an end. Storage capacity is now limited to 15 GB before you must purchase more.
Now, 15 GB is still a lot of storage space, especially considering that most high-quality photos are only 1-4 MB in size. This gives you approximately 300 photos per GB or 4,500 for the entire 15 GB. It’s also worth noting that anything uploaded before June 1 is still unlimited and does not count against the new 15 GB limit.
Nonetheless, this update may irritate some people. For those who are ready to make a change following Google’s update, there are several options for cloud photo storage. Apple’s iCloud Photos is one of the most popular options.
How to Upload Photos from Google Photos to iCloud
It is also worth noting that iCloud Photos is not a free unlimited storage option. Each iCloud account comes with 5 GB of free storage, but you must pay for additional storage after that. Apple offers storage plans ranging from $0.99 per month for 50 GB to $9.99 per month for 2 TB.
iCloud is still a great photo storage option, especially for users who are already immersed in the Apple ecosystem. Here’s how to begin transferring your photos.
- Head to takeout.google.com
- In the upper right corner, click “Deselect all.”
- Scroll down and select Google Photos from the drop-down menu.
- Scroll to the bottom and select “Next Step.”
- Select your export preferences.
- Choose “Create Export.”
Wait for Google to send you an email when it’s ready.
When your photos are ready, click “Download.”
Once you’ve obtained your photos, you’ll need to upload them to Apple’s iCloud Photos service.
Now that you’ve downloaded all of the photos from Google Photos, the next step is to transfer them to iCloud. You have a couple of options here.
The first way to do this is to use a Mac:
- Launch the Photos app.
- In the toolbar, select File, then Import.
- Choose the folder(s) containing your photos.
- Examine, then choose to Import All New Pictures
- After that, your photos will be fully transferred from Google Photos to iCloud. Depending on the size of the folder, this could take some time.
Another method for uploading photos to iCloud is to use a web browser on a PC.
- Head to iCloud.com and sign in with your Apple ID
- Choose Photos, then click the Upload button.
- Choose the folder(s) containing your photos.
- Choose Upload.
After that, your photos will begin to upload to the iCloud servers. Again, depending on how many photos you need to upload, this process may take some time.
That’s all there is to it. Unfortunately, our time with Google Photos’ unlimited photo storage has come to an end. For those looking to make a change, there are some other options available, such as iCloud.