Export your Google Photos & Albums: Download and Delete before they're unreachable!

This guide provides essential steps to efficiently export your Google Photos and albums before they become inaccessible, ensuring you retain your precious memories. It offers clear instructions on how to download your photos in manageable file sizes and includes tips for quickly deleting your images to free up storage. By following this guide, you can back up your Google Photos and DELETE them before the deadline!

Fordham ITpartners
32 steps
3 minutes

Google

Google Photos

Scribe

Export your Google Photos and Albums

Navigate to [https://photos.google.com/](https://photos.google.com/)

Click on Settings (gear icon)

Scroll through your settings to **Export your Data** and click **Backup**

Note: This method already selects "All photo albums included"

Click "Next step"

You can reduce how many zip folders you may receive by changing the file size from the dropdown.

Selecting 50GB will have the .zip folders broken up into 50GB batches.

Click "Create export"

Google will create a copy of your data from Google Photos. This may take some time. You will receive an email when your export is complete.

When your export is complete, click on [[Manage Exports]]

Click [[download]] to begin downloading your Google Photos

Download and **unzip** your [[Takeout.zip]] File

Note: Each Folder is an Album, or a date range of when the photos were uploaded

Click on your photo files to preview

Note: There will be image files, video files, and .json files in your export.

**Note:** the **.json files** contain the metadata that was stored within the photo on Google Photos. These files can be opened in a web-browser to be read.

Click on your photo files to preview

Open your Photo to Preview

Open the .json file that matches the photo name to view the meta data

Review to see more information about the photo

Delete your Photos and Albums stored in Google Photos

**Tip!** G**oogle Photos browser method (Recommended)** 1. Visit [photos.google.com/search/\_tra\_](https://photos.google.com/search/_tra_) (this shows your photos in "date added" order, and is more responsive than the Google Photos homepage). 2. Click the checkmark on the first image. 3. Scroll down. You may find it faster to use the “End” key on your keyboard (fn + right arrow, on most compact keyboards). Repeat until you reach the end of the page, or earlier if you'd like to delete in batches. 4. Hold the Shift key, and the images leading up to the mouse should highlight in blue.\* Click to select the batch. 5. Click the trash can icon at the top-right of the screen. 6. Empty [the trash](https://photos.google.com/trash).

Hover and Click on the check box of the first photo.

Scroll to the bottom of the page, or click on the " [[End]]" key on your keyboard to get to the bottom of the screen.

Now that you're at the bottom of the screen, hold down your "[[Shift]]" key, and click on the checkmark of your last photo. All of your Photos should be selected now.

On the top menu bar, click on the trash icon to Delete.

A popup will appear "Remove from your Google Account, devices with backup turned on, and places shared within Google Photos?" and explain how much storage space you will recover.

Confirm by clicking "Move to trash"

Your photos have now moved to Trash.

Click "[[Trash]]" to confirm your photos have moved into [[Trash]]

To reclaim your google space

Click "Empty trash"

After Confirmation No Items will be found!

Success!

Success! Mission Accomplished!

a baby with a fist in the air and the words mission accomplished below him

Export your Google Photos & Albums: Download and Delete before they're unreachable!

Fordham ITpartners
32 steps
3 minutes

Google

Google Photos

Scribe

Export your Google Photos and Albums

Navigate to [https://photos.google.com/](https://photos.google.com/)

Click on Settings (gear icon)

Scroll through your settings to **Export your Data** and click **Backup**

Note: This method already selects "All photo albums included"

Click "Next step"

You can reduce how many zip folders you may receive by changing the file size from the dropdown.

Selecting 50GB will have the .zip folders broken up into 50GB batches.

Click "Create export"

Google will create a copy of your data from Google Photos. This may take some time. You will receive an email when your export is complete.

When your export is complete, click on [[Manage Exports]]

Click [[download]] to begin downloading your Google Photos

Download and **unzip** your [[Takeout.zip]] File

Note: Each Folder is an Album, or a date range of when the photos were uploaded

Click on your photo files to preview

Note: There will be image files, video files, and .json files in your export.

**Note:** the **.json files** contain the metadata that was stored within the photo on Google Photos. These files can be opened in a web-browser to be read.

Click on your photo files to preview

Open your Photo to Preview

Open the .json file that matches the photo name to view the meta data

Review to see more information about the photo

Delete your Photos and Albums stored in Google Photos

Hover and Click on the check box of the first photo.

Scroll to the bottom of the page, or click on the " [[End]]" key on your keyboard to get to the bottom of the screen.

Now that you're at the bottom of the screen, hold down your "[[Shift]]" key, and click on the checkmark of your last photo. All of your Photos should be selected now.

On the top menu bar, click on the trash icon to Delete.

A popup will appear "Remove from your Google Account, devices with backup turned on, and places shared within Google Photos?" and explain how much storage space you will recover.

Confirm by clicking "Move to trash"

Your photos have now moved to Trash.

Click "[[Trash]]" to confirm your photos have moved into [[Trash]]

To reclaim your google space

Click "Empty trash"

After Confirmation No Items will be found!

Success!

Success! Mission Accomplished!