However, there are other ways to transfer your photo files from Google Photos. One of the best destinations is the Windows 10 Photos app which is synced with OneDrive, giving you at least one terabyte of space. Follow the steps below to smoothly add Google Photos to the Photos App in Windows 10.
Is There a Way to Automatically Sync Google Photos with Your Desktop?
At present, it is not possible to automatically export files from Google Photos to either Google Drive or any desktop app. Moreover, as many of our readers recently pointed out, you can no longer use “Backup and Sync” either. To verify this change, if you go to “Preferences,” you can see that it is possible to upload pics from your desktop folder to Google Photos. But there is no such option the other way around, which means you cannot enable any automatic downloads. Having said this, there is a chance Google Photos might add such a desired capability in the future, so we will watch this space and update as soon as it happens.
Downloading Pictures from Google Photos
In the absence of automatic syncing, the only available option for importing the picture files from Google Photos is to download them manually. It isn’t as difficult as it seems. Go to the three-dot icon on top and click “Download.” To save even more time, you can select a specific date, and all the pictures taken on that date (or date range) will quickly download as a Zip file. Create a folder in your PC to save the Zip file and extract the pictures using 7 Zip, WinRAR or other tools. For the above selected pictures, I created a sub-folder called “Photoset1,” which itself is a part of a folder named after Google Photos.
Adding Downloaded Photos to Windows 10 Photos App
Open the Photos app from the Start menu and go to “Folders” from Homescreen. Here, you need to select “Add a folder/include more folders in your collection.” Here, you can see your existing picture folders which were synced with the Photos app. Click “add a new folder” to import the downloaded pics so that they’re well-presented and organized. As soon as you add the new folder, you can see a preview of the photos. To keep all the pictures organized for future downloads from Google Photos, you should also import the main folder which I earlier named “Google Photos.” Once the pictures and video clips from Google Photos have been successfully added to Windows 10 Photos app, you can immediately start work with them. The Photos app is becoming popular for editing videos, as Microsoft has introduced it as a replacement for Windows Movie Maker.
Google Takeout Alternative
Alternatively, you can visit Google Takeout and select all your photo albums for download archiving. Next, you need to select the delivery method which includes email, Google Drive, Dropbox, Box and OneDrive. In this case, I chose Google Drive. After you finish creating your archive, Google will add your archive to Drive and email a link to its location. These archives will count against your storage quota. You can schedule automatic exports to Google Drive as a one-time zip file or once every two months. Once you’re done, you only need to download Google Drive to your Windows 10 PC. Now, you can directly import Google Drive folder into your Windows 10 Photos app. This method neatly solves the automatic syncing problem for Google Photos.
Conclusion
If you’re using an Android phone, Google Photos maintains an updated collection of your best pictures and video clips. With the simple steps above, you can now directly import your updated collection to your Photos app and edit them right there. Have you found it useful to transfer your pictures from Google Photos to other applications? We look forward to your observations and comments.
