Switching From Google Photos To iCloud Is Now Easier

Apple and Google have announced a new expansion of their direct data transfer efforts under the Data Transfer Initiative. Now, users of Google Photos can more easily transfer their files and switch to iCloud Photos with just a couple of clicks, complementing the existing iCloud-to-Google-Photos transfer support that Apple rolled out back in 2021.

The blog post states that the offering will be rolling out over the next week, which will be available through Google Takeout. When it is released, users only need to log into Takeout and select Google Photos as the data that you want to copy.

Afterwards, you can choose from a list of third-party services to move your data to. Aside from iCloud, the tech giant also supports Flickr, Microsoft OneDrive, and SmugMug. Your original photos and videos will not be affected following the transfer unless you choose to delete them.

Of course, not all file types are supported, but the most common ones are, including JPG, PNG, GIF, WEBP, AVIF, MP4, MOV, and RAW files. If you plan on transferring from Apple’s platform to Google’s instead, do not that some formats such as Smart Albums and Live Photos might not be supported.

(Source: Data Transfer Initiative)