I am using the Photo (iPhoto) app and have years of photos stored. How do I copy those images to a disk I can then upload to Google Photos?
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How do I move photos from Apple to Windows?
- Thread starter majordude
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- Turn on the computer you wish to download your photos to ( any kind of OS will do: Linux, Windows )
- Visit iCloud.com with a modern browser
- Sign in with the AppleID you use for your Photo App
- Click Photos
- Select All Photos you would like to download
- Click the Download Cloud
Does this involve selecting potentially thousands of photos one by one or is there a “select all” button?
Just click on one and Select All through keyboard shortcuts or the file menu, man.
Where are your photos at the moment? On your Mac in Photos, or in a cloud somewhere?
If they are in Photos on your Mac, create a Folder on the Desktop and then just drag and drop from Photos into that Folder and then upload to Google.
So click one, scroll down a few hundred, hold shift and click another.
Then download.
Repeat until you get them all.
Servers often limit the time a connection is held open. If you attempt to download 1.7 million photos with an AOL dial up, the connection may close prematurely.
Please either select a reasonable number of photos at once, depending on your connection speed. You may start with 100 or so the first time and see how your download speed handles it. If okay, go for 200 next time until you reach your timeout limit. Then stay below that threshold.
Photos (and iPhoto before it) has an Export command in the File menu. You can choose to export the edited version, or the unedited originals, select the quality... You can export them to a folder on the HD or an external HD... lots of options. Select as few or as many photos as you wish to export at one time (for example, you could select each month's images and export to a folder labeled for each month, or select the entire contents of the library and drop them into a single folder).
The drag-and-drop method also works, but does not give you options for image quality or unedited original. It's nice for quickly dropping an image into a text or email, but for real control, Export is the way to go.
The drag-and-drop method also works, but does not give you options for image quality or unedited original. It's nice for quickly dropping an image into a text or email, but for real control, Export is the way to go.
And to add to what @ApfelKuchen mentions; When I experiment with exporting from Photos I also narrow it down to video, selfies and Live Photos and such.
This is available in the photo view itself - remember to tick away your selection before taking measures to export photos over video because the little menu is not a single selection menu.
I then beforehand create the wanted folders for said items, video etc and make sure that I have CMD+A everything in that view - drag them off to the open folder and watch the export begin. The Photos app will show the export in the same place as always and not as a Finder copy view.
This is available in the photo view itself - remember to tick away your selection before taking measures to export photos over video because the little menu is not a single selection menu.
I then beforehand create the wanted folders for said items, video etc and make sure that I have CMD+A everything in that view - drag them off to the open folder and watch the export begin. The Photos app will show the export in the same place as always and not as a Finder copy view.
I'm not sure if this works as I've never tried, but you might be able to download all the photos by requesting your data from Apple:
privacy.apple.com
There is an option to download iCloud Photos.
Data & Privacy
There is an option to download iCloud Photos.
Apple to Windows is simple enough:
1) Login to iCloud and download photos.
2) Alternative download iCloud for Windows to have access to your photos:
support.apple.com
1) Login to iCloud and download photos.
2) Alternative download iCloud for Windows to have access to your photos:
Download iCloud for Windows - Apple Support
With iCloud for Windows, you’ll have your photos, videos, mail, calendar, files, and other important information on the go and on your Windows PC.
1 - Go to the Pictures folder on your Mac, and right click on the PhotoLibrary.
2 - Select Show Package Contents.
3 - Copy the Originals folder to your Windows machine.
If you're uploading to Google, they have an app that does it for you. It's called Backup and Sync, and it will automatically upload your photos to them. You can even select the resolution you want if you don't want to pay for storage. https://www.google.com/intl/en-GB_ALL/drive/download/backup-and-sync/
I advise you look at user reviews of Backup and Sync and its use on MACS. For many, it is a nightmare. I tried a year ago and gave up. Look in the Google Help forums before you jump into this.
You may loose the original file names if you do it this way.
Export unmod originals best option.