[3 Methods] How to Transfer iCloud Photos to Google Photos

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• User Case: Can I Transfer iCloud Photos to Google Photos
• iCloud Photos vs Google Photos
• 3 Methods of Transferring iCloud Photos to Google Photos
• >>Method 1. "Transfer a copy of your data" in Apple' Data and Privacy
• >>Method 2. Manually Move Photos from iCloud to Google Photos
• >>Method 3: Transfer iCloud Photos to Google Photos via MultCloud [Quick and Easy]
• FAQs About Transferring iCloud Photos to Google Photos
• In the End

User Case: Can I Transfer iCloud Photos to Google Photos

“I only have a free plan of iCloud but a premium plan on Google Photos. And my iCloud space is nearly full, so I’m wondering how can I migrate iCloud Photos to Google Photos and then free up the storage on my iCloud. I have a large number of photos, so the download-and-upload method is troublesome. Is there any easy method to transfer photos from iCloud to Google Photos?” – A Question on Apple.com

iCloud Photos vs Google Photos

iCloud Photos and Google Photos are professional cloud storage services in the market, which offer users a convenient way to store and access images, videos as well as screenshots. As practical and advanced photo-saving and photo-sharing services, both iCloud Photos and Google Photos have gained a large user base across the world.

If you are struggling with which cloud service to use, you can refer to the comparisons below. After assessing their strengths and weaknesses, you can choose the best cloud storage solution for your photos and videos.

iCloud Photos vs Google Photos: Storage Space

iCloud only offers 5GB of free storage space for each signup. Contrastingly, Google Photos offers a generous 15GB of free space. Although Google Photos shares the space with Google Drive and Gmail, 15GB of storage is relatively sufficient for daily use.

Apart from free plan, iCloud and Google Photos offers different paid plans. Specifically speaking, iCloud charges 50GB for $0.99/month, 200GB for $2.99/month, and 2TB for $9.99/month. Whereas Google Photos charges 100GB for $1.99/month, 200GB for $2.99/month, and 2TB for $9.99/month.

As you can see, the price and plans between iCloud and Google Photos are similar. And Google Photos offers more free storage space.

iCloud Photos vs Google Photos: Editing

iCloud Photos doesn’t allow you to search certain photos with special topics. Contrastingly, Google Photos gives you the Search option to let you search certain pictures by topics, places, faces, etc., which is very intelligent. On top of that, Google Photos enables you to make online editing for photos you want. While iCloud Photos is more limited and doesn’t offer the online editing feature.

iCloud Photos vs Google Photos: Sharing

Both Google Photos and iCloud Photos allow users to share photos with others. Specifically, Google Photos enables you to create sharing links to photos and collaborative albums, and share with email contacts. Whereas iCloud web app only allows you to create a direct link for someone to view an individual picture.

3 Methods of Transferring iCloud Photos to Google Photos

As you can see from the comparison above, you can enjoy more benefits if you move photos from iCloud to Google Photos. But how to easily transfer pics from iCloud to Google Photos? Thankfully, there are 3 methods available for your selection. Read on to get full guide.

Comparison Factor	Apple Data Transfer	Manual Download & Upload	MultCloud Cloud Transfer
Speed	★★★ (Usually 3–7 days for large libraries)	★★ (Depends on download & upload speed; can take many hours or days)	★★★★★ (Direct cloud-to-cloud transfer with high-speed servers)
Ease of Use	★★★★	★★	★★★★★
Requires Local Storage	❌ No	✅ Yes	❌ No
PC Can Be Off	✅ Yes	❌ No	✅ Yes
Supports Large Libraries	★★★★	★★	★★★★★
Automatic/Scheduled Transfers	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes (daily, weekly, monthly)
Transfer Progress Visibility	❌ No	❌ No	Real-time task status and logs
Risk of Interruption	Low	High (network interruption, browser crash, computer sleep)	Very Low (server-side transfer continues even when you're offline)
Preserves Original Quality	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Preserves Metadata	✅ Most metadata	✅ Yes (if original files are uploaded)	✅ Yes
Preserves Album Structure	⭐ Partial Albums are transferred when possible, but videos may not remain inside albums and some album types aren't supported.	❌ Usually No (albums become folders unless recreated manually)	✅ Better preservation by transferring directly from iCloud Photos rather than local exports
Handles New Photos Automatically	❌ No (one-time copy only)	❌ No	✅ Yes (scheduled transfers can keep Google Photos updated)
Cross-Platform	Apple → Google Photos only	Any supported platforms	30+ cloud services supported, not limited to Apple & Google
Cost	Free	Free	Free for basic transfers; Premium unlocks larger transfers, scheduling, filters, and more
Best For	One-time official migration	Small photo collections	Large libraries, recurring transfers, and users wanting the fastest hands-off solution

Method 1. "Transfer a copy of your data" in Apple' Data and Privacy

Apple rolls out a new feature that allows you to migrate pictures on iCloud to Google Photos directly in its "Data and Privacy". In this way, you can directly transfer iCloud Photos to Google Photos. Now, you can follow the steps below to get started:

Step 1: Sign in with your Apple ID and password at privacy.apple.com
Step 2: Go to Transfer a copy of your data and press the Request to transfer a copy of your data button.

Step 3: Select Google Photos in the next window and check if you want to move images and/or videos and tap Continue.

Step 4: Confirm the operation again.

Step 5: Log in to your Google Photos and then give Apple access to move these photos and/or videos to your Google Photos.
Step 6: Now, Confirm Transfers after checking the details.

Method 2. Manually Move Photos from iCloud to Google Photos

If you don't want to wait for Apple for up to 3-7 days to transfer your iCloud photos to Google Photos, the manual way (downloading and re-uploading) is worth trying. It won't take you several days to get the transfer completed. 

Step 1. Sign in to your Apple ID and enter iCloud Photos. Select the photos you want to transfer from iCloud to Google Photos and click the "Download" icon in the upper right corner (you can select multiple photos at one time).

Step 2.  If you download more than one photo at one time, they will be in a zip folder. Before re-uploading to Google Photos, please unzip them.

Step 3. Log in to your Google Photos account and click "Upload" and select "Computer".

Step 4. In the pop-out File Explorer window, choose the folder you just unzipped and click on "Open".

Step 4. Then select all photos in the folder, click on "Open" and then they will be uploaded to Google Photos.

Important:✎...

The downloading and uploading process is also time-consuming, which is better than Apple's Data and Privacy method. If you want to take full control of the process, it's worth trying. You have to make sure the local disk has enough space to download these files from iCloud Photos, then upload them.

Method 3: Transfer iCloud Photos to Google Photos via MultCloud [Quick and Easy]

Method 1 takes too much time, while Method 2 is too energy-consuming and takes up lots of local storage when you have to transfer a large number of photos. So, is there any way that can make iCloud Photos to Google Photos transfer direct and quick? Luckily, you can turn to a professional cloud transfer tool– MultCloud to migrate files across different cloud services or accounts directly.

MultCloud provides a platform where users can add all their clouds and transfer/backup/sync data across different clouds directly without frequent account switching, which can improve work efficiency. As a technical service, MultCloud offers the following benefits:

So, how to move Google Photos to another account with MultCloud? Refer to the following content to learn the details:

Step 1: Sign up for a MultCloud account for free.

Step 2: Go to Add Cloud on the left, and add your Google Photos and iCloud Photos accounts respectively.

Step 3: Now, head to Cloud Transfer, and select iCloud Photos album as the source directory and Google Photos album as the target directory.

Tips before transferring:✎...

To free up space for iCloud Photos, you can click Options > Delete all source files after transfer is complete to automatically delete files from iCloud Photos. Because all files have been transferred to Google Photos, there is no need to take up double space in the cloud. 

In Options, you can also set up other transfer methods, email notification, and file filter. You can choose certain files to migrate, like PNG, JPEG, and more you'd like. 

To automatically run iCloud Photos to Google Photos sync, hit Schedule, then choose once, daily, weekly, or monthly to enjoy. 

For more advanced features and unlimited data traffic, it's highly recommended to upgrade to a MultCloud advanced plan.

In our test, transferring 1,000 photos (5 GB) took approximately 15 minutes. Similarly, if you want to migrate Google Drive to a new account, you can also follow the same steps. The only difference is to re-select the source and target directories.

FAQs About Transferring iCloud Photos to Google Photos

1. Can I transfer iCloud Photos directly to Google Photos without downloading them?

Yes. With MultCloud, you can transfer photos directly from iCloud Photos to Google Photos in the cloud. There's no need to download files to your computer or upload them again manually, which saves both time and local storage.

2. Will my photos lose quality during the transfer?

No. MultCloud transfers your photos in their original quality. The image files themselves are not compressed or altered during the transfer process.

3. Can I transfer videos from iCloud Photos to Google Photos as well?

Yes. MultCloud supports transferring both photos and videos stored in your iCloud Photos library, allowing you to migrate your entire media collection in one task.

4. Can I transfer thousands of photos at once?

Absolutely. MultCloud is designed for bulk transfers, so you can migrate large photo libraries instead of selecting files one by one. This is especially useful when switching cloud photo services.

5. Does my computer need to stay on during the transfer?

No. Once the transfer task starts, it runs on MultCloud's cloud servers. You can close your browser or even turn off your computer, and the transfer will continue in the background.

6. Can I schedule automatic transfers from iCloud Photos to Google Photos?

Yes. If you regularly add new photos to iCloud Photos, you can schedule transfer tasks to run daily, weekly, or monthly so your Google Photos library stays up to date automatically.

7. Is it safe to connect my iCloud Photos and Google Photos accounts to MultCloud?

Yes. MultCloud uses industry-standard OAuth authorization to connect supported cloud services whenever available, so your login credentials are not stored by MultCloud. Data transfers are protected with encrypted connections to help keep your files secure.

8. Will my albums be transferred to Google Photos?

MultCloud transfers your photo and video files. Album organization may not always be recreated exactly because iCloud Photos and Google Photos use different album structures and metadata systems. The original files, however, are transferred successfully.

In the End

After reading, you now know how to transfer iCloud Photos to Google Photos in different situations. Meanwhile, there’s a technical tool for you to transfer files from cloud to cloud effortlessly and efficiently – by using MultCloud. So, you can sync iCloud with Google Drive easily.

In addition to the Transfer feature, MultCloud offers you other useful features as well, such as Cloud Backup, Cloud Sync, and Remote Upload. For example, if you want backup Google Photos to Synology NAS, the Cloud Backup function of MultCloud can work it out. If you want to sync files between clouds, MultCloud gives you 9 different sync modes for you to choose from.