Backup Google Photos to External Drive | Step-by-Step Guide

How to backup your Google Photos to a portable drive — clear, step-by-step 

Short intro: This guide explains several easy, dependable ways to move your Google Photos library onto a portable external drive (USB HDD/SSD, flash drive). I cover a full-library method (best for complete backups), smaller/album exports, phone downloads, and tips for verification and future incremental backups.

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Before you start — checklist

• Portable drive with enough free space (connect it to your computer and confirm free space).

• A good USB cable and a stable internet connection.

• A computer (Windows or macOS) you can download files to.

• Know your Google account credentials.

• Optional but recommended: external drive formatted as exFAT for both Windows & Mac compatibility (or NTFS for Windows-only, APFS/HFS+ for Mac-only).

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Method 1 — Best for full backup : Use Google Takeout (recommended)

Use this when you want all your photos and videos in one go, with original filenames and metadata.

Steps

1. Open Google Takeout: go to Google Takeout (search for “Google Takeout” or visit takeout.google.com) and sign into the same Google account you use for Photos.

2. Click "Deselect all" (we only want Google Photos).

3. Scroll down and check Google Photos . You can click the arrow to select specific albums or export everything.

4. Click Next step . Choose:

   • Delivery method — "Send download link via email" or "Add to Drive/Dropbox/OneDrive/Box".

   • File type & size — zip (common) and an archive size. Google will split larger exports into parts if needed.

5. Click Create export . Google will prepare your archive(s). This can take time (depending on library size). Google will email you when ready.

6. When you get the email, download the archive file(s) to your computer. If you used "Add to Drive," go to Drive and download the exported archives.

7. Extract the zip/tar archives to a local folder:

   • Windows: Right-click → Extract All…

   • macOS: Double-click the .zip to extract automatically.

   • Linux: unzip filename.zip or use your archive manager.

8. Connect your portable drive and copy (drag-and-drop or use copy/paste) the extracted folder(s) to it. Keep the folder structure Google Takeout produced (albums/date folders) to stay organized.

Notes & tips

• If archives are split, download all parts before extracting.

• If you chose "Add to Drive," you can use Drive for desktop to sync the exported archives to your PC, then copy them to the portable drive.

• Keep an extra copy (cloud + external) if these photos are important.

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Method 2 — Smaller backups / single albums (quick & manual)

Good if you only need certain albums or a small number of photos.

Steps

1. Go to photos.google.com and sign in.

2. Open Albums (or select photos in the Library).

3. Open an album → click the three-dot menu → choose Download all . Google will create a zip of that album.

4. Download, extract, and copy the folder to your portable drive (same as extraction/copy steps above).

When to use this: quick backups, sharing one album, or if your whole library is huge.

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Method 3 — From your phone (Android / iPhone)

Use this if photos are already on your phone and you prefer transferring from device to drive.

Android

1. Open Google Photos app → select photos (long-press first, then tap others).

2. Tap the three-dot menu → Download (this saves selected items to your phone's local storage).

3. Connect phone to PC (USB) and set it to File transfer (MTP) . Copy the downloaded photos folder to your portable drive.

iPhone

1. In Google Photos, select photos → Save to device . (Saved items go to iPhone Photos app.)

2. Connect iPhone to Mac/PC and transfer using Finder (macOS) or Windows Photos import, or use AirDrop to a Mac and then copy to external drive.

Note: For very large libraries, prefer Google Takeout — it's designed for bulk exports.

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Verification — make sure nothing is missing

After copying to the portable drive:

• Check file count and total size:

  • Windows Explorer / Get Info (Mac) gives file count & size.

  • Command examples (optional):

    • macOS/Linux:find /Volumes/YourDrive/GooglePhotosBackup -type f | wc -l

    • Windows PowerShell:(Get-ChildItem -Recurse "E:\GooglePhotosBackup" | Measure-Object).Count

• Spot-check a few photos and videos: open them from the drive and confirm they play/open and metadata (date) looks right.

• For extra safety, create checksums (optional advanced):

  • macOS/Linux:shasum -a 256 file.jpg

  • Windows:certutil -hashfile file.jpg SHA256

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Making future backups easier (incremental)

If you want to add new photos over time without repeating full Takeout:

• Use FreeFileSync (GUI) or rsync (macOS/Linux) or robocopy (Windows) to mirror only new/changed files from your download folder to the external drive. Example rsynccommands:

  
  
  rsync -av --progress /path/to/local/GooglePhotos/ /Volumes/ExternalDrive/GooglePhotosBackup/
  

• Or export new albums periodically via Takeout or from Google Photos web for selected albums.

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Encryption & security (optional)

If photos are sensitive, encrypt the drive or create an encrypted container:

• Windows: Use BitLocker (right-click drive → Turn on BitLocker).

• macOS: Use Disk Utility to create an APFS (Encrypted) volume or encrypt the drive.

• Cross-platform: Use VeraCrypt to create an encrypted container that both Windows and macOS can mount (install VeraCrypt on each OS).

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Common problems & fixes

• Not enough space on drive: buy a larger drive or export smaller chunks (choose smaller archive size in Takeout).

• Download interrupted: re-start the download; if Takeout link expires, re-create the export.

• Many small zip parts: download all parts before extracting; use a wired connection for reliability.

• File names changed: Takeout usually preserves original names; if you see changes, check inside extracted folders — originals are usually preserved.

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Quick summary (TL;DR)

1. For a full backup use Google Takeout → create export → download archives → extract → copy to portable drive.

2. For single albums use Google Photos web → Album → Download all → copy to drive.

3. From phones , save to device then transfer to your computer and copy to the drive.

4. Verify counts & sample files, and consider encryption + a second backup for safety.