Move Google Photos to iCloud: The Direct Transfer, Its Limits and the Manual Route
Google and Apple run a direct transfer from Google Photos to iCloud Photos, with no download needed. Here is what has to be set up first, what does not make it across, where the files end up, and when the slower manual route through a Mac is the better choice.
You do not need to download anything to move Google Photos into iCloud. Google Takeout has a destination called "Apple - iCloud Photos" that copies your library straight across, server to server, and Apple says it takes from several hours to a few days. Your Google library is not deleted. The catches are storage, a few file types that do not make the trip, and Advanced Data Protection, which has to be off.
Before you start
Apple's requirements, from its support page on the transfer:
- iCloud Photos turned on for your Apple Account.
- iCloud Drive turned on, because files Photos cannot take are sent there.
- Enough iCloud storage for the whole library. The free tier is 5 GB.
- Advanced Data Protection turned off. Apple says imports to iCloud are not possible while it is on.
- Not a child account or a Managed Apple Account.
To see how much you need, check how much Google Photos uses on Google's storage page. If you need to buy more iCloud storage for the move, see iCloud storage full for what the space is going to and how to keep it under control afterwards.
What makes it across and what does not
| Item | Where it ends up |
|---|---|
| JPEG, HEIC, PNG, GIF, TIFF, BMP photos | iCloud Photos |
| Most MP4 and MOV videos | iCloud Photos |
| RAW files and other photo or video types Photos cannot take | iCloud Drive, in a folder called "Import from Google" with the date |
| Motion Photos, Live Photos, Memories | Not transferred |
| File name, description, file type, location | Transferred with each file |
Source: Apple Support, checked October 2026.
Three things in that table matter for people who shoot with more than a phone:
- Motion Photos. Apple lists them as not transferred. If you used a Pixel or Galaxy with motion photos on, check a few afterwards to see what arrived.
- RAW files from a camera go to iCloud Drive, not Photos. They are not lost, but they will not appear in your library until you import them into Photos yourself.
- Resolution. Apple says files transfer "in the same resolution that's made available by Google for export". If you backed up in Storage saver, iCloud gets the compressed copies, not originals. The transfer cannot recover quality Google never kept.
Step by step
- On the Apple device or Mac you will use, confirm iCloud Photos and iCloud Drive are on and that you have the storage.
- Open Google Takeout's transfer page for photos, takeout.google.com/takeout/transfer/custom/photos. Apple's support page links to the same place. Some people report that the ordinary Takeout page does not show iCloud as a destination, and this link does.
- Choose what to send. Then choose Apple - iCloud Photos as the destination and sign in with your Apple Account.
- Tap Allow to let Google add photos and videos to iCloud.
- Wait for the emails. Apple emails you when the transfer starts and when it finishes. You can check status or cancel on Apple's Data and Privacy page.
Do not turn off iCloud Photos while the transfer runs. Apple says that stops it, and only what had already arrived will appear.
When it finishes
Everything transferred appears in the Photos app in an album called Import from Google with the transfer date. If items seem to be missing, look in iCloud Drive for a folder with the same name: that is where the RAW files and anything else Photos could not accept went.
If you hit a storage error partway through, Apple's advice is to add storage and request the transfer again. It says a repeat request does not add duplicates of files already transferred.
Watch your Mac's disk
iCloud Photos syncs to every device signed in with it. If a Mac has Photos set to download originals, a large import can fill its drive. Set Photos on that Mac to optimise storage before the transfer, or make sure the disk has room for the whole library.
Check that it all arrived
- Note the item count in Google Photos before you start, or count the files in a Takeout download if you have one.
- Compare with the number of items in the Import from Google album, plus the files in the iCloud Drive folder.
- Open a sample from your oldest and newest years, plus some videos, and check dates and locations.
Expect the numbers to differ slightly because Motion Photos, Memories and duplicates are handled differently. A large gap needs a closer look before you delete anything from Google.
If you shoot with cameras as well as a phone
A Google Photos library built from camera uploads behaves differently from one built by a phone:
- Drone and action camera clips are usually MP4 and should land in iCloud Photos. Large 4K clips use iCloud space fast, so check the totals before you start.
- 360 footage uploaded to Google as exported, flat equirectangular files will transfer as ordinary images and videos. The original
.insvand.inspfiles were never in Google Photos, so keep those on a drive. See Insta360 file types. - Camera RAW files go to iCloud Drive, as above. If you want them in Photos, import them from iCloud Drive yourself afterwards.
The manual route, and when it is better
The direct transfer is the easy option. Downloading with Takeout and importing yourself takes longer but gives you more control:
- You want a local copy too. A Takeout download is a backup Apple and Google cannot switch off. Our guide to Takeout split into many zip files covers getting all of it.
- Your dates are a mess. If you edited dates in Google Photos, those edits live in Takeout's JSON files. You can write them back into the files first: see fixing Google Takeout photo dates.
- You use Advanced Data Protection and do not want to turn it off.
- You want RAW files in Photos rather than in iCloud Drive.
With a date-fixed folder on a Mac, open Photos and choose File, then Import, and select the folder. Photos uploads the result to iCloud as normal.
After the move
Leave Google Photos alone until you have checked. Then decide whether to keep both, which costs storage on both sides, or clear Google. If clearing Google is the goal because Google's storage is full, see Google storage full first, since Photos is not always the biggest user.
And whatever cloud you settle on, keep one copy on a drive you own. Our guide to backing up iPhone photos to an external drive covers that side.