I am trying to consolidate all of my photos onto icloud. Many online resources insist that there is a simple direct transfer option via Google Takeout. However! When I go to Google Takeout, icloud is not in the list of direct transfer options.
I have seen some manual options out there but I’m over my Google one storage space and need my Gmail open again asap lol. Any idea if this is actually possible?
iPhone 16, iOS 18
OH MAN I FOUND HOW TO DO IT!
I was seeing the same thing you were and didn’t see any alternatives, but at the same time apple and google seem to think it’s not a problem 💀
So I was googling progressively weirder phrases about transferring between Google Photos and icloud. Idk what exactly I wrote but this time the AI mentioned an unintentionally “secret link” that will show icloud as the only option for transferring from Google. AI was quoting from a Reddit post and I tried clicking basically every link in the comments looking for it, and then suddenly I found it 🤩
The link takes you to an Apple page that is about transferring from Google and it provides a link embedded in the text. When you click it, you sign in to your Apple and Google accounts etc and then the screen with drop downs of who your transferring to contains only icloud and nothing else! I’m losing my mind why would this link be so buried like this 😩 I can’t even find the original Reddit post in my history on my Reddit app or in safari so honestly maybe it’s haunted?
anyway yeah my photos are transferring over, got a confirmation email and everything.
Here’s the impossible to find Apple Support page. Transfer a copy of your photos and videos to iCloud Photos - Apple Support Click the extremely normal looking Google Takeout link:
Below is the stupidly hard to find link. For TL;DR —> click the link below. It’s exactly like the other Google Takeout page except it lists only icloud as an available destination to transfer to. It’s a separate Google takeout just for Apple icloud: https://takeout.google.com/takeout/transfer/custom/photos
[Edited by Moderator]
OH MAN I FOUND HOW TO DO IT!
I was seeing the same thing you were and didn’t see any alternatives, but at the same time apple and google seem to think it’s not a problem 💀
So I was googling progressively weirder phrases about transferring between Google Photos and icloud. Idk what exactly I wrote but this time the AI mentioned an unintentionally “secret link” that will show icloud as the only option for transferring from Google. AI was quoting from a Reddit post and I tried clicking basically every link in the comments looking for it, and then suddenly I found it 🤩
The link takes you to an Apple page that is about transferring from Google and it provides a link embedded in the text. When you click it, you sign in to your Apple and Google accounts etc and then the screen with drop downs of who your transferring to contains only icloud and nothing else! I’m losing my mind why would this link be so buried like this 😩 I can’t even find the original Reddit post in my history on my Reddit app or in safari so honestly maybe it’s haunted?
anyway yeah my photos are transferring over, got a confirmation email and everything.
Here’s the impossible to find Apple Support page. Transfer a copy of your photos and videos to iCloud Photos - Apple Support Click the extremely normal looking Google Takeout link:
Below is the stupidly hard to find link. For TL;DR —> click the link below. It’s exactly like the other Google Takeout page except it lists only icloud as an available destination to transfer to. It’s a separate Google takeout just for Apple icloud: https://takeout.google.com/takeout/transfer/custom/photos
[Edited by Moderator]
iCloud is not one of the options Google Takeout offers. See: https://takeout.google.com/
Don't know why.
The only way I know of is to export them to a local drive and then add them to your iCloud Photos.
Apple offers the option to transfer iCloud Photos directly to Google Photos (the opposite direction from what you're looking for) but Google doesn't offer a similar option. See: Transfer a copy of your iCloud Photos collection to another service - Apple Support
why cant i transfer google photos to icloud directly via google takeout
