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How to Move Files From Google Drive to Google Photos in 2025: Transferring Images Made Easy

You can transfer photos from Google Drive to Google Photos without needing to do a manual transfer or use a third-party cloud management service. In this guide, we’ll show you how to upload your photos from Drive to Google Photos in a few steps.

Samuel OkoruwaSamuel ChapmanJasna Mishevska

Written by Samuel Okoruwa (Writer)

Reviewed by Samuel Chapman (Writer, Editor)

Facts checked by Jasna Mishevska (Lead Fact-Checking Editor)

Last Updated: 2024-01-18T12:00:00+00:00

All our content is written fully by humans; we do not publish AI writing. Learn more here.

How to Move Photos From Google Drive to Google Photos

If you want to move files from Google Drive to Google Photos so you can use the latter’s photo-specific management features, we’ll show you how to do this in a few steps. Thankfully, Google Photos and Google Drive are both Google products, so the transfer process is straightforward.

You don’t need a third-party cloud management tool to transfer photos between both services. Google takes care of it all with its smooth interface between Google Drive and Google Photos. If you’d still like to try a cloud management service, you can check out our guide on the best cloud-to-cloud management services.

Key Takeaways: Google Drive to Google Photos

In 2019, Google made it impossible for new photos and videos uploaded to Google Photos to be synced to Google Drive. This means that the cloud storage services are now independent of each other. While Google Drive accommodates more than one file type, Google Photos is specific to photos and videos, and a better option for managing all your photos.

Google Photos offers advanced photo management features which are unavailable on Google Drive, such as automatic album creation, automatic sharing, slideshows and facial recognition. Both Google Photos and Google Drive offer 15GB of free cloud storage space. If you’d like more space or are considering alternatives, read our best free cloud storage guide.

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How to Copy Photos From Google Drive to Google Photos

Copying pictures from Google Drive to Google Photos is straightforward. Follow these steps to move your files from Drive to Google Photos. To learn more about how Google Photos and Google Drive stack up against Dropbox and OneDrive, read our Dropbox vs OneDrive vs Google Drive review.

  1. Open Google Photos

    Visit photos.google.com and sign in to your account.

    drive photos sign in
  2. Click “Upload”

    Click on “upload” in the top-right corner of the screen.

    drive photos upload
  3. Open the Google Drive Photo Folders

    An upload dropdown menu will appear. Select “Google Drive” to open your photo folders in your Google Drive account.

    drive photos drive photo
  4. Select the Files You Want to Upload

    Locate the downloaded photos you want to move to Google Photos and click on them. You can search for files and filter them by type, date modified and owner. Once you’re done, click on “upload.” If you want, you can create a Google Photos folder for the uploaded photos.

    drive photos drive select

How to Delete Photos From Google Drive

Once you’ve moved photos from Google Drive to Google Photos, follow these steps to delete the duplicates in Google Drive.

  1. Sign In to Your Google Drive Account

    Visit drive.google.com and log in to your account.

    drive photos drive sign in
  2. Open the Folder Containing the Photos

    Go through your folders and click on the folder containing the photos you moved.

    drive photos drive open
  3. Delete the Photos

    Select the photos you want to delete, and click on the trashcan icon at the top of the screen to remove them.

    drive photos drive delete

Final Thoughts

As you can see, the process of transferring files from Google Drive to Google Photos is simple. Being able to transfer files directly from Google Drive to Google Photos gives you greater control over the transfer process and adds an extra layer of protection since you don’t have to rely on third-party services.

As a bonus, we compiled a complete guide on how to move images from Dropbox to Google Photos. If you need to organize your images in Google Photo, we have a complete guide on how to create Google Photos shared albums.

Was your transfer from Drive to Google Photos successful? Did you face any challenges? Let us know in the comment section below, and as always, thanks for reading.

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