Google Photos Migration
Migrating away from Google Photos is a one-way-feeling decision, so this is the exact sequence to do it without losing anything or paying for two storage plans longer than you have to.
Before You Start
Don't cancel Google One yet. The whole point of this sequence is to verify your new local library is complete and correct before you give up the old one. Google keeps your photos as long as you're not actively deleting them, so there's no rush.
Step 1: Export With Google Takeout
Go to takeout.google.com, deselect everything except Google Photos, and request an export. For a large library, Google splits it into multiple zip files — download all of them. This can take a while for tens of thousands of photos; Google emails you when it's ready.
Step 2: Extract Everything to One Folder
Unzip each archive into the same parent folder, so all the year/album subfolders and their JSON sidecar files end up together in one place. Don't reorganize anything yet — the importer needs each photo next to its own JSON file.
Step 3: Import Into Pluto Photos
Install Pluto Photos, open Cloud Import, choose the Google Takeout tab, and point it at that extracted folder. The importer recursively finds every photo and video and pulls the real date and description from each JSON sidecar rather than the file's own (often wrong) timestamp.
Step 4: Verify the Library
Spot-check the photo count against what Google Photos reported, and sort by date to confirm older photos actually show older dates rather than clustering around your export day. Run the duplicate finder — Takeout exports frequently contain the same photo twice if it was ever in more than one shared album.
Step 5: Let Face Detection and Smart Albums Catch Up
Run face detection across the imported library so people are grouped and nameable, and set up any smart albums you relied on Google Photos' automatic albums for.
Step 6: Cancel Google One (Once You're Confident)
Once you've confirmed the local library is complete, you can downgrade or cancel Google One. There's no requirement to do this immediately — plenty of people run both for a while before fully committing.
Questions
How long does a Takeout export take?
It depends on library size — Google processes the request and emails a download link, which can take anywhere from minutes to over a day for a very large library.
Will shared albums or people I shared photos with be affected?
Migrating your own copy to Pluto Photos doesn't change anything on Google's side unless you separately delete photos from Google Photos.
What happens to comments or likes on shared photos?
Takeout doesn't export social metadata like comments — only the photo, video, and Google's own metadata (date, location, description) about it.
Can I do a partial migration first to test it out?
Yes — you can request a Takeout export of a single album first to try the import process before committing to your whole library.
Download Pluto Photos free for Windows, macOS or Linux, or see pricing.