Google Photos migration guide
Move photos from Google Photos without flattening the timeline.
Make a copy you control, confirm the dates on a few real files, then bring your family archive into a private timeline.
Before you begin
Keep the originals, then make a copy.
Google Photos is often the largest copy of a family archive. Start by downloading a copy from Google using its current download or Takeout tools. If your library is large, create the export in smaller chunks so you can check it without losing your place.
Do not delete anything from Google Photos while you are moving. Treat the first import as a second home for the files, then check a handful of old, new, and edited photos before making any cleanup decisions.
The practical route
Move photos from Google Photos in four calm steps.
- 1. Request or download a copy of the photos you want from Google Photos. Keep the downloaded archive untouched as your backup.
- 2. Unzip one small batch into a clearly named folder, such as ‘Lila 2025’. Keep any sidecar metadata files with the download for now.
- 3. Open three photos from different years in your computer’s photo information panel and look for the original capture date, not only ‘date created’ or ‘date modified’.
- 4. Import that small folder into Our Pear Tree. Once the dates look right, repeat with the rest of the archive in manageable batches.
The date check
Do not let a transfer rewrite your history.
A Google download can contain original media files and separate metadata files. What matters for the timeline is whether the image file itself still carries a usable capture date. Check a few early photos, recent photos, and edited photos before assuming every batch will behave the same way.
Our Pear Tree reads an image’s embedded capture date when the file includes one, then places the photo on that day. If there is no usable capture date, the import labels the lower-confidence filename or file-date clue for review instead of treating it as a fact. You can correct the photo yourself before you rely on its place in the timeline.
A five-minute safety check
Before you import the whole archive.
- Keep the downloaded archive and your Google Photos library until you have checked the completed import.
- Test one photo from the first month of your child’s life and one much newer photo.
- Check an edited image separately, because edited copies can carry different file metadata.
- Avoid renaming files based on a folder date. The embedded capture date is the more useful signal.
When the sample looks right, bring in the rest. On the web you can drop a folder; on iPhone you can choose from the camera roll. See the full explanation of how date-preserving import works.
Questions
Moving from Google Photos, answered.
Do I have to move my entire Google Photos library?
No. Many families start only with the baby, pregnancy, or family folders they care about most. You can add another batch later without rebuilding the timeline from scratch.
Will Google Photos dates always come through?
Not always. A downloaded file may still carry its original capture date, but the way a photo was added, edited, or exported can affect what remains in the file. Test a small batch first rather than trusting a single successful photo.
What happens if a photo has no usable date?
We do not guess. It is visibly treated as needing a date, and you can set the right day yourself. That is safer than quietly putting an old memory on the wrong place in the story. See how date-preserving import works.
Sources and review
Use the current instructions from the service you are leaving.
We checked these public sources on 2 August 2026. Their menus, export options, and account rules can change, so use them as the final word before you move a large archive.
Bring the story over without starting it again.
Start free, keep the originals, and make sure the dates still mean what they meant.
Start freeFree to start · No credit card · Your photos stay yours