Tired of Google Photos’ disappearing free storage and feeling like your memories are held hostage? You’re not alone. Google Photos is convenient, but those subscription fees creep up, and your precious pictures are living ontheirservers, not yours.
Imagine a world where you own your photo storage, free from monthly bills and prying eyes. Enter Immich: your open-source escape route from the Google Photos matrix. It’s like Google Photos, but powered byyou.
Ready to reclaim your digital memories? This guide walks you through migrating your photos from Google Photos to Immich, putting you back in control of your visual legacy. Get ready to liberate your photos!
Why Move from Google Photos to Immich
Tired of your memories living on Google’s terms? Immich puts you back in the driver’s seat. Imagine a personal photo sanctuary, hosted on your own hardware, free from prying eyes and restrictive limits. No more storage anxieties, no more surrendering to compression algorithms, and no more policy shifts dictated by tech giants. With Immich, you’re the curator of your visual history, wielding complete control. Unleash powerful features like intelligent search, mesmerizing map views, and uncanny face detection – all within your private domain.
Why You Shouldn’t Upload Google Photos Directly to Immich
Thinking of ditching Google Photos for Immich? Great choice! Migrating your memories seems straightforward: grab your photos from Google and drop them into Immich. But here’s the catch: Google hides the real treasure – your photos’ metadata. We’re talking timestamps that tell a story, pinpoint GPS locations, camera secrets, album connections, and even those handy face tags. Import your photos raw, and poof! All that organizational magic disappears, leaving you with a chaotic digital shoebox.
Imagine a digital gremlin, gleefully multiplying your photos into a chaotic mess. Uploading without the right tools can unleash this gremlin, creating endless duplicates from shared albums or exported files.
Things to do Before Migration
Migrating your digital memories? Sweet! Before diving in, a little prep goes a long way. Think of it like this: Got your parachute? (That’s your Google Takeout backup – crucial!). Is your Immich server ready for the digital deluge? (Enough space, muscle, and brains are key). Don’t overwhelm it all at once – baby steps with smaller file batches will keep things smooth. Finally, pick a quiet time – think graveyard shift for your server – to avoid a digital traffic jam.
Moving Your Photos From Google Photos to Immich
Drowning in photos? ImmichGo is your rescue raft!This commandline tool isn’t just another importer; it’s a metadatahoarding, speeddemon designed formassivephoto migrations. Whether you’re liberating your memories from Google Photos Takeout, escaping the iCloud walled garden, or consolidating scattered local folders, ImmichGo is your turbocharged solution. Prepare for a seamless, lightningfast transfer that keeps your precious data intact.
Tired of photo import headaches? This method nails it: pristine JSON metadata, untouched EXIF data, and zero duplicate photos. Plus, it effortlessly juggles RAW and JPEG combos – a lifesaver for multi-format shooters.
Imagine sifting through a digital mountain of over 100,000 photos without your computer turning into a glacial speed slideshow. This method makes it a breeze, even with colossal libraries. The kicker? No Node.js or Docker required. Plus, it’s a cross-platform champion, playing nice with Windows, macOS, and Linux. So, dive in, no matter your operating system.
Unleash Immich-Go! Your first step: venture to the Immich-Go GitHub releases page. Snag the binary crafted for your system. I grabbed “immich-go_Windows_x86_64.zip” on my Windows rig – your hunt might yield a different treasure.
Unzip the downloaded package. Inside, you’ll find “immich-go.exe” your instant portal. No installation needed. Just fire it up directly from your command line. Consider it a digital key, ready to unlock with a simple command.
Unlocking ImmichGo requires a secret key, your personal API key. Think of it as the handshake between ImmichGo and your Immich server. Grab yours from the Immich web dashboard, nestled withinAccount Settings, and prepare for seamless syncing.
SelectAPI Keysand then click theNew API Keybutton to create a new key.
Give it anamefor reference, e.g., “Immich-Go”, selectPermissions, and then click theCreatebutton.
Now,copythe generated key to the clipboard.
Ready to rescue your precious photos from the Google cloud? First, fire up your web browser and head straight to Google Takeout – your personal data escape hatch. Once there, sign in with the Google account overflowing with memories. Now, before you unleash a torrent of unwanted data, hit that “Deselect all” button. Finally, scroll down until you spot “Google Photos” and give that little box a satisfying click. You’re one step closer to photo freedom!
Scroll to the bottom and clickNext stepto proceed with the migration.
Choose yourexport preferences, such as delivery method, frequency, file type, and size. Then, click theCreate exportbutton.
“Hold tight! Google’s compiling your memories. Depending on your treasure trove of photos and videos, this could be a quick coffee break or a longer journey. We’ll let you know when your memories are ready for rediscovery!”
You’ll receive an email notification once the export is ready. Open the email from Google Takeout.
Click theDownloadbutton to download your files.
Save all the ZIP files to a folder on your computer.Extractall of them into one folder.
After this, open CMD, navigate to the folder containing immich-go, and run the following command.
“` immich
–
go.exe upload from
–
–
photos
–
-path
“C:\path\to\Takeout\Google Photos”
—
api
–
key YOURAPIKEY
—
server
–
url http:
//
your
–
immich
–
server:
2283
“`
Replace the path, API key, and server URL with your actual data.
Finally,reviewyour uploaded data by opening the Immich web dashboard.
Dive into your freshly imported albums: do a quick spot check to ensure your memories are accurate. Verify dates and locations are correct, hunt down and eliminate any rogue duplicates, and confirm that your RAW + JPEG pairs are united as one.
Once confirmed, your migration is complete!
Wrapping Up
Tired of Google Photos? Reclaim your precious memories with Immich! Ditch the cloud, embrace true ownership. Export your Google Takeout, then let Immich-Go whisk your photos to their new home, metadata intact. Say goodbye to duplicates and hello to a perfectly organized library. Imagine: albums crafted your way, exploring memories on a vibrant map, and rediscovering faces, all without subscription fees or cloud compromises. Migrate to Immich and rediscover the joy of owning your digital past.
Besides Immich, you can also explore other Google Photos alternatives and choose the one that’s best suited for your needs.
Thanks for reading How to Move Your Photos From Google Photos to Immich
