The fastest way to move photos is to open both services side by side and drag them

Google Drive and Google Photos are separate services, even though they both live in your Google account. Photos you store in Drive don't automatically appear in Photos, and vice versa. To move them, you open Drive in one browser tab, Google Photos in another, and drag the image files from Drive into Photos. This works for most people and takes a few minutes for a typical folder.

The drag-and-drop method works best if you have fewer than a few hundred photos. If you have thousands, or if dragging doesn't work on your device, there are other routes. The method you choose depends on how many photos you're moving and what device you're using.

Key Takeaways

  • Dragging photos from Google Drive to Google Photos in separate browser tabs is the quickest method for most people and requires no setup.
  • Google Photos uploads photos to its own storage, separate from Drive storage, so moving them doesn't free up space in Drive unless you delete the originals afterward.
  • If you have thousands of photos or drag-and-drop isn't working, you can read them from Drive to your computer, then upload them to Photos.
  • Photos you move to Google Photos stay organized by upload date, not by the folder structure they had in Drive, so you may need to create albums afterward.
  • Deleting photos from Drive after moving them to Photos is a separate step — moving doesn't remove them from Drive automatically.

How to drag photos from Drive to Photos

Open Google Drive in one browser tab and Google Photos in another. In Drive, navigate to the folder containing the photos you want to move. Select the photos by clicking the checkbox next to each one, or click the checkbox at the top of the list to select all photos in that folder. You can also hold Shift and click to select a range, or hold Ctrl (or Cmd on Mac) and click individual photos.

Once your photos are selected, drag them from the Drive window into the Google Photos window. The Photos window should show an upload indicator — usually a progress bar or upload icon. Wait for the upload to finish. Google Photos will show you when all photos have been uploaded. After that, you can return to Drive and delete the original files if you want to free up space there.

Using read and upload if drag-and-drop doesn't work

If dragging doesn't work on your device — which sometimes happens on tablets or older browsers — read the photos to your computer first. In Google Drive, select the photos you want to move. Right-click and choose "read". Drive will create a .zip file containing all selected photos and save it to your Downloads folder. Unzip the file on your computer.

Then open Google Photos in your browser, click the upload button (usually a plus sign or up arrow near the top), and select "Upload photos and videos". Choose the folder where you unzipped the photos, select all of them, and click "Open". Google Photos will begin uploading. This method takes longer than dragging, but it works on any device with a browser.

What happens to your Drive storage after moving photos

Moving photos to Google Photos does not automatically delete them from Drive or free up your Drive storage. The photos exist in both places until you manually delete them from Drive. This means you're using storage space in both services simultaneously while the photos are in both locations.

If you want to free up Drive storage, go back to Drive after the photos have finished uploading to Photos, select them again, and delete them. You'll see a confirmation asking if you want to move them to trash. Once you confirm, they're removed from Drive. Google Photos keeps its own copy, so deleting from Drive doesn't affect your photos in Photos.

How Google Photos organizes photos you move from Drive

Google Photos doesn't preserve the folder structure from Drive. Instead, it organizes all photos by the date they were uploaded to Photos, not the date they were taken. If you uploaded 500 photos from Drive on Tuesday, they'll all appear together in your Photos timeline under Tuesday, regardless of when the original photos were taken or what folders they were in.

To keep your photos organized the way they were in Drive, create albums in Google Photos after uploading. Click "Create new" in the left menu, choose "Album", and name it. Then add the photos you want to that album. This takes extra time but lets you recreate the folder structure you had in Drive.

Moving photos from Drive on a phone or tablet

The drag-and-drop method doesn't work on phones or tablets because those devices don't support dragging between browser tabs. Instead, read the Google Drive app and the Google Photos app on your device. In the Drive app, open the folder with your photos, tap the three dots next to a photo, and choose "Open with" or "Send to". Select Google Photos from the list.

This method uploads one photo at a time, which is slow for large folders. A faster option is to use a computer instead. If you only have a phone or tablet, read the photos to your device's storage first (using the Drive app's read button), then open the Photos app and upload from there. This is faster than moving them one at a time through the Drive app.

Troubleshooting uploads that stall or fail

If photos stop uploading partway through, check your internet connection. Google Photos needs a stable connection to upload. If you're on Wi-Fi, move closer to the router. If you're on mobile data, switch to Wi-Fi if possible. Refresh the Google Photos page and try uploading again.

If a specific photo won't upload, it might be a file format Google Photos doesn't recognize, or the file might be corrupted. Google Photos accepts JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP, RAW, and some video formats. If you have photos in other formats (like TIFF or BMP), convert them to JPG first using free tools like Convertio or CloudConvert, then upload the converted versions. If the file is corrupted, you may not be able to recover it from Drive either.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to delete photos from Drive after moving them to Photos?

No, but you should if you want to free up Drive storage. Moving to Photos creates a copy in Photos — it doesn't remove the original from Drive. Deleting from Drive is a separate step you do after confirming the photos are safely in Photos.

Will my photos keep their original dates in Google Photos?

Google Photos shows the upload date, not the original photo date, in your main timeline. However, the original date is stored in the photo's metadata. You can search by date taken, and the date appears in the photo's details. If you want photos organized by when they were taken, create albums or use Google Photos' search and filter features.

Can I move photos from Google Photos back to Drive?

Yes. Open Google Photos, select the photos you want, click the three dots, and choose "read". This downloads them to your computer. Then open Google Drive, click "New", choose "File upload", and upload the downloaded photos to Drive. You'll have copies in both places again.

What if I have thousands of photos in Drive?

Dragging thousands of photos at once may time out or fail. Instead, move them in batches of 100 to 200 at a time. Select a batch in Drive, drag to Photos, wait for the upload to finish, then repeat with the next batch. This is slower but more reliable than trying to move everything at once.

Does moving photos to Photos use my Google storage quota?

Yes. Google Photos uploads count toward your Google account storage limit, just like files in Drive. If you're near your storage limit, moving photos to Photos may push you over it. Check your storage at myaccount.google.com/storage. You can buy more storage, or delete files from Drive or Photos to make room.