(2026) How to transfer Google photos mobile to PC or Laptop - Full Guide, by How To 1 Minute on YouTube. 3 min 29 s.
- Video length
- 3 min 29 s
- Time to do it
- 10 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 10
What you need
Steps
Open the Google Photos app on your phone and check you are signed in to the Google account that holds the pictures you want.
Tap and hold the first photo until a blue check mark appears, then tap the circle on each other photo you want to move.
Tap the three dot menu at the top right and choose Download. On an iPhone, tap the share icon and pick Save to Files instead.
Wait for the download to finish. On Android the files land in your Downloads folder, on iPhone they go to the Files app.
Plug the phone into your PC with the USB cable. On Android, swipe down the notification shade and set the USB option to File transfer or MTP.
On iPhone, tap Trust on the phone and open the phone in File Explorer under This PC, or use the Apple Devices app.
Open File Explorer, go to This PC, open your phone, then open the DCIM or Download folder and find the pictures.
Select the photos, press Ctrl and C to copy them, open a folder on your PC, then press Ctrl and V to paste them there.
As an alternative, open photos.google.com in your browser on the PC, select the photos, click the three dot menu and choose Download.
Unzip any file Google sends as a compressed folder, then check the pictures open correctly before you unplug the phone.
Tips and common mistakes
Large selections download as a ZIP file, so right click it and choose Extract All before you use the photos.
Photos you download keep the quality Google stored, which may be lower than the original if you chose Storage saver.
Use Google Takeout if you want your whole library at once instead of selecting albums one by one.
Keep the phone unlocked and the cable steady during the copy so the transfer does not stop halfway.
Questions
Does downloading photos from Google Photos delete them from my account?
No. Downloading only makes a copy on your device. The originals stay in your Google Photos library until you delete them yourself.
Can I transfer photos without a USB cable?
Yes. Open photos.google.com on the PC and download the pictures straight to the computer, or upload them to cloud storage and open it on the PC.
Why did I get a ZIP file instead of single photos?
Google Photos packs more than one photo into a ZIP file. Right click the file in File Explorer, choose Extract All and pick a folder to unpack it.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
