Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google is adding a new “Incremental Takeout for Photos” feature that lets users schedule recurring exports of their Google Photos library.
- After the initial full export, future exports will only include photos and videos that were added, edited, or changed since the last successful backup.
- Previously, exporting Google Photos through Takeout required downloading an entire library every time, which could take a long time and consume a large amount of storage space.
Google is rolling out a useful upgrade for people who regularly back up their Google Photos libraries through Takeout. The company has announced a new “Incremental Takeout for Photos” feature that allows users to schedule recurring exports that include only newly added or changed content, instead of downloading their entire library every time.
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The update was announced on Google’s support forums, where the company explained that the first scheduled export will still include a full copy of a user’s selected photos and albums. However, future exports will only include photos and videos uploaded, backed up, created, or edited since the last successful export.
That’s a major quality-of-life improvement for anyone who keeps local backups of their Google Photos library.
Until now, exporting from Google Photos through Google Takeout required users to create a full export of their library every time. Depending on the size of the collection, downloads could take a long time to process, consume huge amounts of storage space, and be cumbersome to manage repeatedly. Incremental exports make for a more practical backup solution.
To use the feature, Google says users must select Google Photos as the only product in their Takeout export. During setup, users can then choose a recurring export schedule. Google’s support page notes that scheduled exports automatically create an archive of your selected data every two months for one year. It also explains that if you’re enrolled in the Advanced Protection Program, scheduled exports won’t be available.
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