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Google Photos is finally making backups less painful with a smarter export system

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Why This Matters

Google Photos' new incremental export feature significantly streamlines the backup process by allowing users to schedule recurring exports that only include new or modified photos and videos. This reduces the time, storage, and effort required for regular backups, making it a valuable upgrade for users who rely on local copies of their media library. The update enhances data management efficiency and encourages better backup habits in the tech ecosystem.

Key Takeaways

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.

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