I am sharing this information for those that use Google Photos like I did and have a gazillion photos stored there with no easy way to get them off in bulk.

I generally use software called SyncBack Free which as it's name suggests is a free synchronisation software that can automatically backup, synchronise or mirror files and folders on your system including to and from my NAS network, Dropbox and Google Drive folders etc. It is brilliant for a free product, has never let me down and has  safeguards such as being able to run virtual backups before you commit to them etc.

So I had about 38,000 photos stored in Google Photos with no easy way to get them onto my local hard drives to reclaim my Google allocated space for emails, photos and Google Drive documents. I was all set to have to set the photos up into albums and then download them laboriously using the Google recommended method.

That was until I recently I got an publicity email from the Company who owns Syncback Free, 2BrightSparks.com. This stated that due to changes in the way Google Photos works their paid software, Syncback Pro, will no longer work to bulk download Google Photos after 31 March 2025. At this I pricked up my ears and upon investigating their software found that they allow a fully functional 30 day trial version for their Pro product. Needless to say I fired it up, inserted my Google info into the software and within a few minutes I was downloading (slowly) every single Google Photo and video onto my hard drive (which I rapidly backed up elsewhere to my NAS). It took about 24 hours solid to get all my 38,000 photos downloaded out of Google Photos but the download itself went flawlessly.

So if you have all your photos on Google Photos like I did (blindly believing what Google originally told you and later walked back - that you would have unlimited photo storage for life) here is a way to get all your photos off whilst you still have time to trial the free and unlimited product.

Cheers
Reg