How to Move Google Photos to Dropbox

By Josep Mampel Marques, updated November 11, 2026

To move Google Photos to Dropbox, export your library with Google Takeout, fix the photos so the dates are inside the files, and upload the folder with the Dropbox desktop app or website. Takeout can also deliver the archive straight to Dropbox, which spares you the download but gives you the same zips with the same loose .json files. Google's direct transfer is a separate tool for personal accounts and its destination list is shown inside the flow, so check it there rather than assuming Dropbox appears.

What you are actually moving

A Takeout is not a copy of what you see in Google Photos. Google says extra metadata such as comments is saved in a separate JSON file, and that your operating system may give photos a new file timestamp while the original stays in the embedded metadata. Photos without embedded dates, such as screenshots and WhatsApp images, show the export date almost everywhere. Detail in why Takeout photos have the wrong date.

Route 1: fix first, then upload

1. Export. In Google Takeout choose only Google Photos, zip and a large archive size. Download all parts.
2. Fix. Open PhotoFixer, select every zip part, pick the time zone and either "By year and month" or "Keep Takeout albums", then press Fix my photos. The work happens in your browser, nothing is uploaded. JPEGs without EXIF get the date, location and description, MP4 and MOV videos get their creation date, and every file gets its capture time as the file date. Album copies of the same photo are deduplicated, and HEIC is copied unchanged.
3. Unzip the result into a folder.
4. Upload. Dropbox's help says you can upload folders on dropbox.com or with the desktop app. For a large library the desktop app is the sensible choice: Dropbox itself recommends it over the website for very large files.

Route 2: Takeout delivers to Dropbox

In the destination step, choose Dropbox instead of an emailed link. Google's help says you pick a maximum archive size and larger exports are split, so you will get several zips. This is handy when your home connection is the bottleneck, and the zips arrive in your Dropbox ready to download on any computer. It does not fix any dates: you would download the parts later and process them as in Route 1. Remember the zips also use up your Dropbox space.

Dropbox limits that matter

Dropbox's upload-limits page does not state how much free storage an account gets, so check your plan before you start. A photo library that does not fit will stop syncing partway, which is annoying to untangle.

Route 3: Google's direct transfer

Google's help says the transfer copies photos, videos, albums and descriptions to a destination you authorize, and leaves your originals in Google Photos. It cannot be used with child accounts, work or school accounts, or accounts with Advanced Protection. Manual metadata edits, Locked Folder content, trash and the video part of Motion Photos and Live Photos are not transferred, and a second run may create duplicates. The help page does not list the destinations, so confirm that Dropbox is offered in the flow before planning around it.

Checklist before you delete anything in Google

• Open a few photos from different years in Dropbox and check the dates.
• Look for a screenshot and a video, the types most likely to be wrong.
• Make sure you used every zip part: a photo and its .json can be in different parts (multiple zip files explained).
• Google says downloading does not delete anything from its servers, so keep the originals until you are sure. A fuller method is in checking nothing is missing.