How to Move Google Photos to OneDrive

By Josep Mampel Marques, updated November 11, 2026

To move Google Photos to OneDrive, export your library with Google Takeout, fix the dates, then upload the folders with the OneDrive website or desktop app. There is no button that does it for you: Google's direct transfer is limited to personal accounts and to the destinations offered in its flow, and Takeout can deliver the archive to OneDrive but only as zip files with the metadata still in separate .json files. The order of steps matters: fix the files first, then upload.

Check the space first

Microsoft says the free plan includes 5 GB for one person, and that email attachments use that same cloud quota. Takeout exports are often larger than the library itself, because a photo in several albums is copied into each album folder (see duplicates and album folders). If your library is bigger than your plan, you cannot finish the upload, so look at your OneDrive plan before starting.

Route 1: Takeout, fix, upload

1. Export. In Google Takeout select only Google Photos, the zip type and a large archive size, and download every part. See how to download Google Photos with Takeout.
2. Fix the files. Open PhotoFixer, choose all the zip parts, pick the time zone and the layout ("By year and month" or "Keep Takeout albums"), and press Fix my photos. It runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded. JPEGs without EXIF get the date, location and description from the .json, MP4 and MOV videos get their creation date, every file gets its capture time as its file date, and copies of the same photo in several albums are not repeated. HEIC files are copied unchanged.
3. Unzip the result on your computer.
4. Upload. On the website, Microsoft says you sign in at onedrive.com, go to the destination folder, choose Upload, and can drag folders onto the site. In Chrome or Microsoft Edge there is also a Folder option on the Upload menu. On a Mac, Microsoft says to install the OneDrive desktop app to upload files and folders automatically. On Windows, move the files into OneDrive with File Explorer.

Route 2: let Takeout deliver to OneDrive

In the Takeout destination step, Google offers an emailed link or delivery to Google Drive, Dropbox, Box or OneDrive. Google's help says you choose a maximum archive size and that larger exports are split into several files. This route saves you downloading the archives to your computer first, but you still end up with zips full of photos and .json files. Nothing in Google's or Microsoft's help says OneDrive reads those sidecars, so assume the photos are still not fixed. You would still need to download the parts and run them through PhotoFixer, so use this route mainly when your connection or disk is the problem.

Route 3: Google's direct transfer

Google's transfer help says the service copies photos, videos and albums, and leaves your originals in Google Photos. It cannot be used from a child account, a work or school account, or an account with Advanced Protection. The destination list is shown inside the transfer flow, and Google's help page does not list the options, so open the flow to see whether your destination is there. Manual metadata edits (photo comments), Locked Folder content, trash and the video part of Motion Photos and Live Photos are not transferred, and a second transfer may create duplicates.

Size limits and the website versus the app

Photos and normal videos are far below both limits. The practical difference is that Microsoft recommends the desktop app for large or numerous files, which describes a photo library well.

Things to watch

• Keep the Takeout zips until you have checked a few photos from different years, a screenshot and a video in OneDrive.
• Do not delete from Google yet. Google says downloading does not remove anything from its servers, so there is no rush.
• Album copies. If you upload raw Takeout folders, a photo that was in three albums arrives three times.
• Missing items. See how to check nothing is missing after Takeout.