Download Google Photos to Your Mac — Complete Local Export Guide

The step-by-step process

1

Request Takeout

Go to takeout.google.com. Deselect all services. Select only Google Photos. Choose .zip format, max 50 GB per file. Download when Google notifies you (can take 1–3 days).

2

Extract archives

Create a folder on your chosen drive: Google-Takeout-Raw/. Double-click each .zip to extract into that folder. For many parts, use unzip takeout-*.zip -d Google-Takeout-Raw/ in Terminal.

3

Fix metadata with FolioSort

Open FolioSort and select Google Photos (Beta) in the sidebar. Set the Takeout source to Google-Takeout-Raw/ and click Scan. FolioSort reads every .json sidecar file and writes the real date and GPS back into EXIF. Duplicates removed.

4

Choose your template

In the same panel, set your destination folder (e.g. ~/Pictures/Library/ or a folder on your external drive), turn on Organise into date folders and pick a template — {YYYY}/{MM} {Month}/ is popular. The live preview shows the exact structure before anything moves.

5

Run & verify

Choose Copy or Move, then click Process. FolioSort writes every file to the right year/month folder and verifies it with a checksum. A summary shows total files, errors (if any), and duplicates skipped.

6

Delete Takeout source (optional)

Once you've verified the organized library looks correct, you can delete the raw Takeout folder. The organized library is your master copy — ready to view in Finder, Lightroom, or any app.

Where to store your local library

The right drive choice depends on your library size and access patterns.

💿

Mac Internal SSD

Fastest access. Limited space. Best for active libraries under 500 GB.

🔌

External USB SSD

Fast, portable, affordable. 2 TB under €100. Great for most personal libraries.

💾

External HDD

Cheapest per GB. 8 TB under €150. Perfect for large archives. Slower, not portable.

🖥️

NAS Drive

Network-accessible from all devices at home. FolioSort can also write directly to a SMB NAS share.

☁️

iCloud Drive

Syncs across Mac, iPhone and iPad. FolioSort with Pro can organize directly into iCloud Drive.

📦

RAID Array

Redundant storage for large professional libraries. FolioSort works with any locally-mounted volume.

What you end up with

A Finder-browsable, EXIF-sorted, GPS-tagged photo library that no app or service controls.

Clean Folder Structure

2024/01 January/, 2024/02 February/ — every photo in the right month. Browsable in Finder without any app, viewable on any OS, importable into any photo manager.

Correct Dates — Always

EXIF DateTimeOriginal is set correctly in every file. Import into Lightroom, Apple Photos, or Capture One and the timeline is perfect — because the data lives in the file, not in Google's servers.

GPS in Every Tagged Photo

Every photo that had a location in Google Photos gets its GPS coordinates restored in EXIF. Works with Apple Photos Places, Lightroom's Map view, and any GPS-aware app.

Checksum Verified

Every file FolioSort creates in the destination is verified by checksum against the source. Any corruption is caught immediately — you never trust a photo archive you haven't verified.

FolioSort preview pane showing the resulting local photo library organized into Year, Month, Day and Camera folders on a Mac

Your finished library: a Finder-browsable Year/Month tree — no app or account required to open it.

Frequently asked questions

Downloading Google Photos to a Mac, answered.

How do I download my entire Google Photos library to my Mac?

Use Google Takeout to export your photos, extract the .zip files into one folder, then run FolioSort to restore the real dates and GPS from the JSON sidecars and organize everything into clean Year/Month folders on your Mac or external drive. The full walkthrough is in the steps above.

Why do my downloaded Google Photos all show today's date on my Mac?

Takeout stores the real capture date in separate .json sidecar files, not in the photo's EXIF. When macOS extracts the zip it stamps every file with the extraction date. FolioSort reads those sidecars and writes the correct DateTimeOriginal back into each file permanently — so Finder, Apple Photos and Lightroom all show the true timeline.

Is FolioSort free to download Google Photos to my Mac?

Yes. FolioSort is free to download and the free tier processes up to 100 files per operation, so you can test the entire workflow end to end. Pro (€14.99, one-time — no subscription) removes the limit for large libraries and adds duplicate detection.

Does FolioSort upload my photos anywhere?

No. FolioSort runs 100% locally on your Mac. Your photos and metadata never leave your computer — nothing is uploaded to any server or cloud. That's the whole point of a local library.

Can I save my library to an external drive instead of the internal SSD?

Yes. Set the destination to any locally-mounted volume — an external SSD, USB HDD, NAS share, or iCloud Drive. FolioSort writes directly to your chosen drive, so even a 2 TB library never has to touch your Mac's internal disk.

Will FolioSort modify or risk my original Takeout files?

No. FolioSort uses a copy-then-verify approach: it copies each file to the destination, verifies it with a checksum, and only removes the source if you explicitly choose Move. Your raw Takeout files stay untouched until you've confirmed the organized library is correct.

Does this work on Windows too?

Yes — FolioSort runs on both macOS 14+ and Windows 10+, with the same Takeout import and folder organization. This guide is written for Mac, but every step applies on a Windows PC as well.

What next? Keep going with your local library.

🏠 Add Immich on top

Run Immich on a home server or NAS and point it at your FolioSort-organized folder. Get a Google Photos-like UI over your perfectly organized local library.

🖥️ Move it to Synology

Use FolioSort's direct SMB transfer to move your Mac-organized library straight to a Synology NAS — network accessible from all your devices.

🌐 Back it up to S3

Archive your local library to Amazon S3 for €1–2/month. A local library + cloud backup = the safest photo storage setup possible.

Download Google Photos to Your Mac — Without Breaking Your Timeline