Migration Guide Synology NAS macOS

Migrate Google Photos to Synology NAS — Without Breaking Your Timeline

Google Takeout exports strip real dates and buries GPS in JSON files. Uploading directly to Synology NAS causes thousands of photos to appear as "taken today". FolioSort completely restores your EXIF metadata locally on your Mac before your migration.

Google Photos ──── FolioSort ────→ 🖥️ Synology NAS

Download FolioSort Free Takeout Guide First →

Free to download — 100 files free No account, no sign-up Runs 100% on your Mac

FolioSort on macOS importing a Google Takeout folder — restoring dates and GPS and previewing the organized Year/Month folders before transfer to a Synology NAS

FolioSort restores every date and GPS tag and previews your clean Year/Month library on your Mac — before transferring it straight to your Synology over SMB.

Works with all Synology models

FolioSort connects to any Synology NAS via SMB. If your Synology is on your local network, FolioSort can see it.

DS Series

DiskStation

Home & SOHO NAS

RS Series

RackStation

Studio & office rackmount

FS Series

FlashStation

All-flash NAS for pros

DVA Series

DeepVideo

AI surveillance NAS

HD Series

HD Station

Entertainment NAS

Other

QNAP, WD, etc.

Any SMB/AFP share

The complete Synology migration workflow

Export & Extract Takeout

Request your export at takeout.google.com. Download all zip parts. Extract into a local folder — ~/Google-Takeout-Raw/ works well.

Fix Metadata with FolioSort

Open FolioSort, select Google Photos (Beta) in the sidebar, point it at your Takeout folder and click Scan. It merges the JSON sidecars into EXIF — correct dates and GPS are written directly into each image. Duplicates are resolved by content hash.

Connect Synology via Finder

In Finder, press ⌘K and enter smb://your-nas-ip-or-hostname. Authenticate with your Synology account. The share appears as a network volume in Finder and FolioSort.

Organize into Folders

In the same Google Photos (Beta) panel, set the destination to your mounted Synology share (e.g. \\NAS\Photos\), turn on Organise into date folders and pick a template like {YYYY}/{MM}/. The live preview tree shows the exact structure before anything moves.

Transfer with Verification

Choose Copy or Move, then click Process. FolioSort transfers directly over SMB with real-time speed display, automatic retry if the connection drops, and checksum verification of every file at the destination.

Enjoy in Synology Photos

Open Synology Photos on your NAS. Your library appears with correct dates in the timeline, GPS locations on the map, and zero duplicates. Done.

FolioSort is built for NAS transfers

Not every file manager handles network volumes well. FolioSort was designed for exactly this.

SMB & AFP Native Support

FolioSort detects mounted SMB and AFP network volumes automatically and shows them with a network badge. No configuration — just mount in Finder and FolioSort sees it.

Resilient Retry Logic

If the SMB connection drops mid-transfer (wake-from-sleep, network blip), FolioSort retries automatically with exponential backoff. Your multi-hour transfer doesn't fail at hour 3.

Checksum at Destination

After writing each file to the Synology, FolioSort reads it back and verifies the checksum matches. A corrupted file on the NAS is caught immediately — not discovered months later.

Real-Time Speed & ETA

See MB/s and estimated completion time throughout the transfer. Helps you plan around large overnight transfers to a Synology over gigabit ethernet.

More migration destinations

🏠 Google Photos → Immich

Running Immich on your Synology or a server? This guide covers the Immich-specific upload workflow after organizing with FolioSort.

💾 Google Photos → Any NAS

QNAP, Western Digital, TerraMaster — the NAS migration guide for any brand that supports SMB.

💻 Google Photos → Local Mac

Prefer keeping everything on your Mac or external drive? This guide covers the local-only workflow.

Frequently asked questions

Migrating Google Photos to a Synology NAS, answered.

How do I migrate Google Photos to a Synology NAS?

Export your photos with Google Takeout and extract the .zip files into one folder on your Mac. Open FolioSort, select Google Photos (Beta) in the sidebar, point it at the Takeout folder and click Scan to restore the real dates and GPS from the JSON sidecars. Mount your Synology share in Finder (⌘K → smb://your-nas-ip), set that share as the destination, toggle Organise into date folders, pick a template, choose Copy or Move and click Process.

Why do my Google Photos show today's date after uploading to Synology?

Takeout stores the real capture date in separate .json sidecar files, not in the photo's EXIF. When the zip is extracted every file is stamped with the extraction date, so Synology Photos shows them all as "taken today". FolioSort reads those sidecars and writes the correct DateTimeOriginal back into each file before transfer — so your Synology timeline is correct.

Is FolioSort free?

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

Does FolioSort upload my photos anywhere?

No. FolioSort runs 100% locally on your Mac. It only transfers files to your Synology over your own network — nothing is ever uploaded to any FolioSort server or third-party cloud.

Can I transfer straight to my Synology share?

Yes. Mount your Synology share in Finder with ⌘K and smb://your-nas-ip, then set the mounted share as FolioSort's destination. FolioSort writes directly to the NAS over SMB with real-time speed display and automatic retry if the connection drops.

Will FolioSort modify my original files?

No. FolioSort uses a copy-then-verify approach: it copies each file to the Synology destination, reads it back and verifies the checksum matches, and only removes the source if you explicitly choose Move. Your raw Takeout files stay untouched until you confirm the result.

Does this work on Windows too?

Yes — FolioSort runs on both macOS 14+ and Windows 10+, with the same Google Photos (Beta) import and SMB transfer. This guide is written for Mac, but every step applies on a Windows PC as well.