How to Switch from Google Photos to PhotoPrism

Why Switch from Google Photos to PhotoPrism?

Google Photos offers convenience, but at the cost of your privacy. Google uses your photos to train AI models, and your entire visual history sits on corporate servers subject to data requests, policy changes, and potential breaches. You don’t truly own your photo library - you’re renting access to it.

PhotoPrism is a self-hosted, open-source photo management solution that gives you complete control. Your photos stay on your own hardware, processed by your own server, with no corporate surveillance. It offers many features similar to Google Photos - face recognition, location mapping, intelligent search - but running entirely under your control.

Before You Begin

This migration requires more technical effort than switching to a cloud service like Ente. You’ll need:

• Server Hardware: A Raspberry Pi 4 (4GB+ RAM), a NAS device with Docker support, or a Linux server
• Storage: SSD recommended for the database, HDD acceptable for photo storage. Plan for at least 2x your current Google Photos library size
• Time: Initial setup takes a few hours; indexing a large library can take days
• Basic Linux/Docker Knowledge: Comfort with command line and configuration files

If self-hosting feels too complex, consider Ente for a privacy-focused cloud alternative that’s easier to set up.

Step-by-Step Migration

The migration involves setting up PhotoPrism, exporting from Google, and importing to your new server.

(Step 1: Set Up Your PhotoPrism Server) (Detailed content provided in YAML frontmatter)

A typical docker-compose.yml configuration:

version: '3.5'
services:
  photoprism:
    image: photoprism/photoprism:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "2342:2342"
    environment:
      PHOTOPRISM_ADMIN_PASSWORD: "your-secure-password"
      PHOTOPRISM_ORIGINALS_LIMIT: 5000
      PHOTOPRISM_HTTP_COMPRESSION: "gzip"
    volumes:
      - "~/Pictures:/photoprism/originals"
      - "~/photoprism-storage:/photoprism/storage"

(Step 2: Export Your Data from Google Photos) (Detailed content provided in YAML frontmatter)

Google Takeout exports can be very large - a decade of photos might be 100GB or more. Be prepared for multiple download sessions.

(Step 3: Download and Extract Your Archive) (Detailed content provided in YAML frontmatter)

(Step 4: Prepare Photos for PhotoPrism Import) (Detailed content provided in YAML frontmatter)

(Step 5: Import Photos into PhotoPrism) (Detailed content provided in YAML frontmatter)

Importing Your Data

The critical step is getting Google Takeout metadata properly associated with your photos. Google stores dates, locations, and descriptions in separate .json files rather than in the image EXIF data.

PhotoPrism attempts to read these sidecar files, but for best results:

1. Use google-photos-takeout-helper to merge metadata back into image EXIF
2. This ensures dates and GPS coordinates are preserved even if sidecar parsing fails
3. After merging, copy files to PhotoPrism’s originals folder
4. Run the indexer to process all photos

Tips for a Smooth Transition

• Start Small: Test with a few hundred photos before committing to a full library migration
• Keep Google Photos Active: Don’t delete your Google Photos until you’ve verified everything migrated correctly
• Plan for Storage Growth: Set up automatic backups (3-2-1 rule: 3 copies, 2 different media, 1 offsite)
• Enable Facial Recognition: PhotoPrism’s face recognition works locally - no data sent to the cloud
• Set Up Remote Access: Configure a reverse proxy with HTTPS, or use Tailscale for secure remote access

What You Might Miss (And Alternatives)

• Google’s AI Search: PhotoPrism has local AI classification, but it’s not as sophisticated as Google’s. You can search for “dog” or “beach” but results may be less accurate.

  • Alternative: Use PhotoPrism’s labels feature and manually tag important photos

• Seamless Mobile Backup: Google Photos’ automatic background upload is hard to match.

  • Alternative: Use PhotoSync (iOS/Android) or Syncthing to automatically upload new photos to your server

• Easy Sharing: Google Photos sharing is effortless. PhotoPrism sharing requires recipients to access your server.

  • Alternative: Set up shared albums with family members who have PhotoPrism accounts, or generate share links for specific albums

• Free Unlimited Storage: Google’s free tier is gone, but you were paying with your data.

  • Alternative: Storage costs money, but it’s yours forever. A 4TB drive costs less than a year of cloud storage.

Conclusion

Migrating from Google Photos to PhotoPrism requires more effort than switching to another cloud service, but the rewards are substantial: complete privacy, true ownership, and freedom from corporate surveillance. Your photos document your life’s most intimate moments - they deserve to be under your control.

PhotoPrism continues to improve with active development and a growing community. Once set up, it provides a Google Photos-like experience without the privacy trade-offs. Your future self will thank you for taking the time to reclaim ownership of your memories.