Backup Photos from Google Photos: A 2026 Guide

备份 Google 相册：2026 年指南

Google Photos is convenient until you need a copy that lives outside Google. Maybe you are cleaning up an old account, preparing to leave Google Photos, protecting family photos from account trouble, or just trying to make sure one mistaken delete does not wipe out years of memories. This guide walks through the workflow end to end: Google Takeout for the export, a local staging drive for the download, and a real backup target for long-term protection. Google 相册非常方便，但当你需要一份存放在 Google 之外的副本时，问题就来了。也许你正在清理旧账户、准备弃用 Google 相册、为了防止账户异常而保护家庭照片，或者只是想确保一次误删不会抹去多年的回忆。本指南将带你完成整个工作流程：使用 Google Takeout 进行导出，使用本地暂存驱动器进行下载，并建立一个真正的备份目标以实现长期保护。

Why Is Google Photos Backup Not a Real Backup?

为什么 Google 相册的“备份”不是真正的备份？

Google Photos “Backup” feature uploads photos and videos into Google’s cloud, but it does not create an independent, restorable copy outside Google. In a 2022 Backblaze survey of 2,068 U.S. adults, 54% reported data loss and only 10% backed up daily (Backblaze, “The 2022 Backup Survey,” retrieved May 16, 2026). A real backup follows the 3-2-1 idea: separate copies, separate storage, and recoverable history in case the account, sync state, or original files change. Google 相册的“备份”功能将照片和视频上传到 Google 云端，但它并没有在 Google 之外创建一份独立的、可恢复的副本。在 Backblaze 2022 年对 2,068 名美国成年人进行的调查中，54% 的受访者表示曾遭遇数据丢失，只有 10% 的人每天进行备份（Backblaze，《2022 年备份调查》，检索于 2026 年 5 月 16 日）。真正的备份遵循 3-2-1 原则：拥有多个副本、存放在不同的存储介质上，并保留可恢复的历史记录，以防账户、同步状态或原始文件发生变动。

In Google Photos, “Backup” means your phone uploads photos to Google’s cloud. That is useful sync. It does not give you an independent copy outside Google, and it does not protect you if your Google Account gets banned, you accidentally delete photos, or you want to leave Google Photos later. Accidental deletion is the single biggest cause of data loss in a 2025 Handy Recovery survey of 1,000 U.S. adults (Handy Recovery, “The Data Loss Survey,” retrieved May 16, 2026). If you want the deeper distinction, read Sync vs Backup. 在 Google 相册中，“备份”意味着你的手机将照片上传到 Google 云端。这是一种实用的同步功能，但它并没有为你提供一份 Google 之外的独立副本。如果你的 Google 账户被封禁、你不小心删除了照片，或者你以后想弃用 Google 相册，它都无法保护你的数据。在 Handy Recovery 2025 年对 1,000 名美国成年人进行的调查中，误删是导致数据丢失的首要原因（Handy Recovery，《数据丢失调查》，检索于 2026 年 5 月 16 日）。如果你想深入了解其中的区别，请阅读“同步与备份”的相关内容。

Google Photos can also remove local device copies after they are backed up. Google’s Free up space on your device help page says the feature deletes photos from your device, while photos and videos that are fewer than 30 days old may be retained there. That saves phone storage, but once the device copy is gone, the practical copy you depend on may live only in Google’s cloud. A real backup is separate from the original system and should follow the 3-2-1 backup rule. Google 相册还可以在备份后删除本地设备上的副本。Google 的“释放设备空间”帮助页面显示，该功能会删除设备上的照片，但 30 天内的照片和视频可能会被保留。这虽然节省了手机存储空间，但一旦设备上的副本消失，你所依赖的实际副本可能就只存在于 Google 云端了。真正的备份应与原始系统分离，并遵循 3-2-1 备份原则。

Drive failure is not theoretical: Backblaze’s 2025 drive report analyzed 344,196 hard drives and found a 1.36% annualized failure rate across the year (Backblaze, “Drive Stats for 2025,” retrieved May 16, 2026). For Google Photos, that means exporting your photos out of Google, storing them somewhere else, and keeping historical copies you can restore later. 硬盘故障并非纸上谈兵：Backblaze 的 2025 年硬盘报告分析了 344,196 块硬盘，发现全年年化故障率为 1.36%（Backblaze，《2025 年硬盘统计》，检索于 2026 年 5 月 16 日）。对于 Google 相册而言，这意味着你需要将照片从 Google 导出，存储在其他地方，并保留以后可以恢复的历史副本。

What Do You Need Before You Back Up Google Photos?

备份 Google 相册前需要准备什么？

Before you back up Google Photos, prepare four things: a computer that can stay awake, a stable internet connection, staging storage with roughly 2x your reported library size, and backup software that can store encrypted snapshots. Google Takeout exports can be much bigger than the storage number shown in Google Photos because Takeout may include additional copies and files that do not count against your Google storage quota. Plan for more free space than Google says you use. 在备份 Google 相册之前，请准备好四样东西：一台可以保持唤醒状态的电脑、稳定的互联网连接、大约是你照片库大小两倍的暂存存储空间，以及能够存储加密快照的备份软件。Google Takeout 导出的数据量可能远大于 Google 相册显示的存储数值，因为 Takeout 可能包含不计入 Google 存储配额的额外副本和文件。请预留比 Google 显示的已用空间更多的空闲空间。

Standard smartphone photos run 2–5 MB each, and a single minute of 4K video takes 400–600 MB (SamMobile, “How much storage do photos and videos actually use?,” retrieved May 16, 2026). A library that Google reports as 200 GB can easily need 400+ GB of staging space once you account for both the zip files and the extracted folders. 标准的智能手机照片每张约为 2–5 MB，而一分钟的 4K 视频则占用 400–600 MB（SamMobile，《照片和视频实际占用多少存储空间？》，检索于 2026 年 5 月 16 日）。如果 Google 显示你的照片库为 200 GB，考虑到压缩包和解压后的文件夹，你很可能需要 400 GB 以上的暂存空间。

How Do You Create a Google Takeout Export?

如何创建 Google Takeout 导出？

Create the export in Google Takeout from the Google account that owns the Photos library. Select only Google Photos, keep the default media formats, choose zip files, and use the largest archive size available so a large library turns into fewer downloads. 使用拥有照片库的 Google 账户在 Google Takeout 中创建导出。仅选择 Google 相册，保持默认媒体格式，选择 zip 文件，并使用可用的最大存档大小，这样大型照片库就可以减少下载次数。

Select Google Photos 选择 Google 相册

In the Select data to include section, click Deselect all in the top right. Most Google products are selected by default, and you do not want a huge export full of unrelated account data. Scroll to Google Photos and select the checkbox to the right of Google Photos. Leave Multiple formats at the default settings. That menu controls photo, video, and metadata formats, and the defaults are the safest choice for a faithful export. 在“选择要包含的数据”部分，点击右上角的“取消全选”。大多数 Google 产品默认处于选中状态，你肯定不希望导出一大堆无关的账户数据。向下滚动找到 Google 相册，并勾选其右侧的复选框。“多种格式”保持默认设置即可。该菜单控制照片、视频和元数据格式，默认设置是确保导出完整性的最安全选择。

The All photo albums included button opens the album selector. It includes regular albums and generated entries such as Photos from 2024, Photos from 2025, and other year folders. For backup purposes, exporting everything is safer than selecting only the auto-created “Photos from year” entries. Google Photos can store files in albums, shared albums, and other generated folders. You want the full Takeout output, then let your backup software deduplicate repeated files later. Scroll to the bottom and click Next step. “包含所有相册”按钮会打开相册选择器。它包括常规相册和自动生成的条目，如“2024 年的照片”、“2025 年的照片”以及其他年份文件夹。出于备份目的，导出所有内容比仅选择自动生成的“年份照片”条目更安全。Google 相册可以将文件存储在相册、共享相册和其他生成的文件夹中。你需要完整的 Takeout 输出，然后让你的备份软件稍后对重复文件进行去重。滚动到底部并点击“下一步”。

Configure the export 配置导出

The next Takeout screen is Choose file type, frequency & destination. This is where you choose how Google delivers the export and how large each archive file can be. The Transfer to dropdown includes options such as Send download link via email, Add to Drive, Add to Dropbox, and Add to Box. For a backup, the email download link is usually the cleanest option because you can download the archives straight to your staging drive instead of first copying them into another cloud account. 下一个 Takeout 界面是“选择文件类型、频率和目标”。在这里，你可以选择 Google 如何交付导出文件以及每个存档文件的大小。传输目标下拉菜单包括“通过电子邮件发送下载链接”、“添加到云端硬盘”、“添加到 Dropbox”和“添加到 Box”等选项。对于备份而言，电子邮件下载链接通常是最简洁的选择，因为你可以直接将存档下载到暂存驱动器，而无需先将其复制到另一个云账户中。

For Frequency, choose Export once if you are making a one-time archive or testing the workflow for the first time. Choose Export every 2 months for 1 year if you want Google to generate six exports on a schedule. Recurring exports still require manual downloads, so do not treat that option as automatic backup. For File type, choose .zip unless you specifically prefer .tgz and know your restore tools handle it well. Zip files are easier for most people to open on macOS, Windows, and Linux. For File size, choose the largest archive size available to you. After you choose the settings, click Create export. 对于频率，如果你只是进行一次性存档或首次测试工作流程，请选择“导出一次”。如果你希望 Google 按计划生成六次导出，请选择“每 2 个月导出一次，持续 1 年”。定期导出仍然需要手动下载，因此不要将该选项视为自动备份。对于文件类型，除非你特别偏好 .tgz 且确定你的恢复工具能很好地处理它，否则请选择 .zip。对于大多数人来说，Zip 文件在 macOS、Windows 和 Linux 上更容易打开。对于文件大小，请选择你可用的最大存档大小。设置完成后，点击“创建导出”。

What Google Takeout Archive Size Should You Choose?

你应该选择多大的 Google Takeout 存档大小？

Choose the largest Google Takeout archive size available to you, usually 50 GB. Smaller archive sizes create more files, which means more clicks, more download time, and more chances to miss one archive. In our test export, the largest archive size made the final download audit easier. The File size dropdown may offer 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 10 GB, and 50 GB. 请选择你可用的最大 Google Takeout 存档大小，通常为 50 GB。较小的存档大小会创建更多的文件，这意味着需要更多的点击次数、更长的下载时间，以及更容易漏掉某个存档。在我们的测试导出中，最大的存档大小使最终的下载核对变得更加容易。文件大小下拉菜单可能提供 1 GB、2 GB、4 GB、10 GB 和 50 GB 等选项。