Migrating from Picasa to Google Photos: A Comprehensive Guide

Introduction

Google Photos does not automatically import all your Picasa albums. The transition from Picasa to Google Photos requires manual steps. This guide will walk you through the process of exporting and uploading your Picasa albums to Google Photos, ensuring a smooth migration of your photos and albums.

Why Picasa Albums Need to Be Migrated Manually

Firstly, it is important to understand why you need to migrate Picasa albums manually. Picasa was officially discontinued by Google in 2016. Since then, a significant number of users have transitioned to Google Photos for managing their photos. Google Photos is designed to manage and store photos, but it doesn't automatically import content from Picasa. This is why manual steps are required to migrate your data.

Step-by-Step Migration Guide

Exporting Photos from Picasa

If your photos are still in Picasa, you can export them to your computer. This involves the following steps:

Select the albums you want to export. Choose a specific folder on your computer where you want to save the exported photos. Click the export button in Picasa.

Ensure that you back up important photos before exporting them, as the process removes the photos from Picasa.

Uploading Photos to Google Photos

Once you have your photos on your computer, you can upload them to Google Photos using one of the following methods:

Go to the Google Photos website or use the Google Photos app. Click on the Upload photos option and select the folder where you saved your exported photos. Alternatively, use the Google Photos Desktop Uploader App to automatically upload photos from your computer to Google Photos. This is similar to the auto-backup feature on Android and iOS devices but for your computer.

Organizing Albums on Google Photos

After uploading your photos, you can create new albums in Google Photos to organize them. Here's how you can do it:

Go to the Organize Albums feature in Google Photos. Create albums that correspond to your Picasa albums or create new ones to better organize your photos. Take note that some of the auto-generated albums from Picasa are hidden in Google Photos. You may need to explore the More section to find them.

PicasaWeb and Google Photos: Comparison of Album Management

PicasaWeb and Google Photos both store photo data in the same place, which means that if your photos and albums are in PicasaWeb or Google Photos, they are already there. However, Google Photos has a different concept of how albums are shown:

PicasaWeb: Auto-generated albums created by PicasaWeb were not very useful for most users, as the auto-generation wasn't very intelligent. Google Photos: Auto-generated albums are hidden in the photos view, but the albums are still there. You can access them by exploring the More section.

The mostly read-only site that will replace PicasaWeb will show all the albums that are shown in PicasaWeb, so if you like the old auto-generated albums, you can still access them through this site.

Conclusion

Migrating from Picasa to Google Photos requires manual steps, but it is a straightforward process once you understand the methods involved. By exporting and uploading your photos and organizing them in Google Photos, you can ensure a smooth transition from Picasa to Google Photos, making the most of the features and benefits offered by Google Photos.