Starting from July 19, 2023, Google's Album Archive service will no longer be available. Therefore, it is necessary to download photos and videos to prevent them from being lost.
After the specified date, users can utilize other browser products to view and manage their content. The available options include Blogger, Google Account, and Google Photos.
Hangouts attachments can be downloaded using the Takeout tool. It's important to note that Hangouts has been replaced by Google Chat, so some Hangouts attachments may be accessible in Chat.
For users with a Google Workspace account, the control over who can use Takeout lies with the organization's administrator. The administrator is responsible for managing and controlling the tool's usage permissions.
It's important to note that this decision does not impact Google Photos in any way, as it is an independent storage service. Additionally, the content in Drive will also remain unaffected.
How to download a copy of the content:
To download a copy of your Album Archive, you should use Takeout, a tool that allows you to export your data in an accessible format. This way, affected users can preserve their content before the service is permanently closed.
Follow these steps to securely and conveniently download all the content from the Album Archive:
Access Google Takeout, where you can easily and directly download the content from the Album Archive.
On the Takeout page, the Image Archive will be selected as the only service for making the copy. Click on the "Next step" button in blue.
Next, you will reach a download configuration page. The user should keep the option to send the files via email selected and choose "Export once" to prevent periodic copies from being made.
Then, choose the format and size of the compressed files. It's important to note that if larger files are chosen, there will be fewer files in total, but there is a higher risk of download interruption. On the other hand, opting for a smaller size will result in more files in total, and they will be easier to download.
You can leave the settings as they are and, once you're ready, click on "Create export". Google will start working on the backup, and within a few hours, you will receive an email with the files ready for download.