Here’s a very reasonable question: Can you download all your photos and stop paying for the cloud? I hate paying monthly or yearly fees as much as anyone, but cloud services aren’t like buying another piece of hardware. If you are asking: Can you leave the cloud for photos, let’s dig deeper and find the answer that’s right for you.
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As a special bonus, all new & existing subscribers to the Save Your Photos with SORT and Succeed class can join the LIVE session FREE this Friday from 10-11 am eastern: 5 Fun Things (for Photo Organizing).
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Now for the big question today…
Can You Leave the Cloud for Photos?
What Exactly is the Cloud? Is there More than One?
What exactly is the cloud? Most people are thinking of Apple’s iCloud when they mention “the cloud.” But there are many other general-purpose cloud drives including:
- Microsoft OneDrive
- Google GDrive
- Dropbox
- Box
- PCloud
There are also many, many specialized cloud services like Amazon Photos, Shutterfly, and too many more to mention.
You can think of a cloud service as space that you are renting on someone else’s computer. You are paying to store information elsewhere instead of on your computer. These cloud services live in data centers across the world. They are engineered to be always up and backed up redundantly across data centers so, theoretically, more reliable than your computer’s hard drive, especially if your computer isn’t backed up.
In 2026, you’ll typically buy cloud storage based on gigabytes or terabytes. Here’s a handy chart to compare current prices for the big guys.
Before You Exit All Cloud Services, Do This!
Did I mention how much I hate monthly subscriptions? Probably you do, too, if you are reading this.
But rather than get rid of all cloud subscriptions, I’d first recommend taking stock of which ones you might be paying for today, and then pare down to just the one that makes sense for you.
If you have an iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and really enjoy your photos, then keep the Apple iCloud, learn how to use it, and transition out of any other cloud services you are paying for. That includes turning off the feature sending your iPhone photos to Google that you turned on by accident. You don’t need it!
If you love all things Google, then do you need to pay for other cloud services? You can send your Android or Apple photos to Google Photos and turn off other services. (It’s not our recommendation, but if you like it, then we love it for you.)
If you use Microsoft Outlook for mail and calendars, you don’t necessarily need to use their OneDrive, but most subscription plans include up to 2 TB of data, so give that a try. (If you are an iPhone user, we still recommend keeping iCloud because the photo management software is far superior to the Microsoft option.) If you do prefer to stick with Microsoft only for photos, here’s a great article on the settings and considerations.
Maybe you had a Dropbox subscription for an old employer, but you can move any data over to another drive or cloud and eliminate that subscription.
Amazon Prime is a bit trickier, as they used to offer a lot for free, but then changed their policies. Because they don’t have the best tech support, we don’t recommend that as your primary data or photo storage. But, hey, if you love it, then use it, especially to display photos on your TV.
Basically, if you have only one main cloud service, you may pay less than you are paying now, and you’ll be more likely to learn how to use it well.
Then Do This to Save Money on Cloud Services!
Check with your spouse to see if you can save money on a family plan. The difference between the Apple iCloud 200 GB and the 2 TB plan is pretty large, so it’s possible that you both could share a cloud plan and eliminate one of the monthly charges. You both keep your own account, email, photos, everything.
An Apple One family plan can have up to 6 members.
Google One with Google Families also lets you share data with 5 other family members.
Microsoft also has a family plan. Just remember that both the personal and family plans have been called Microsoft 365 at some point. You can’t mix business and personal plans, as they have different features and support teams. Check your subscription to see if it’s a business account before making a move.
Can You Get a Cloud Service that You Only Pay for Once?
Yes, but it’s rare. Most of the flat-fee, paid upfront clouds are service specific. They may work only for photos, for example, or they may have very specific or limited features. For example, Permanent.org allows you to buy a gigabyte of storage for just one $10 fee. It’s not a monthly fee. Ten gigabytes for a one-time fee of $100. Add as many gigs as you need.
There are a few other companies with similar models, including the ProjectorStream.com annual plan (affiliate link), which is our favorite private, shareable platform for your home movies.
Every now and then a new general purpose cloud will come along to rival Dropbox. If you can get something like that by paying only once, I say grab it. I often see the latest apps on AppSumo.com, but these apps are often new and fairly buggy or feature-deficient.
Can You Leave the Cloud for Photos?
Clients sometimes ask, can I download my photos and stop paying for the cloud?
The short answer is yes, but I don’t recommend it, because the cloud provides more than just storage. The cloud is the engine that makes your photo management software so smart.
Even though you paid hundreds or even thousands of dollars for your phone, today’s “smart” devices are heavily dependent on the cloud and cloud-connected software.
With a cloud service, when you snap a picture, your phone, tablet, or computer automatically transfers the original photo, in its original size (pixels and dimensions) to the cloud service you are connected to through a subscription. That may not seem like a big deal or something you want to pay for, but sending recent photos to the cloud instantaneously (or when you are in Wi-Fi range, depending on your settings) means that your precious photos are immediately backed up, protecting you from loss and tech crashes. Hopefully you never leave your phone on a train or lose it at the beach, but it happens. If you only have a phone, and no other device, then cloud storage may be the only backup of your photos. In that case, a cloud service is essential.
Photo cloud storage also makes handing off your photos to different devices seamless. If you have a computer or tablet, you no longer have to wait until the devices are in the same room, plug them in together, and wait for a download. Now all your devices have all your photos all the time through the magic of…you guessed it…cloud services.
What is Photo Management Software and Why Should You Care?
If that wasn’t enough, the real value comes with all the features that photo management programs include. This is where the fun stuff is. When you crop down a picture so you can clearly see the goofy look on your grandchild’s face, you only have to do it once. Your device hands that edit over to the connected cloud, and the cloud hands it back to all of your other devices, so you don’t have to do that crop again on another device.
Everybody loves face tagging, so you can find photos of your favorite sibling with just a few clicks. Face tagging is a feature in your photo management software. Between your device and the software, you can easily identify everyone in your collection and all the photos they are in. The cloud makes it easy to find those faces on each of your devices.
Remember, what we used to call software is now just called an app. Software = app. Same thing.
I hate subscription services, but if you cherish your photos and you have to choose one subscription, your cloud service is a thing you are going to want to keep.
I call it the tax for being alive in this century and enjoying the modern conveniences like phones and computers.
Can You get a Photo Management Software Without a Cloud?
Yes! We’ve been using and recommending Mylio for over ten years. It’s a photo management service that does not depend on or require a cloud subscription. It’s great for cross-platform households (he’s a Mac and she’s a PC, or the other way around). It’s also great if you just don’t want your pictures up on someone else’s cloud for any reason. It gives you all the bells and whistles of all the big photo management software/cloud services, like facial recognition, good editing, albums, and so much more. It’s very powerful, can handle large amounts of photos and videos, and works with the folder system you may already have spent time building.
Mylio just announced a big new release in 2026, so stay tuned for lots of amazing new features and a great new user experience.
But all these features have a cost. As of 2026, Mylio plans range from roughly $240-$480 USD per year, depending on your plan choices.
If you want to stay off the cloud, we love Mylio for letting you have as-good-as-cloud features across devices. But if you ever want to stop using Mylio, you don’t need to export your photos, because they are already living on your PC or Mac (and mobile devices, but those shouldn’t be considered your originals).
And yes, they did add a MylioCloud option a while back, but it’s included in the price, and you don’t have to ever turn it on if you don’t want to.
How to Download Your Photos from a Cloud Service
Maybe you aren’t convinced, and you still want to leave your cloud service. You can download your existing photos and videos, but you need a plan, a computer, and enough space. And more than a little patience. (If you only have a mobile device, I just don’t recommend trying to unhook from the cloud.)
Note: Before you start this process, check three things.
- Make sure you have enough space on your computer to hold all the material you plan to download. This could be gigabytes or even terabytes of data. Your settings inside your existing cloud service will tell you how much data is stored there today. How many gigabytes of photos and videos are you currently storing on the cloud? You should plan for double the free space in your computer.
- Make sure you know how to handle .zip files. They are pretty easy to spot, with their files ending in .zip. Once unzipped, delete them or export them to storage so you know they’ve been processed.
- Before you start, have a backup plan already in place for both your phone and computer, and for any tablets if you have them. I wrote about the importance of backups for Macs here and backups for PCs here.
Seriously, don’t even think about starting this process until you address the three items above.
Next, choose a download app for the cloud service you are on. Photos aren’t just files. In the Apple Photos, Google Photos, and Microsoft Photos programs, they are stored in a database, which adds information about the photos and how you interact with them. So you can’t just copy/paste. You must download the files and verify that they came with metadata that you expect, such as correct dates, edits like crops, and any information like captions and keywords that you may have added. Caution: you may not get everything you’d like, including face tagging. You must evaluate your downloaded photos for exported metadata.
Apple exports – You can export your photos from Apple Photos using Photos Takeout. This is a third-party software, and continues to improve over the years.
Google exports – Export your photos from Google Photos using their embedded option in settings. Here’s a direct link to where Google Takeout options are: https://takeout.google.com/settings/takeout/custom/photos. You’ll need to log into your Google account.
Microsoft exports – Export your photos from Microsoft OneDrive by syncing them to your PC, then unhooking OneDrive permanently. Download the OneDrive Desktop App onto your PC or Mac. After download, open your File Explorer (or Finder on the Mac), right-click your photos folder and select Always keep on this device. Wait for all items to sync; this could take hours or even days. After downloading, you can then copy all the folders and paste them over onto another folder that is resident on your PC, or onto an external hard drive.
Remember, in all three platforms, if you have a zip file, you need to move those zip files to your target location, unzip them (usually just a right-click>>unzip or uncompressed), and then delete (or store them away from your main data, ideally on an external hard drive). A zip file is a little package of compressed data, but it still eats up space on your hard drive.
Other cloud services, like Dropbox, Box, and pCloud, among others, work more like an external drive, so you may be able to just copy/paste out of those drives without losing much or anything. But ALWAYS TEST your downloads.
Where to Store Photos (Not on the Cloud)
If, against my advice, you have downloaded your photos and you want to go cloud-free, then PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE make sure that your entire computer and photos are backed up at least two different places in addition to your computer. More backups are better.
And remember my golden rule on backups: If you have to hit a button, it’s not a true backup.
Backups should be automatic, on a schedule, and not require your intervention.
Because you are human, and even very organized humans forget to do their backups routinely.
Photo pros and data pros use the 3-2-1 backup model: You should keep at least 3 copies of your data in at least 2 different locations, at least one of which is ideally in a cloud.
If that sounds like a lot, remember that these are your irreplaceable digital photos we’re talking about. Three copies to be safe isn’t too much. And do you know what helps you effortlessly keep additional copies of your photos and videos? The cloud!
Can You Leave the Cloud for Photos? Should You?
So, we’re back to where we started.
Twenty years ago we didn’t have the cloud and weren’t paying for it, but today (I’m writing this in 2026), the cloud is part of the fabric of our lives. It makes hard things easier.
Now that you know what the cloud is doing for you, maybe that monthly fee is starting to feel like a deal. Or at least less of an annoyance.
And if you do decide to leave the cloud for photos, you have the steps to take carefully, with enough space on your computer and time to get through all the steps I’ve shared above.
Register Now
See you at the LIVE class this Friday. Click here to register for $24 (one time). Yes, it will be recorded, so you can sign up and listen later.
