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How to Save Multiple Photos From Google Drive to iPhone

by Kaushal

I use Google Drive to keep a backup of my photos that I’ve captured over the years because I ran out of storage on iCloud. While revisiting some of the old pictures on Google Drive, I realized that I couldn’t download multiple photos to my iPhone at once. If you’ve been in a similar situation, I’ve found two easy ways to save multiple photos from Google Drive to your iPhone quickly. Let’s check both methods.

1. Using Files App

The problem is that you can’t select multiple images in Google Drive and then download them to the Photos app. Google hasn’t fixed this limitation for some reason, but we can with a simple workaround.

Turns out, Apple allows Google Drive to be mapped in the Files app so you can access all your files in one place. The Files app lets you access files stored in iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, and iPhone storage.

When you open the Files app, you won’t see the option to access Google Drive because we need to enable it first. Use these steps to save multiple photos from Google Drive to iPhone and iPad using the Files app:

1. Open the Files app on your iPhone

2. Tap the three-dot icon on the top right corner and select Edit. If you don’t see the Edit option, tap the Browse button at the bottom of the screen to go to the home screen of the app. Then, tap the three-dot icon.

Open the drop down menu and tap edit

3. Enable the toggle next to Google Drive and tap on Done to save changes. We can now access Google Drive and all the files and folders stored on it in the Files app.

enable Google Drive in the Files app on ios

4. To download the images from Google Drive, tap on the Browse tab at the bottom of the Files app and select Google Drive.

5. Navigate to the folder where the images are stored in the Google Drive folder. Then tap the three-dot icon on the top right corner.

Open Google Drive files in Files app

6. Choose Select from the menu.

7. Select all the photos you want to download by tapping your finger over the checkboxes on the left of the photo. After that, tap the Share icon on the bottom left and tap Save X images.

Note: If you don’t see the Save Images option, restart your iPhone.

The app would take some time to download the selected images and you can find them in the Photos app on your iPhone after that. Easy peasy!

save images from Google Drive to Photos app

Tip: Learn how to find lost or missing files on Google Drive.

2. Using Google Drive Website on iPhone

If the above method doesn’t work, you can use the Google Drive mobile website on your iPhone to download multiple pictures. First, you will need to move the photos that you want to download to a folder in Google Drive. Then, download that folder on your iPhone.

Here are the step-by-step instructions:

1. Using the Google Drive app on your iPhone, move the selected pictures into a folder on Google Drive.

2. In the Safari browser, open drive.google.com and log in to your Google account.

3. Once your Google Drive files and folder show up, tap on the aA icon and select Request Desktop Website.

4. Tap on the three-dot icon next to the folder containing your pictures and select Download.

5. The Google Drive website will start creating a ZIP file for the folder and you will be notified when done. Tap on Download to save the ZIP folder on your iPhone.

6. Go to the Files app and open the folder where you downloaded the ZIP folder (it’s mostly in the Downloads folder of your iPhone or iCloud Drive). Long press on the folder and select Uncompress to view the downloaded pictures from Google Drive on your iPhone or iPad.

Tip: Learn how to save a PDF to Google Drive.

Save Photos from Google Drive to iPhone

You may want to download multiple photos to share them via another app or want some of them offline. Either way, now you know two ways to save multiple photos from Google Drive to your iPhone. Before you go, know how to free up space on Google Drive.

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