Switching to Android? Here's how to make sure every photo from your iPhone is safely backed up before you make the switch — and how to get them onto your new Android device.

iPhone and Android phone side by side

Switching from iPhone to Android is exciting — but it comes with one major anxiety: what happens to all your photos?

Your iCloud Photo Library doesn't automatically transfer to Android. If you just buy a new Android phone and turn off your iPhone, your photos aren't going anywhere — they're still in iCloud, which you'll need to keep paying for or lose access to.

Here's a complete plan for backing up every photo before you switch, getting them onto your new Android, and freeing yourself from iCloud for good.

Step 1: Do a Final Backup Before You Do Anything Else

Before you touch anything, make sure you have a complete backup of your iPhone.

Connect to Wi-Fi
Go to Settings → [Your Name] → iCloud → iCloud Backup
Tap Back Up Now
Wait for it to complete

This backs up your iPhone to iCloud. It's not the same as backing up your photos — but it's insurance while you work through the rest of this process.

Step 2: Download All Originals to Your iPhone

iCloud Photos often stores only optimised versions on your device to save space. Before you can export anything, you need the originals.

On your iPhone:

Go to Settings → Photos
Select Download and Keep Originals
Wait until the progress bar at the bottom of your Photos app disappears

On a Mac:

Open Photos
Go to Photos → Settings → iCloud
Select Download Originals to this Mac

This ensures you have full-resolution originals, not compressed previews.

Step 3: Export to a Computer (The Safe Way)

Laptop with external drive

Once originals are downloaded, export everything to a computer for safekeeping.

On Mac using Migrate Moments:

Migrate Moments for Mac is the easiest way to do this. It exports your entire iCloud Photo Library to an external SSD or local folder, preserving all metadata and folder structure. This gives you a permanent, organised backup that doesn't depend on any cloud service.

Manual export on Mac:

Open Photos
Select all photos (Cmd+A)
File → Export → Export Unmodified Originals
Choose an external drive as your destination

On Windows:

Connect your iPhone via cable
Open File Explorer — your iPhone appears as a device
Navigate to Internal Storage → DCIM
Copy all folders to your computer

The Windows method only captures photos in your Camera Roll, not photos that are only in iCloud. For those, you need to download originals first via icloud.com.

Step 4: Use Google Photos for the Transfer

Google Photos is the easiest way to get your photo library onto Android, because:

It's free (up to 15GB)
It works on both iOS and Android
Photos sync automatically once you're signed in

On your iPhone:

Download Google Photos from the App Store
Sign in with your Google account
Go to Library → Photos → Backup
Make sure backup is turned on
Wait for everything to upload — this can take hours or days for large libraries

On your new Android:

Sign in to the same Google account
Open Google Photos
Your entire library is there

This is the cleanest way to get photos onto Android. Everything stays in sync and you don't need to transfer files manually.

Step 5: Triage Before You Transfer (Optional but Smart)

Person reviewing old photos

Before uploading 50,000 photos to Google Photos, consider whether you actually want all of them.

Most people have years of blurry shots, burst photos, screenshots, and duplicates that they'll never look at again. Moving to a new phone is a natural time to start fresh with a clean library.

Migrate Moments for iOS (coming soon to the App Store) is designed for exactly this — working through your photos in themed daily missions, just 20 at a time. Delete the junk, keep what matters, then upload only the keepers to Google Photos. Join the waitlist to be notified when it launches.

This saves you Google Photos storage and means your new Android starts with a clean, curated library.

Step 6: Verify Everything Before Wiping Your iPhone

This is critical. Before you do anything irreversible:

Open Google Photos on your Android and spot-check photos
Check that your oldest photos are there (search a year from 10 years ago)
Check that videos transferred (they sometimes get missed)
Compare photo counts — Google Photos total vs your iPhone total

Give it at least 48 hours after the upload completes before wiping your iPhone. Google Photos can show a higher count than expected because it counts edits separately.

Step 7: What to Do With iCloud After You Switch

Once your photos are safely in Google Photos, you have options:

Option A — Keep a cheap iCloud plan The 50GB plan is A$1.49/month. This keeps your iCloud email working and gives you room for contacts, calendars, and small files. Useful if you still use an Apple ID.

Option B — Downgrade to free The free iCloud plan gives you 5GB — enough for contacts, calendars, and basic app data. You'll need to turn off iCloud Photos and iCloud Backup.

Option C — Close your Apple ID If you're leaving Apple entirely, you can request deletion of your Apple ID and all associated data via privacy.apple.com. This is drastic — make sure you've saved everything first.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Don't cancel iCloud before backing up If you cancel your iCloud plan or let it lapse, you lose access to photos stored only in iCloud. Always download originals first.

Don't assume iCloud backup includes all your photos An iCloud backup includes your Camera Roll, but photos that are "in iCloud" and not downloaded to your device may not be fully included. Download originals first to be safe.

Don't rush The whole process takes at least a few days for large libraries. Don't wipe your iPhone until you've verified everything is safe.

The Bottom Line

Switching from iPhone to Android doesn't have to mean losing your photos. The key steps are: download originals, export to a computer as a backup, upload to Google Photos, verify everything is there, then switch.

Take it slowly and do the verification step properly — it's the insurance that means you don't have to worry.

Download Migrate Moments for Mac →

How to Back Up iPhone Photos Before Switching to Android