If you missed last week’s deadline to access your data stored in Google’s now-defunct Album Archive, you may still be able to download any “deleted” photos and videos—for now, at least.
Note that the Album Archive is distinct from your Google Photos Archive. None of your photos or videos stored in Google Photos should be affected by this closure, which is only an issue if you have images stored in older Google services that can no longer be accessed.
Since the shutdown, visits to the Album Archive page now result in a message informing you of the service closure, and explaining that any content that was made visible in Album Archive from discontinued products, like Google Hangouts (replaced by Google Chat) or Picasa Web Albums (replaced by Google Photos) is no longer available.
However, in my case at least, this turns out not to be true. If you have old photos or videos stored in these services, the “missing” content can still be downloaded using the same method as before. However, you can’t now browse the Album Archive online to check its contents before downloading. Google has also removed the helpful links that were previously available to guide you through the process.
How you can still download your data
Thankfully, although Album Archive has gone, its contents can still be accessed via Google Takeout, Google’s handy bulk data download service.
To download your Album Archive data, head directly to Google Takeout and scroll down the page until you see “AlbumArchive”, making sure it is selected in the list of data to include in your download. At this point, you can also select any other data you want to download at the same time, but be aware that this could result in a huge download depending on how much storage you’re using on Google’s servers.
Alternatively, you can follow this link to access a Google Takeout page that has been pre-configured to download only your Album Archive.
Then, click the Next step button at the bottom of the page to continue and choose how you want to receive your data, either via a download link sent to your email or sent directly to Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive or Box.)
You can read more about Album Archive and its closure in my previous post.
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