Google Photos Archival: The Advanced Approach – Part 3 of 3
Part 3 of 3 (Optional)
You’ve read Part 2. You’ve backed up your photos to external drives. You’re already ahead of most people.
This third part is optional. You don’t need to read it. If you’re happy with your backup, you’re done. Your photos are safe.
But if you’re someone who likes to do things thoroughly—if you want to protect your drives with a password, organize them in a specific way, or plan for archival that lasts decades—then this is for you.
Do You Need Part 3?
Ask yourself these questions:
- Do you want to password-protect your external drives so no one else can access your photos?
- Do you have thousands of photos and want to organize them in a clear folder structure?
- Are you concerned about long-term storage (20+ years)?
- Do you want to add more photos to your backup incrementally (a little bit at a time, rather than all at once)?
If you answered “yes” to any of these, read on.
If you said “no” to all of them, you’re already doing great. Stick with Part 2. You’re protected.
Advanced Topic #1: Encrypt Your External Drives (Protect With a Password)
What is encryption? It’s a way of scrambling your files so that no one can access them without a password. The photos still exist on the drive, but they’re locked.
Why would you do this? If your external drive gets lost or stolen, or if someone else gets hold of it, they can’t look at your photos without knowing your password. It’s an extra layer of protection.
The downside: If you forget the password, you can’t access your own photos. So make sure you write it down somewhere safe—a password manager, a safe deposit box, or give it to someone you trust.
How to encrypt (Windows):
- Plug in your external drive
- Right-click the external drive in File Explorer
- Select Turn on BitLocker
- Follow the prompts and create a strong password
- Wait for the encryption process to finish (this takes a while, sometimes hours, depending on how much data is on the drive)
How to encrypt (Mac):
- Plug in your external drive
- Right-click the external drive on your Desktop
- Select Encrypt
- Create a strong password
- Wait for the encryption to finish
That’s it. Now, any time you plug that drive in, your computer will ask for the password before you can see the photos.
Advanced Topic #2: Organize Your Photos in Folders (Before Archiving)
If you have thousands of photos, it helps to organize them into folders before you store them permanently.
The simplest approach: Organize by year
When you download your photos from Google Photos, create a folder structure like this:
External Drive
├── 2020
├── 2021
├── 2022
├── 2023
└── 2024
Then move your photos into the year they were taken.
A more detailed approach: Organize by year and topic
External Drive
├── 2024
│ ├── Family Events
│ ├── Vacations
│ ├── Grandkids
│ └── Everyday
├── 2023
│ ├── Family Events
│ ├── Vacations
│ └── Everyday
└── 2022
└── [etc.]
Why does this matter? When you’re looking for a photo years from now, you’ll remember roughly when it was taken. A clear folder structure means you can find it in seconds instead of scrolling through thousands of loose files.
How to organize:
This is tedious, but you only have to do it once:
- Download all your photos from Google (like you did in Part 2)
- Create a folder for each year
- Sort your photos into the correct year folder
- Within each year, create subfolders for topics (Vacations, Family, etc.)
- Move photos into those subfolders
- Then copy everything to your external drives
Pro tip: If you have a lot of photos, do this in chunks. Don’t try to organize 20,000 photos in one day. Do 2024, take a break. Do 2023 the next day. Spread it out over a week or two.
Advanced Topic #3: Add More Photos Later (Incremental Backups)
What if you back up your photos today, but then take more photos in the next six months? How do you add them to your external drives without re-copying everything?
The simple approach:
- Create a new album in Google Photos for the new photos (call it “2024 – New Additions” or something)
- Follow the same process from Part 2: Download the album, convert HEIC if needed, copy to the primary external drive
- Copy those new photos to the backup external drive as well
- Keep the new photos in a “Recently Added” folder on the drive so you remember which ones are new
The more organized approach:
If you’ve organized your drives by year and topic (from Advanced Topic #2), then:
- Download the new photos from Google
- Sort them into the correct year/topic folder
- Copy the entire updated year folder to the primary external drive (this overwrites the old version with the new version)
- Do the same with the backup external drive
This keeps everything in sync and organized.
Advanced Topic #4: Long-Term Archival—Will Your Photos Last?
Here’s something that keeps archivists awake at night: Will these files still be readable in 50 years?
The answer is: probably yes, but it depends.
Digital file formats matter: JPG and HEIC are both widely-used formats. They’re not going anywhere. They’ll be readable for decades—almost certainly for your entire lifetime and your children’s lifetimes too.
Hardware deteriorates: Even external hard drives don’t last forever. Manufacturers estimate about 7-10 years of regular use. But here’s the thing: you don’t have to replace them all at once.
The smart approach to long-term storage:
Every 5 years or so, buy new external drives and make fresh copies of your backups. It sounds like work, but it’s actually simple:
- Plug in your old backup drive
- Plug in the new backup drive
- Copy everything from the old to the new
- Store the new drive in your backup location
- You can keep or recycle the old drive
By doing this refresh every 5 years, you’re always working with relatively fresh hardware. You’re never relying on a 20-year-old drive that might fail without warning.
The real key: Don’t just backup once and forget about it. Check on your backups. Power them on occasionally. Think about them.
Advanced Topic #5: Consider a Cloud Backup as Your Third Copy
Remember the 3-2-1 rule? You need 3 copies on 2 different types of storage, with 1 off-site.
You now have 2 external drives (one at home, one off-site). But here’s an optional step: add a cloud backup as your third copy.
Why cloud? Cloud services like Google One, Dropbox, or OneDrive are different from hardware. If your external drives fail, a cloud backup keeps your photos safe.
The catch: This costs a small amount of money per month. But for irreplaceable memories, it might be worth it.
How to do it (Google One):
Google One is Google’s paid backup service. It starts at $1.99/month and includes extra cloud storage.
- Go to one.google.com
- Upgrade to a paid plan
- Your Google Photos storage is automatically increased
- Upload your external drive contents to Google One (just upload the folder)
Now you have: Two external drives + one cloud backup = three copies of your memories on two different types of storage.
This is the gold standard for photo protection.
Advanced Topic #6: Create a Backup Inventory Document
Here’s something simple but important: write down what you’ve done.
Create a simple Word document or just write it on paper:
PHOTO BACKUP INVENTORY
Date Created: [date]
Primary Backup Drive:
– Location: Home, bedroom closet
– Capacity: 2TB
– Organized by: Year (2020, 2021, 2022, etc.)
– Encryption: Yes / No
– Password: [stored in safe place]
Secondary Backup Drive:
– Location: [friend’s house / safe deposit box]
– Capacity: 2TB
– Organized by: Year (2020, 2021, 2022, etc.)
– Encryption: Yes / No
– Password: [stored in safe place]
Cloud Backup:
– Service: [Google One / Dropbox / etc.]
– Login: [your email address]
– Password: [stored in password manager]
Last Updated: [date]
Next Refresh Due: [date in 5 years]
Keep this document somewhere safe—in your desk drawer, in a note on your phone, wherever you’ll remember it.
Why? So that if something happens to you, your family knows where your backups are and how to access them. It’s a gift to the people you love.
The Bottom Line
You don’t have to do any of this. Part 2 is enough. You’re already protected.
But if you’re someone who wants to do things right—someone who wants their photos to last for 30, 50, or 100 years—then:
- Organize your photos into folders
- Encrypt your drives
- Add a cloud backup
- Refresh your drives every 5 years
- Keep an inventory document
You’ll have done everything a professional archivist would do.
Questions?
These topics are more involved than Part 1 or Part 2. If you get stuck on any of these steps—encryption, organizing folders, adding a cloud backup—don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m happy to help.
And if you find this guide useful, please share it with friends or family who might benefit. Backing up photos doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. But it does have to be done.
— The Tech
P.S.: If you completed Part 2 and stopped there, you’re already doing better than 90% of people. Your photos are backed up. You’re protected.
