Many users want to move their photos and videos from Amazon Photos to Google Drive or Google Photos. However, when trying cloud-to-cloud transfer tools, Amazon Photos is often not available.
This is not a bug—there’s an important technical reason behind it.
Why Amazon Photos Cannot Be Transferred Directly
Amazon Photos does not provide a public API.
Because RiceDrive (and other cloud transfer services) rely on official APIs to perform direct cloud-to-cloud transfers, this means:
- RiceDrive does NOT support direct transfer from Amazon Photos to Google Drive.
That said, you can still move your data using a reliable workaround that avoids downloading and re-uploading files manually.
Workaround Overview
The idea is simple:
- Generate downloadable file URLs from Amazon Photos
- Let RiceDrive download those files via Web URL
- Save them directly to Google Drive
- Extract the ZIP files in the cloud and import them into Google Drive
This entire process can be completed online.
Step 1: Download Files from Amazon Photos
- Sign in to Amazon Photos
- Go to Folders
-
Select the folders you want to move, such as:
- Pictures
- Videos
- Documents
- Click Download
- In your browser, open the download list and copy the links for your files.
Amazon Photos will generate one download URL, usually packaging your files into a .zip file. After copying the links, you can stop or cancel the download.
📌 Keep these download links—you’ll need them next.
Step 2: Link Google Drive in RiceDrive
⚠️ Important: On Google's OAuth consent screen, make sure to grant the permission "View, edit, create, and delete all your Google Drive files".
- Log in to RiceDrive
- Click Link Drive
- Select Google Drive (You may also use OneDrive, Dropbox, etc.)
- Complete authorization
Your Google Drive will now appear in RiceDrive.
Step 3: Create a Cloud Transfer Using Web URL
- In RiceDrive, click Cloud Transfer
- Set the Source as Web URL
- Paste the Amazon Photos download URL
- Set the Target as Google Drive
- Start the transfer
RiceDrive will now download your Amazon Photos files directly to Google Drive—no local download required.
Step 4: Locate Amazon Photos.zip in Google Drive
After the task finishes:
- You’ll find a file like Amazon Photos.zip in your Google Drive
- This ZIP contains all your selected photos and videos
Step 5: Extract ZIP and Import into Google Drive
This final step completes the migration:
- In RiceDrive, locate Amazon Photos.zip
- Use Cloud ZIP (cloud extraction)
- Extract the ZIP file
- Choose Google Drive as the target
Your photos and videos will now appear in Google Drive.
Tips & Notes
- 📦 For large libraries, download Amazon Photos folder by folder
- ☁️ Make sure Google Drive / Google Photos has enough storage space
- 🧪 Test with a small folder first before migrating everything.
- 🚫 Avoid repeated retries to prevent duplicate uploads.
- ⚠️ For very large transfers (over 1TB), this method is not recommended.
- 📂 It’s best to keep each Amazon Photos.zip file under 30GB.
Summary
Although Amazon Photos does not offer an API and cannot be transferred directly, RiceDrive provides a practical workaround:
- ✅ No manual downloading to your computer
- ✅ No re-uploading from local storage
- ✅ Entire process runs in the cloud
Using Amazon Photos download links + RiceDrive Web URL + Cloud ZIP extraction, you can successfully move your Amazon Photos content to Google Drive and Google Photos.
