Key takeaways
- The Google Admin console shows Photos storage under Menu > Storage, where the storage bar splits Drive, Gmail and Google Photos; the Storage administrator privilege is required.
- An administrator with the Service Settings privilege confirms Takeout is allowed under Menu > Data > Data import & export > Google Takeout.
- Each person runs Google Takeout for their own account, in ZIP or TGZ archives of 1 GB to 50 GB, with photos and videos in their original format and extra metadata in JSON files.
- Links expire after about 7 days, so download every part in time; you don't need to export anything to apply.
01
What is Google Photos data, and why do AI labs and data vendors buy it?
The short answer
Google Photos data is the photos and videos that employees back up to a company's Google Photos libraries, with the capture date and often the location stored in each file. AI labs (companies that build and train AI models) and data vendors (companies that anonymize business records and package them for those labs) buy a copy because company photos show real sites, products and events as they looked on a given day.
What a company's Photos libraries hold
Google Photos is Google's service for backing up and sharing pictures and videos. In a business, employees often use it on their phones to photograph job sites, finished work, products and events. Each photo carries metadata, the facts stored with a file such as the date and time it was taken and, often, where.
Google Photos is one of Google's additional services, so an employee has a library only if an administrator has turned the service on for them.
Why a photo library teaches an AI model something
An AI model learns by studying a very large number of examples and finding the patterns in them, and those examples are called training data. Pictures taken on real job sites show conditions that stock photos and public images rarely capture, such as a cluttered attic or a damaged roof.
The value rises when a photo can be matched to the job, order or project it documents, because the picture then comes with context about what it shows. The full mechanism is in AI training data: why AI companies want your company's data.
How Google Photos fits into a dataset
Google Photos is usually one system among several in a company's dataset, next to email, chat and job records. Companies are paid $100K to $2M or more per dataset, according to micro1, the data vendor we typically refer companies to. The price covers the whole dataset, not each app on its own, and what your data is worth explains what moves it.
02
Where does Google Workspace show how much Google Photos data you have?
The short answer
In Google Workspace, an administrator with the Storage administrator privilege opens Menu > Storage in the Admin console and points to the storage bar, which shows how much Drive, Gmail and Google Photos each use. Report the Google Photos figure in gigabytes (GB).
How to read your Photos total
The Admin console is the web page where a Google Workspace administrator manages the company's accounts. Google documents the Storage page in its guide to reviewing storage use across your organization.
- Sign in to the Google Admin console with an account that has the Storage administrator privilege.
- Open Menu > Storage.
- Hover over the storage bar, which splits usage between Google Drive, Google Photos and Gmail, and write down the Google Photos number.
- To see which accounts hold the most, open View all users for the list of users ranked by storage. Click a name for the detail on one user.
Who can see it, and what they can't see
You need the Storage administrator role, or privileges equivalent to it. Google notes that an administrator never sees a user's files in the Admin console, only a summary of how much storage the user's files take.
Photos users appear only if the service is on for them. Administrators turn Google Photos on or off under Apps > Additional Google services, which needs the Service Settings administrator privilege, as Google explains in its guide to turning additional Google services on or off.
Why the number may lag or fall short
Changes can take up to 24 hours to show on the Storage page. Users who use less than 1 MB but more than zero are shown as 0 MB, although their storage still counts toward the total. Storage is pooled, which means Drive, Gmail and Photos draw from one shared allowance, so the Photos figure is a slice of the total.
03
What should you know about your Google Photos data before you apply?
The short answer
Have three facts ready: the Google Photos storage in gigabytes, how many years your company has used it and how many people actually store photos in it. They go into the data manifest, the written summary of which apps hold your records, how many years each covers and roughly how much. You don't need to run an export, and applying through micro1, the data vendor we typically refer companies to, shares no data.
The storage size
Use the Google Photos figure from the Storage page, in GB. Don't report the Drive and Gmail parts, which belong to other sources.
The years of history
The history starts in the year the company began using Google Photos, or the year of the oldest photos in the libraries if that is earlier.
The number of seats
Seats are the people who actually store photos, which is fewer than the number of Workspace licenses. The ranked user list on the Storage page helps you spot them.
What you don't need to do first
You don't need to export anything to apply, and you don't need to clean or scrub the photos. The data vendor anonymizes the records before anyone else sees them, and nothing moves until a lawyer-reviewed license is signed. The application, the intro call and each later step are laid out in how to sell your company's data.
04
How do you export your full Google Photos history?
The short answer
An administrator first confirms that Google Takeout, Google's data download tool, is allowed. Then each person signs in to Takeout, selects Google Photos, picks the archive type and size and downloads every part. Takeout works for one account at a time, so a company exports account by account.
Step one: confirm Takeout is allowed
Google Workspace administrators control who can use Takeout, as its guide to allowing or blocking Google Takeout explains. If Takeout is off for Google Photos, the service does not even appear on a user's Takeout page.
- An administrator with the Service Settings privilege opens Menu > Data > Data import & export > Google Takeout in the Admin console.
- Click User access to Takeout for Google services and check the setting for Google Photos, which has its own Takeout control. You can set it for the whole organization or for an organizational unit.
- Allow it for the people whose photos you plan to export. Changes can take up to 24 hours, though they usually happen sooner.
Step two: each person runs Takeout
Takeout is the tool at takeout.google.com that packages a person's Google data into files. Google describes the user side in its article on how to download your Google data.
- The person signs in to Google Takeout with their work account and selects Google Photos.
- They choose the archive file type, ZIP or TGZ, and an archive size between 1 GB and 50 GB.
- They choose how to receive it: an email link, or delivery to Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or Box.
- When the email arrives, they download every part of the export before the link expires.
What each export includes
The diagram shows the options a person chooses and the limits that apply after the request. An export larger than the chosen archive size is split into several parts, so a big library arrives as many files.
Limits to plan around
Processing can take from a few minutes to a few days, depending on how much the library holds. The link expires after about seven days, and each archive can be downloaded up to five times.
Because Takeout covers a single user, a company exports one account after another. For a large team, give each person a deadline and a shared drive to put the files in.
What a Takeout export leaves out
Takeout exports photos and videos in their original format. Any metadata that the picture file does not hold itself is written to separate JSON files (plain-text data files) saved next to it. Only the accounts you choose need to be exported, so people whose libraries hold personal content can be left out.
Sources: Google Workspace Admin Help, Review storage use across your organization, Allow or block Google Takeout and Turn on or off additional Google services, and Google Account Help, How to download your Google data. Steps checked against Google's administrator pages in November 2026. The Takeout archive sizes, link expiry and download limit come from Google's user-side article.
05
What stays private when Google Photos data is licensed?
The short answer
The company chooses which accounts are exported, so users with personal photos in their libraries can be left out. The data vendor replaces names and other personal details with consistent stand-ins before an AI lab sees anything, and the company keeps ownership of its files.
You choose what is in scope
Because Takeout runs one account at a time, the company decides exactly whose photos leave Google Photos. Leaving out a person's library is a matter of not asking them to run the export. The data vendor also deletes records too sensitive to clean safely instead of anonymizing them.
Names are replaced before a lab sees them
Anonymization means replacing every detail that identifies a person or a client, such as a name, an address or an email address, with a stand-in that is the same every time it appears. The photos still sit in order and the job each one documents still makes sense, but nobody can tell who the people are. The diagram shows one album before and after.
The method, including what is deleted outright and how you review samples, is in how company data is anonymized for AI training.
Ownership and payment
Licensing gives the buyer limited rights to a copy, while the company keeps ownership of the originals. The terms that matter, such as exclusivity, permitted use and deletion, are covered in data licensing. micro1 pays in full within 30 days of accepting the data, usually as a single payment.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Is Google Photos part of Google Workspace?
Yes, as an add-on. Administrators switch Google Photos on or off under Apps > Additional Google services, and what it stores is counted against the organization's shared pool along with Drive and Gmail.
Are photos exported at full quality?
Yes. Photos and videos download exactly as they were stored, and anything the picture file does not hold itself comes in separate JSON files.
How long until a Google Photos export is ready?
It can finish in minutes or take days, depending on how big the library is. Google emails you a link when the files are ready, and that link stops working after about seven days.
Can an admin see or export employees' photos from the Admin console?
An administrator sees only how much storage each user's files take, never the files themselves. Photos leave through Takeout, which each person runs for their own account.
Why can't my employees see Google Photos in Takeout?
Takeout for Google Photos has its own setting, and it hides the service from a user's Takeout page when it is not allowed. An administrator with the Service Settings privilege can allow it under Data > Data import & export > Google Takeout.
Do we need to export Google Photos before we apply?
No. The application takes about two minutes and shares no data. You only need your approximate storage in GB, your years of history and your number of seats for the intro call. The export is needed later, when the records are transferred after you sign the license.
What is Google Photos data worth to AI labs and data vendors?
Photo libraries are priced as part of a whole dataset rather than on their own. Companies are paid $100K to $2M or more per dataset, according to micro1, and the price depends on the years of history and how completely the records show the work. What your data is worth explains the factors.
Bottom line
Know what is in Google Photos, then see what it is worth
You don't need to export anything to apply. Apply in two minutes, describe your records on the intro call, and micro1, the data vendor we typically refer companies to, prices the whole dataset and sends an offer 1–2 days later.
Not legal, tax or financial advice. Figures come from micro1's published pages and public reporting as of November 2026.