Does Google Photos run on Linux?

Verdict: Yes

Yes. Google Photos is a website and works normally on Linux. What does not come across is Google Drive for desktop, the uploader, which Google offers for Windows and Mac only.

Google Photos by Google · Cloud storage & backup · Works in a browser

Viewing, searching, editing and sharing all happen at photos.google.com, and that page behaves the same in Firefox or Chrome on Linux as it did on Windows. Your whole library is there, nothing needs moving, and the face and place search still works.

The gap is uploading from the computer. On Windows many people used Google Drive for desktop to send photos up automatically, and Google's instructions for that app cover Windows and macOS only. On Linux you upload by dragging files into the Google Photos page in your browser, which is fine for a handful and tedious for a card full of holiday shots.

In practice most photos reach Google Photos from a phone anyway, and that does not change at all. If your phone is set to back up, everything keeps arriving whatever your computer runs.

One thing worth doing before you wipe Windows. Use Google Takeout to download a copy of your library while you still have a machine with plenty of disk space. Having your own copy is sensible regardless of operating systems, and it gives a local photo app something to work with.

What to use instead of Google Photos

digiKam

Different way of workingFree

A proper photo library kept on your own computer, with albums, tags, face finding and editing. No online sharing.

Your files: Reads the .jpg, .png and video files from a Google Takeout download, though Google keeps some album information in separate files it ignores.

Nextcloud

Different way of workingFree with paid extras

Closer to Google Photos in spirit, since it uploads from your phone and shows a timeline in a browser, but you or a provider host it.

Your files: Accepts the photos from a Google Takeout download. Albums do not transfer automatically.

Loupe

Drop-in replacementFree

Just for looking at pictures on the computer, which is what many people used the Photos app for. Preinstalled on Ubuntu and Fedora.

Your files: Opens ordinary image files. No library or cloud features.

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