Check Nothing Is Missing After Google Takeout

By Josep Mampel Marques, updated November 11, 2026

To check that nothing is missing after migrating from Google Photos, compare what you have against what Google Photos shows before you delete anything: confirm you processed every Takeout zip part, spot-check photos from several years and from each album, look for the types that fail most often (screenshots, videos, old scans), and keep the Google library untouched until you are satisfied. There is no official count to match, because a Takeout includes duplicate album copies, so the check is a sample-based one. If the export itself is missing items, start with the "Photos are missing" section of Takeout not downloading.

Know what is expected to differ

Three things make the numbers disagree without anything being lost:

• Album copies. A photo in several albums appears in each album folder, so a Takeout can be much larger than the library (duplicates and album folders explained).
• Sidecar files. Every photo has a .json file next to it that is not a photo.
• Changes during the export. Google says photos or albums added or deleted between your request and the archive may not appear, and items still being deleted are excluded.

So do not compare raw file counts. Compare content.

Step 1: confirm you used every part

A large export is split into several archives, and a photo and its .json can be in different ones (why). Ente's migration help warns that importing only some parts can give those photos the wrong date, and that a .crdownload file is an unfinished download, not a finished zip. Check that the number of zip parts matches what Takeout offered, that each opens, and that none is partially downloaded. Google says each archive expires in about 7 days and can be downloaded 5 times, so do this soon.

Step 2: spot-check by sampling

Pick items on purpose, not at random:

For each, look in the destination for the item, the date, and (if you care) the location and the caption.

Step 3: check dates after fixing

A date check is also a completeness check, because photos from a missing part tend to show the export date. If you run the export through PhotoFixer, it reads all zip parts in your browser (nothing is uploaded), and gives every file its capture time as the file date, so sorting the result by date should show your timeline, not a pile of photos from a single day. A cluster on the export date is a sign that a .json was not matched, often because a part is missing.

Step 4: compare with Google Photos itself

• Open an album in Google Photos and in the destination and compare what each shows, picking one small album first.
• Pick a busy month and compare a handful of photos by eye.
• Remember that some content never leaves Google through a transfer: Google's transfer help lists Locked Folder content, trash, unsaved memories and the video part of Motion Photos and Live Photos as not transferred. Move those out first if you need them.

If something really is missing

1. Check you have every zip part and that all unzipped fully.
2. Look in the album folders as well as the year folders, since the same photo can appear in both.
3. Search for the file name, including copies ending in (1).
4. If it is still gone and your Google library is intact, request a new Takeout for just that content. Google says time-range exports are not supported, so you can leave out albums but cannot pick a date range.

Delete last

Google says downloading does not delete anything from its servers, so the verification can take as long as you need. Keep the Google library and the Takeout zips until the checks pass, and keep the migrated copy in two places before you touch the original. Ente's advice is the same: keep the Google Photos library and the Takeout files until you have verified the import.