Public Notice: Google may remove your photos this week. If you have ever used other Google articles long instant messages, which is Google Talk (2005-2013) or Google Hangouts (2013-2022), the photos you shared with your friends ended up in a place called “Album Archive.” Album Archive and to be closed This is Wednesday, July 19, and the content is being removed.
Google’s communication around this has not been good. The support page says: “The content found in Album History will be deleted starting July 19, 2023,” but it’s not clear what that data is. Google says that “some Google Hangouts content from the Album Archive” will be removed, and that “many Google Hangouts photos and videos are still available and have been migrated to Google Chat.” (Google Chat is Google’s latest platform, which it launched and will replace Hangouts in 2021.) Other options that can be removed include “unusual things like thumbnails and album comments or favorites” and “uploaded background images.” in the Gmail theme options before. until 2018.”
Ron Amadeo
The important thing is that you can view your Album Archive Here and copy everything through Google Takeout.
Some people say they were emailed about this about a month ago, but I probably have hundreds of photos in my Album Archive and haven’t been notified. I also like to use Google Photos all the time, so anything I send people is probably taken with my phone and probably saved in Google Photos. It’s better than sorry, though, so maybe just look around while you can.