How to Back Up Your Cloud Backups (and Why You Actually Should)

Here is the thing no one tells you about cloud storage. Even the safest cloud service is not magic. It is still run by people, hardware, and companies that change their terms, merge, or shut down. That is why you should always have more than one backup.

Think of it like insurance for your insurance.

The 3-2-1 Rule

Cybersecurity experts have one simple rule for keeping your files safe: Three copies, on two types of storage, with one kept off-site.

Here is how that works for family photos and videos:

1. Copy One: The originals on your phone, tablet, or computer.
2. Copy Two: The cloud backup (Google Photos, iCloud, or Amazon Photos).
3. Copy Three: A local backup stored on a physical drive at home.

That last one is your safety net. It protects against problems you cannot predict — things like accidental account deletion, service outages, or even a cloud company quietly changing its policies.

Why Cloud Services Still Need Backup

Every major provider, from Apple to Google, has had outages. In 2022, Google Photos users briefly lost access to years of pictures due to a sync issue. In 2023, Amazon Drive (the service linked to Amazon Photos) was discontinued entirely. These moments are rare, but they prove a point: convenience does not equal permanence.

If your photos exist only in the cloud, then you are trusting that one company to safeguard everything forever. That is too much power to hand over, even to a tech giant.

How to Create a “Backup of Your Backup”

Step 1: Download your full library once a year.

How to Export Your Entire Library from Google Photos

Google provides a dedicated service called Google Takeout for exporting data from all of its products.

1. Navigate to takeout.google.com in a web browser and sign in.
2. On the Create a new export page, click Deselect all.
3. Scroll down the list of products and check the box next to Google Photos.
4. Users can choose to export all albums or select specific ones by clicking the All photo albums included button.
5. Scroll to the bottom and click Next step.
6. Choose the delivery method (e.g., Send download link via email), frequency (Export once), and file type and size (e.g., .zip files, split into 10 GB archives).
7. Click Create export. Google will then prepare the files, which can take hours or even days for very large libraries. An email will be sent with download links once the process is complete.

How to Download Your Entire Library from iCloud Photos

The method for downloading an entire iCloud Photos library depends on the device being used.

On a Mac:

1. Open the “Photos” app.
2. Go to Photos > Settings from the menu bar.
3. Click the iCloud tab.
4. Select the option Download Originals to this Mac. This will download a full-resolution copy of every photo and video from iCloud to the Mac’s hard drive. From there, the library can be copied to an external drive.

On a Windows PC:

1. Users can request a copy of their data directly from Apple’s privacy website at privacy.apple.com.
2. Sign in with an Apple Account and select Request a copy of your data.
3. Check the box for iCloud Photos and follow the prompts to complete the request. Apple will prepare the data and send an email with a link to download it.

How to Download Your Library from Amazon Photos

Amazon Photos does not offer a simple, one-click “download everything” tool like Google Takeout. The process is more manual and can be cumbersome for large libraries.

1. Open Amazon Photos in a web browser.
2. In the photo view, users can select photos individually or by date. After selecting the first photo, a Select All option will appear for that date group.
3. Unfortunately, it is not possible to select and download an entire album at once. Users must open an album and then manually select all the photos within it.
4. Once photos are selected, click the Download button in the top menu bar. The photos will be compiled into a .zip file and downloaded through the browser. For very large libraries, this process may need to be repeated multiple times.

Step 2: Store that drive somewhere safe.

Keep it in a separate location from your main computer like in a fireproof safe, a desk drawer, or even with a trusted family member.

Step 3: Refresh it annually.

Once a year, repeat the export. Replace the old drive copy with the new one. This habit protects you against corrupted files or cloud policy changes.

How Fiber Internet Makes Backups Practical

Here is the part that separates the “I’ll get to it later” crowd from the “it is already done” crowd.

Cloud exports are massive, often hundreds of gigabytes. On cable Internet, downloading or re-uploading that much data can take hours or even days.

With fiber Internet, downloads and uploads are symmetrical and ultrafast. A 100 GB export that could take eight hours on cable can finish in under fifteen minutes on fiber.

When it is that fast, there is no excuse not to do it.

Don’t Overthink It, Just Set the Habit

Backing up your cloud backups is not about paranoia. It is about peace of mind. Treat it like renewing a passport or checking your smoke detector batteries. Once a year, you make sure your family’s digital history still exists in more than one place. Technology can fail. Fiber and good habits do not.

Posted: October 20, 2025