what is json file in zip photo folder and how do i permanently retain photos

I use google takeout today to copy all the google photos, as there was an alert that it took about 11gb of 15gb free space by google.
I have gone through a tutorial and succeeded to get a email alert that my backup was successful.
I used windows explorer to extract the photos to my external drive to keep it and delete in google photos.
During the open of files in explorer the zip files consist of jpg files and json files inside the folder, when extracted. What are those json files. Can i delete those files and still can open the jpgs . Can i permanently delete the storage in google photos. after saving them in external hard disk.
Shoud i have these json files also inside the folder. how it was created.
Please also tell me how to delete google photos in my computer. There is no selection button to select all
please

I think you need to forget about Google Takeout and download the photos directly. You can select up to 500 at a time. They will download into a regular zip file. When unzipped, no json files.
See KathyF response here Why downloaded google photos are coming with .jpg.json extension ? - Google Photos Community

Hi, glascuter, Is there any shortcut to limit my photos, may contain unwanted and non consecutive images, in google photos automatically.
The problem is all images , not including taking by camera are shown in the google photos
how do i see the total numbers of photos in my google photos , not storage.
if i select 499 pictures at one go, and copy , how do i simultaneously delete in google photos.
Any shortcut, as I did not know that my space of 15 gb is inclusive of this.
Moreover, previous versions of cameras were of low resolution of pixels and hence do not occupy most space in the free space.
Now, everybody sends in pixel concentrated images, each image occupies nearly 5 to 8mb size.
There must be a solution available which general users may not know.
Please your ideas on these

It's difficult for me to give you direct answers because there are too many variables.
I do not know if you are working with Google Drive for Desktop or the store app. I do not know how you set up your preferences as what folders are synced to Google Drive, whether you chose to stream you files, or if you chose to mirror then to a folder on your computer.

Going on the assumption that you are using Google Drive for Desktop, let's try something.


Now, when you open file explorer there should be drive Z there named Google Drive. This will make it easier to deal with the files.

Open Z in file explorer. All your files that are stored in the Google cloud should show up there in a folder called "My Drive". It may take a few minutes for your files to show up depending on how many you have.

Open the "My Drive" folder. From there you can manipulate the files however you want just as though you were dealing with files on your hard drive. Do not use drag and drop though. Use cut and paste if you want to remove the files from Drive and put them only on your storage drive. Use copy and paste if you want to have the file on your storage drive but also keep the file in Drive.

You might want to select only a few files at first until you can determine if this is going to accomplish what you want.

Once you get your photos how you want , you need to see which(if any) folders on your computer you have syncing between your computer and Google Drive. Deselect any you do not want to sync to Drive. If you sync with Google Drive: Everything in the folder is mirrored. Changes sync between your computer and Google Drive.

1. Click Settings Settings and then Preferences.
2. On the left, click Folders from your computer.
3. From this menu, you can:
4. Add folders to sync with Drive.
5. Add folders to backup to Photos.
6. Edit preferences of already configured folders.

Let me know if this works.
You might want to become familiar with these instructions if you are going to use Drive in the future.

Hi, I have enough storage and I do not want the google drive to store anything other than I want , like sharing files etc.
I will try this trick and will deselect sync.
the photos show 12 gb out of the free 15 gb. This i had not expected.
I will delete all the things by following your instructions like copy and paste and then delete all in the drive.
Let me try if it works, hope will work.
Last query on this:
If suppose, I enabled file transfer and transfer all the videos and photos from whatsapp to a separate folder, will it also have json files.
Or if it just copies the files, then can I delete those in the same way to clear my android space.
Is that also have any connection with google photos?

jraju said:

If suppose, I enabled file transfer and transfer all the videos and photos from whatsapp to a separate folder, will it also have json files.

Click to expand...

I'm sorry, I cannot answer that. I have no experience whatsoever with whatsapp.

ok. will check.
My query is , is there any connection with the whatsapp videos and photos with google photos regarding storage.
Should I keep the Z drive for further monitoring of google drive?
Or can I safely delete it after emptying what I want

jraju said:

transfer all the videos and photos from whatsapp to a separate folder,

Click to expand...

Maybe this will help

You wouldn't delete it. You would just un-map it as a drive in google drive settings. Once it's unmapped it will disappear from file explorer.
I find it handy to have as it's always easy to see just how much stuff is stored in Google Drive and it's so easy to manupulate it from there.. It's up to you.

As far as whatsapp and its relationship to Google, I do not know. You can always send a picture thru whatsapp and then go to google drive and see if it's there.
I would think that it might be if you take the picture with an Android phone, but can't say for certain. You may well be backing up all the photos on your phone to Google Drive. I know that Apple backs up their iphone photos to iCloud which is their equivalent to the Android's Google. That's all handled thru your phone's setting and how you have it set up.

hi, glasscuter,
This has reference to your first suggestion. I assigned a z drive letter to the drive.
When I click the properties, it shows 13 gb and some folders which are empty.
But when i click the properties for individual folders it only shows about 349 mbs.
But z drive as whole shows a whooping 13gb.
How do i go about then
I went to the gdrive and found photos from 2014 to present date.
are those photos relate to the attachment in gmail
or all those photos are stored in android phones of this gmail account holder, if suppose, i have 3 phones
or what are those photos
can I just delete there itself from the cloud storage

jraju said:

r what are those photos

Click to expand...

I told you I can not answer what they are.Every Google Account comes with 15 GB of storage that's shared across Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. I have no way of knowing what devices you have linked to Google Drive in the past. I gave suggestions of where they could have come from, and your phones are one of the places. Any old saved emails that you have failed to delete from your inbox also go against your google drive storage limit. You have to view what's in that folder yourself and choose how you want to handle the photos there. You can Store them only on your external hard drive by using cut and paste. You can keep them both places by using copy and paste. You can outright delete them by deleting them from Drive. When a file is moved out of or deleted from that mapped drive folder, you will get a popup telling you that you have removed the files from Goodlge Drive and that they have been moved to Google Drive trash. After 30 days they are deleted from Google Drive forever and are not recoverable from Drive.

Yes Thanks for your answers.
J just selected the year wise google photos and safely deleted it. It goes to trash tab and will remain there for 60 days and then vanish.
The space is regained. Google photos storage from cloud is not reflecting in the total storage. I suppose.
the other news is that i could revisit the trash and restore what i want finally, in one or two days.
So , I need not worry about the linkages of devices, which might be affected by the storage limitations.
But , there is a doubt.
Would it go from every device that the photos relate to is the next query.
When I just checked my android device, I had the warning of low space and found all the photos years were present there.
Should one delete each and every device.
or if i Miss anything

When dealing with ANY cloud storage, it depends on how the user has set up his device options in relationship to that cloud storage.. It’s up to you to know how you have your devices optioned. With any device, you can option to store all photos only in the cloud , only on the device, OR you can option to store photos on both the device And the cloud. Anything stored on the device only will not be in Drive.

If you have multiple devices (both windows and Android) syncing to a folder in Drive, when a file is deleted from THAT PARTICULAR Google drive folder using one device, it should be deleted on all fevices from THAT PARTICULAR FOLDER. Anything you do not delete from Google drive should still be available on all your devices. You may well have multiple folders within Drive where you have stored photos, this I do not know. If you do, you will have to deal with the files in each folder. But the default Google Drive folder is \My Drive.

Hi, glass cuter, thanks for your advice. I just selected yearwise and downloaded the same to a external drive. I just deleted and thank god . The storage was gained. thanks for your tips