Need help uploading photos from my Mac to Google Drive

Mac
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I’m trying to move a large batch of photos from my MacBook to Google Drive to back them up and free space, but I’m confused by the different options (web upload, Drive for desktop, Photos vs Drive). Some uploads stall or seem to compress the images. What’s the best, most reliable way to upload full‑resolution photos from a Mac to Google Drive without losing quality or getting stuck?

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How I Move Photos From My Mac To Google Drive (And Why I Stopped Doing It The “Normal” Way)

So I’ve bounced between a bunch of different ways to get photos from my Mac into Google Drive, and I kept running into the same annoying friction points: browser limits, uploads stalling, giant “sync” apps eating RAM, etc. Here’s the setup I eventually landed on and how it compares.

Basic Way: Uploading Photos To Google Drive From A Mac

If you just want the straight Mac → Google Drive upload without any extra apps, this is the usual path.

1. Using the browser

  1. Open a browser on your Mac (Chrome, Safari, whatever).
  2. Go to: https://drive.google.com
  3. Sign in to your Google account.
  4. Once you’re in:
    • To upload individual files:
      • Click the New button on the left.
      • Choose File upload.
      • Pick your photos from Finder.
    • To upload a whole folder:
      • Click New.
      • Choose Folder upload.
      • Select the folder that has your pictures.

You can also just drag photos or folders straight from Finder into the Google Drive window and it will start uploading.

2. Using Google Drive for desktop (the sync app)

If you prefer to treat Google Drive kind of like another disk on your Mac:

  1. Download Google Drive for desktop from Google’s site.
  2. Install it and sign in with your Google account.
  3. Google Drive will show up in Finder like a mounted location.
  4. You can then drag your photo folders into that Google Drive location.
  5. It syncs in the background to the cloud.

This works, but:

  • It tends to eat resources if you have a lot of files.
  • It can be slow to re-scan big photo libraries.
  • You’re stuck with however Google decided to implement sync.

Why I Ended Up Using CloudMounter Instead

I eventually tried CloudMounter and it changed how I deal with Drive (and a few other cloud services too). It basically lets you treat cloud storage like external drives in Finder, without doing the “sync a copy of everything locally” thing.

Here is why I find it more convenient for photo uploads specifically.

It Shows Up In Finder Like A Normal Drive

Instead of opening a browser or babying a sync client, CloudMounter hooks Google Drive straight into Finder. After you connect your Google account:

  • Your Google Drive appears as a mounted drive on the desktop / in the sidebar.
  • You can drag and drop photos and folders to it just like a USB stick.
  • You can copy, move, rename, or reorganize your Google Drive stuff from Finder.

Mentally, this is way easier. No context switching to the browser, no “wait, which folder did I upload that to?” back-and-forth.

No Huge Local Sync Folder Eating Disk Space

If you have a big photo archive, syncing everything locally can get ridiculous. Several hundred gigs of images will chew through the average MacBook SSD fast.

With CloudMounter:

  • Files can live mostly in the cloud.
  • You interact with them as if they were local, but they are not actually duplicated on your internal drive.
  • You decide what gets copied down, instead of a client trying to mirror everything.

So you can upload older photo archives into Drive through CloudMounter, free up local space, and still access them from Finder when needed.

Works Across Multiple Cloud Services The Same Way

Google Drive is just one of the options. If you also use other services, everything lives under the same interface:

  • Google Drive
  • Dropbox
  • OneDrive
  • Other supported storage

You connect them once, they all mount in Finder, and your photo workflow is now one unified thing instead of a patchwork of different sync apps and browser tabs.

That makes it easier to:

  • Move photos from one service to another.
  • Keep “client work” in one cloud and “personal stuff” in another.
  • Avoid running three separate sync applications just to move pictures.

Manual Control Over Uploads Without Browser Weirdness

Browser uploads are famous for:

  • Failing halfway through and silently stopping.
  • Getting blocked by weird connection hiccups.
  • Being painful with large folders or lots of small files.

Uploading via Finder with CloudMounter feels more like copying to a network drive:

  • You drag the photos into the Google Drive mount.
  • macOS handles the file copy.
  • You can see the progress as a standard file operation.

It is less “web app magic”, more “traditional file transfer”. That predictability matters if you are uploading hundreds or thousands of shots from a shoot.

Keeps Your Workflow Inside macOS Instead Of In The Browser

If you spend your time in:

  • Photos
  • Lightroom
  • Capture One
  • Preview
  • Finder

It is just smoother to stay inside that ecosystem. You can:

  • Export images from your photo app directly into the Google Drive volume.
  • Save edits or exports straight to a Drive folder, no extra “upload step”.
  • Use normal Finder tools (tags, quick look, etc.) to manage them.

Instead of: export to a local folder → open browser → find folder → upload → wait.

Less Visual Clutter And Fewer Apps Running

The classic combo is:

  • Google Drive sync client in the menu bar.
  • Maybe Dropbox too.
  • Browser tabs for multiple cloud services.

With CloudMounter, all that condenses into:

  • One app running in the background.
  • Multiple cloud disks appearing in Finder.

If you are trying to keep your Mac lean, this helps. Especially on older machines where constant syncs can slow things down.

Rough Comparison: Native Methods vs CloudMounter

Browser Upload:

  • Pros

    • No install needed
    • Fine for quick, one-off uploads

  • Cons

    • Clunky for big folders
    • Easy to lose track of progress
    • Requires keeping the tab open

Google Drive for desktop:

  • Pros

    • Integrates with Finder
    • Automatic sync

  • Cons

    • Can be heavy on resources
    • Sync logic can be confusing
    • Mirrors a lot of data locally by default

CloudMounter with Google Drive:

  • Pros

    • Mounts Drive as a virtual drive in Finder
    • No huge local sync folder
    • Same workflow for multiple cloud services
    • Drag & drop from Finder just like external storage

  • Cons

    • Requires installing and setting up a separate app
    • Needs a bit of initial configuration for each account

Short Version

  • To upload photos from a Mac to Google Drive the standard way, you either use the browse or install the official Google Drive app and sync via Finder.
  • If you connect Google Drive through CloudMounter, it acts like a mounted drive in Finder, so you can drag photos into it like an external disk, without syncing everything to your SSD.
  • For anyone juggling big photo libraries or multiple cloud accounts, that “one Finder, multiple clouds, no giant sync folder” approach tends to be a lot more convenient.
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3

Couple of different issues tangled together here: where to put photos (Drive vs Photos), how to upload reliably, and how to actually free space on the Mac. I’ll hit all three without rehashing the exact steps @mikeappsreviewer already laid out.

1. Google Drive vs Google Photos: pick the right “home”

This confuses pretty much everyone:

  • Google Drive

    • Think “files & folders.”
    • Best if your photos are already in folders by year/event, or you want them as normal files for editing, zipping, sharing in bulk.
    • No automatic “Albums” magic unless you build it yourself with folders.

  • Google Photos

    • Think “photo library.”
    • Auto-grouping, search by people/places, simple editing, nice mobile apps.
    • Much nicer if these are personal memories you want to browse, not just archive.

Important bit: Google Drive and Google Photos are no longer tightly synced like they used to be. Uploading to Drive does not automatically make everything show in Photos and vice versa. So decide:

  • “I just want a backup & free SSD space” → Drive is fine.
  • “I want an iCloud Photos alternative” → Photos is better.

You can use both, but that gets messy fast.

2. Why uploads stall & how to avoid it

Browser uploads stalling is almost a feature at this point. A few things that actually help:

  1. Break your upload into chunks

    • Instead of throwing 20,000 files at Drive at once, do:
      • Year 1 folder → upload
      • Year 2 folder → upload
    • If a chunk fails, you can re‑upload just that folder.

  2. Turn off “sleep” temporarily

    • System Settings → Battery → prevent sleep while plugged in.
    • If the Mac sleeps mid upload, your session can get goofy and stall.

  3. Avoid saturating your Wi‑Fi

    • If others are streaming/gaming on the same network, your upload requests start timing out.
    • Overnight upload on wired Ethernet is way more boring but way more stable.

  4. Check for file weirdos

    • Corrupted files or bizarre filenames sometimes cause the upload to hang.
    • If the progress bar stops at the same spot repeatedly, that folder probably has a problem file. Try splitting that folder in two and see which half hangs.

3. Drive for desktop vs CloudMounter vs web

I’m going to mildly disagree with @mikeappsreviewer on one thing: for many people, the plain Google Drive for desktop app is actually fine, especially if you understand one key setting.

In Drive for desktop:

  • Under preferences there is usually an option similar to
    • “Stream files” vs “Mirror files”

Pick Stream files, not Mirror.
Streaming keeps almost everything in the cloud and only caches what you open, so it doesn’t eat your SSD. That already solves half the “big sync client” pain for simple use cases.

That said:

  • If you:

    • Use multiple cloud services
    • Hate running multiple sync apps
    • Want everything mount in Finder the same way

    then CloudMounter really is cleaner.
    It behaves like a “virtual external disk” for Google Drive, so big photo dumps feel like copying to a network drive, not babysitting a sync-engine. For your situation:

  • Mount Google Drive via CloudMounter

  • Drag one photo folder at a time into that mounted volume in Finder

  • Let macOS handle the copy, watch progress, repeat

Where CloudMounter wins hard is not duplicating everything locally. There’s no giant mirrored “Google Drive” folder quietly re‑occupying the space you’re trying to free.

4. Actually freeing space on the Mac without losing stuff

Crucial part that people skip:

  1. Upload → verify → then delete locally

    • After an upload batch finishes, go to drive.google.com (or the mounted volume) and spot-check:
      • Are subfolders there?
      • File counts roughly match?
      • Can you open a few random photos?

  2. Optional: make a 2nd backup

    • If these photos really matter, consider:
      • External HDD/SSD copy
      • Plus Google Drive
    • Relying on only one cloud is asking for future stress.

  3. Delete from Mac’s local storage

    • Once you’re confident the cloud copy exists (and ideally a second backup), then remove the originals from your Mac.
    • Empty Trash.
    • If they were in the Photos app:
      • Delete from Photos
      • Then go to Photos → Recently Deleted and clear that too, or you won’t get the space back for 30 days.

  4. Do not enable any setting that re-downloads them

    • If you use Drive for desktop, make sure that photo archive folder is not set to “keep offline.”
    • With CloudMounter that’s easier since files live remote by default.

5. If you want Google Photos specifically

You mentioned confusion about Photos vs Drive. If you decide you actually want Google Photos:

  • Use the Google Photos web uploader (photos.google.com)
  • Or export from the Mac Photos app into regular folders, then upload those into Google Photos.

I would not mix “some photos in Drive, some in Photos” unless you’re OK remembering which decade lives where. If your goal is a clean workflow, pick one primary home.

TL;DR setup that usually keeps people sane:

  • Use CloudMounter to mount Google Drive as a Finder volume.
  • Upload in small-ish folder batches from Finder, let it copy like a network drive.
  • Decide: either “All archives live in Drive” or “All archives live in Photos,” not both.
  • After each batch, verify in the cloud, then delete locally and clear Recently Deleted / Trash.

That gets you reliable uploads, less stalling, and real freed space instead of mystery “Other” storage hanging around.

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Couple of things I think are still fuzzy here that @mikeappsreviewer and @ombrasilente kind of danced around:

  1. Freeing space vs “backing up”

    • Uploading to Google Drive or Google Photos gives you a copy, not a real backup strategy.
    • If these photos matter, do 2 copies:
      • Cloud (Drive or Photos)
      • External SSD/HDD (Time Machine or just a straight folder copy)
    • Only after both copies exist do you start deleting from the Mac. Otherwise you’re one glitchy upload away from sadness.

  2. Drive vs Photos: decide by how you use them, not by where they live now

    • If you:
      • Use Lightroom / Capture One / Finder folders
      • Share ZIPs or RAWs
      • Care about rigid folder structure
        Then Google Drive is the right target.
    • If you:
      • Want “scroll on phone and see everything nicely organized”
      • Like auto people/places search
      • Mostly care about finished JPGs, not raws
        Then Google Photos makes more sense.
    • Trying to be clever and do half‑archive in Drive, half in Photos is cute until you spend 30 minutes later just figuring out where 2019 vacation lives.

  3. Why your uploads stall (besides Google being Google)
    The browser is usually the weakest link:

    • Massive folder + flaky WiFi + “don’t let the Mac sleep” set to off = stall city.
    • You can fight this, but honestly:
      • Break things into year/month folders.
      • Upload one or two at a time.
      • Don’t touch the browser tab while it’s chewing through thousands of tiny files.

    Personally I stopped trusting big jobs to the browser years ago.

  4. Drive for desktop vs CloudMounter vs web

    • Web only
      • Ok for < a few GB at a time.
      • You’re already hitting its limit if your uploads are stalling.
    • Drive for desktop
      • Everyone says “just use Stream mode” and it is fine for a lot of people.
      • BUT it still loves background indexing, random CPU spikes, and surprise “I decided to sync this” behavior.
      • Also, one bad conflict and you’re reverse‑syncing junk back onto your Mac, which is the opposite of what you want.
    • CloudMounter
      • This is where I’m siding more with @mikeappsreviewer:
        • It mounts Google Drive like a network disk in Finder.
        • No giant local sync folder.
        • You literally drag your photo folders from your internal drive to the mounted Google Drive volume.
      • For your use case (big batch, free space, minimal drama), CloudMounter is honestly the least annoying option:
        1. Mount Google Drive in CloudMounter.
        2. Drag, say, “Photos / 2010–2015” into that mounted drive.
        3. Let macOS handle the copy.
        4. Check Drive in the browser to confirm counts & spot‑test some images.
        5. Then delete the local 2010–2015 folder and empty Trash.

    The difference is control. Drive for desktop tries to be smart. CloudMounter is dumb on purpose: it just moves files where you tell it.

  5. What I’d actually do in your shoes

    • Pick one:
      • “Archive mode” → Google Drive via CloudMounter.
      • “Library mode” → Export from Photos as JPEGs and upload to Google Photos in smaller batches.
    • For big existing folders on disk, I’d:
      1. Plug in power, keep Mac awake.
      2. Mount Drive with CloudMounter.
      3. Upload in logical chunks (e.g., per year).
      4. After each chunk, verify in Drive.
      5. Copy the same chunk to an external disk.
      6. Delete that chunk locally and clear Recently Deleted / Trash.

    Yes, it’s a bit manual. The alternative is trusting one huge nonstop upload in a browser, which you already discovered is… optimistic.

TL;DR: ditch huge browser uploads, avoid letting Drive for desktop mirror half your life back to your SSD, and use something like CloudMounter to treat Google Drive like a simple external disk. Then verify, double‑backup, and then delete from the Mac so you actually reclaim space.