Google – Why Downloading Videos from Picasa Is Not Supported

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I am considering using Picasa Web Albums as the main storage point for all my pictures and videos.

Strangely, Google has officially stated that It's not possible to download videos from Picasa Web Albums at this time. This is very frustrating since it essentially means that it is not future-proof to use Picasa as the single storage place for videos.

It also seems contrary to the stated purpose of Google's own Data Liberation Front.
Thus, there seems to be a slim hope that downloading videos might be made possible in the future.
Unless there is a specific reason for this unfriendly policy.

What is the reason for the policy? Is it just technically difficult, or is there some business reason for actively disabling it?

If I understood this better, I could better judge the likelyhood of this feature beeing supported in the future.

(I realize that there are some workarounds for downloading videos but they are cumbersome, they do not seem to support HD, and they are impractical to use on a large number of videos)

Best Answer

Now that Google seems to be leaning towards "Google Photos" or whatever they're going to call it, you can download your Picasa Web videos.

Here's how:

  • Go to the Google+ version of your site ( http://www.google.com/+ ).
  • On the left hand side, click on the "Photos" icon.
  • Find and click on the album with the video you want to download.
  • Find and click on the video you want to download.
  • At the bottom, in the black part, will be the word "Options"; click on it.
  • Download your video.
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