In this step-by-step tutorial, we’ll show you how to download videos from Google Drive to your iPhone’s Photos and Files apps.
You may want to export the video from Google Drive to the iPhone Photos app if you want to edit it, crop it, apply filters, remove sound, extract audio, or prefer watching it inside the Photos app.
Before saving the Google Drive video locally to your iPhone or iPad, ensure Google Drive is set up on your device. Here’s how:
- Download the Google Drive app for free from the App Store.
- Open the app and sign in using your Google/Gmail/YouTube account.
Once that’s done, follow the steps below to save the video to your iOS or iPadOS device.
Download video from Google Drive to the iOS Photos app
- Open the Google Drive app and go to the folder with the video or movie file. You can also search for the video by typing its name or format (.mp4, .avi, .mkv, .mov).
- Tap the three dots icon next to a video. If you’re unsure what that video is about, tap to play and preview it, then hit the three dots icon from the top right of the video player.
- Tap Send a copy, followed by Save Video from the iOS Share Sheet.
Google Drive will download the video file over Wi-Fi or cellular data, then transfer the clip to your phone’s photo library. You can now watch it anytime from the Photos app.
Save video from Google Drive to the iOS Files app
There are a couple of easy ways to export videos from Google Drive to your iPhone’s Files app.
- Go to the folder inside the iPhone Google Drive app and find the video you want to download.
- Tap the three dots icon next to the video file name.
- Select “Open in” from the list of options.
- Google Drive will prepare the video file to export, and when that’s done, it will show the iOS Share Sheet. Tap Save to Files, then pick a folder inside the Files app, and hit Save.
You have successfully downloaded the Google Drive video clip to On My iPhone or iCloud Drive. To find the video, open the Files app and tap Recents or go to the folder where you saved the video file in step 4 above.
You can also move the video from the Files app to the Photos app. To do this, touch and hold the video file, and tap Share > Save Video.
You can also add third-party storage services like Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive to the iPhone or iPad Files app. After that, copy the Google Drive video to the local On My iPhone section of the Files app.
The other way around
Conversely, if you’re looking to upload videos from your iPhone to Google Drive, go to the Photos app and open the video. Next, tap the share button and select Drive. If you don’t see Google Drive on the iOS Share Sheet, follow these steps to customize and show the desired options.
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