March 21, 2013
Facebook has for a long time been the place where we post our photos online. Why? Because it’s a convenient place where everyone we know can see what we’re up to. But what about an easy way to make sure those photos are safe should anything happen to Facebook or our own profile?
Sure, you might have those original photos on your laptop or phone (or both) and you’re hopefullybacking those up, but how do you save and back up all of the other photos uploaded by others, which you’ve been tagged in?
Thankfully, there are several tools you can use. Some are automated, while others require your manual efforts, but all ensure that your photos are safe and securely backed up. Then again, sometimes it might not even be about backing up your photos, but just easily acquiring those which you’ve been tagged in without having to manually download them all individually.
Download Your Information Via Facebook Archive
The Facebook Archive method is done directly through Facebook – no third-party apps are included in this process. To access this, go to your account settings. You should be taken automatically to the General tab on the left side. Click the link under all the information that says “Download a copy of your Facebook data”.
You’ll be brought to a page full of information about what data will (and will not) be included in the download. It’s important to read up on this information, so to save you the trouble of finding the different links, they’ve been included below:
- How can I download my information from Facebook – Facebook Help Center
- Accessing Your Facebook Info – Facebook Help Center
- Downloading Your Info – Facebook Help Center
There is also the option to download an expanded archive as well. Information about this is in the links above and the link to access this is on the primary page for downloading the regular archive.
Obviously with this, it’s going to take some time and you aren’t just going to get your photos, but everything else too. It may not be a bad idea to have a copy of all the other information too though.
PROS:
- Direct through Facebook – no third-party services/apps.
- Easy to do.
- Trustworthy.
- A complete download of all your profile information.
- Manual – you’re in control.
CONS
- Not automatic – must be done manually as new photos are added.
- Downloading process is time consuming.
- Tagged photos uploaded by friend’s aren’t included.
- Images are exported along with all other data.
- No easy access to images instantly.
IFTTT: Tagged Facebook Photos…
IFTTT (If This Then That) is no stranger to MakeUseOf – we write about it a lot – and neither are these recipes, as they’ve been mentioned before by Craig in 2011 and by Angela in 2012.
To Dropbox (Or Another Cloud Service)
This is probably my favorite method for saving Facebook photos because it happens automatically, uses a trusted service, is easy to set up and once set up, doesn’t need any maintenance, unless there’s been a password change in Dropbox and/or Facebook.
If you’re already a Dropbox user, this is simply yet another awesome use for it. If you’re not, perhaps you should consider it (or look for or make an IFTTT recipe for your preferred cloud storage service). This recipe works by automatically sending any photo which you’re tagged in to a specific Dropbox folder.
NOTE: Dropbox isn’t the only option here. Check out IFTTT for your options. Some of them are Google Drive, SkyDrive, Evernote, etc.
To A Private Facebook Album
Remember how the Facebook Archive won’t download your friends’ tagged photos of you? Well, here’s a solution. Once you set up this recipe, every time you’re tagged in a photo, that photo will be added to a private photo album only viewable by you. You can then proceed with downloading your Facebook information and included in it will be those photos.
There are many other recipes for IFTTT and Facebook (as well as thousands of others for services around the web) so go on and explore how IFTTT can help you.
PROS:
- Automatic.
- Customizable.
- Trustworthy.
- Easy to set up.
CONS:
- Requires accounts with additional services: IFTTT, Dropbox, etc.
Backup Your Facebook Account With Backupify
Backupify isn’t only for Facebook, but for this article’s purpose that’s all we’ll cover here. In a nutshell, Backupify is a service that connects to an abundant amount of social accounts online and backs them up. Just because it’s in the cloud doesn’t mean it can’t get lost – Backupify is like an insurance policy for your social media and is available for free (although there are premium plans too). For more information, take a look at our review of it here.
Each service, including Facebook, has its own page where the information can be accessed, exported and configured.
The great thing about Backupify is the customizations and ability to tweak it to exactly your preferences. Below is the page for the Facebook configurations.
PROS:
- Automatic backup.
- Configurable.
- Clean web interface.
- Multi-function.
CONS:
- Must create an account.
- Free account has service & storage limitations.
- Images are exported along with all other data.
- No easy access to images instantly.
Pick&Zip
Pick&Zip is a web app that you connect to your Facebook account. Once connected, photos and videos from pages, groups and what you’ve uploaded or been tagged in are displayed.
The interface is very easy and straightforward to use. Simply select the photos you want and download them. You also have the option to download all your tagged photos, albums and videos.
NOTE: Like any Facebook app, it’s important to be aware of what you’re connecting to your account and the permissions which it has. For instance, Pick&Zip asked if it could post on my wall on my behalf. Since this isn’t necessary for it to function properly, I didn’t allow that.
PROS:
- Clean, easy to use interface.
- Reputable.
- Quick “signup”.
CONS:
- Must connect to Facebook to use.
- Requires manual downloading of photos.
For more information of Pick&Zip, check out our full review.
PhotoGrabber
PhotoGrabber is a lightweight desktop application, which Angela reviewed a while back. It’s compatible with both Windows and Mac. Once you download, unzip and run the application, you’ll be prompted to connect it to your Facebook account.
Once the process is complete, you’ll receive a unique code which you’ll then paste into the PhotoGrabber window.
After copying and pasting the code into PhotoGrabber, you’re prompted with the choices of what to download.
Check the desired boxes, click “Begin Download” and that’s it! It seems like it’s going to take a while, but in my case it downloaded all the photos quite fast. It also sorts the photos out by owner and album.
PROS:
- Lightweight.
- Quick and simple to use, once unzipped.
- Keeps photos organized.
CONS:
- Needs to be unzipped and the application file found (not always easy for beginners).
- Connects to your Facebook account.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are quite a few ways to go about acquiring your Facebook photos. You can go the official Facebook Archive route, which is rather slow and requires you to manually do it or you can choose a third-party solution which ranges from automatic downloading through a cloud service to small desktop applications that connect to your Facebook account. The choice is yours.
Do you have a preference or have you used any of these methods in the past? Tell us about your experiences in downloading and backing up your Facebook photos.
Source: www.makeuseof.com
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