Guides · Updated 2026-09-19

How to download your whole Flickr library

There are three ways to download everything you have on Flickr, and they differ in what you get back. Flickr's own data export is the fastest first copy and comes by email in zip files. The website downloads selections of up to 500 items at a time. An app that uses the API can fetch originals one by one, and can save the titles, tags, dates and locations that Flickr keeps in its database rather than in the image file.

Step by step

  1. 1. Decide what "everything" means for you

    A photo file on Flickr has lost most of what you wrote about it. The title, description, tags, album membership and often the location live in Flickr's database, not inside the JPEG. If those matter, the method has to save them alongside the files. If you only want the pixels, any method will do.

  2. 2. For a first full copy, request your data from Flickr

    Open flickr.com/account, find Your Flickr Data, and choose Request my Flickr data. Flickr prepares zip files of your photos and a separate set for your account data, then emails you links. On a large library this takes hours to a day, but it is the only method that is not slowed by Flickr's per-application download limit.

  3. 3. For a few hundred photos, use the website

    On flickr.com, select photos in your camera roll or in Organizr and choose Download. Flickr builds a zip, capped at 500 items per download. Titles and tags are not included; you get the files.

  4. 4. For a copy that keeps its metadata, use an app

    Photo Stream Assistant's Backup writes each photo to a folder you choose on your Mac, in original size where Flickr offers one, with a small JSON file beside it holding the title, description, tags, dates, licence, coordinates and albums. It skips what is already saved, so a second run fetches only new photos.

  5. 5. Expect Flickr's download limit, and let it wait

    Flickr limits how quickly any application may download and does not publish the number. When the limit is reached, Flickr answers with HTTP 429 for a while. A well-behaved app waits as long as it is told and resumes; Photo Stream Assistant does this on its own, with a countdown on screen. A large library is one run you leave alone, not several you have to remember.

Questions

Do I get my original files?

Through the API, a Pro account can download originals where Flickr still has them. A Free account cannot: Flickr serves Free accounts nothing larger than 1024 pixels through the API, to the owner as well as to anyone else. Flickr's own data export gives originals regardless of account type.

How long does a full download take?

Flickr's export: hours to a day, then the zips arrive by email. An API download of a large library: hours, with waits when the limit is reached, whatever app is used. Nothing gets around the limit, and any app that claims to should be asked how.

Does downloading remove anything from Flickr?

No. Every method here is a read. Your photos stay on Flickr exactly as they were.

What does the free version of the app download?

25 photos per run, which is enough to see the folder appear, the files land and the sidecar files open on your own library before deciding. The one-time Pro Unlock removes the limit.

In the app

More guides

Written by Stéphane Monier, who built Photo Stream Assistant for a library of 138,000 photos. Also available as plain Markdown.