It’s been on the horizon for months, looming for years, but now it’s finally time – Google+ is no more.
Google announced a few months ago that its struggling social network would finally be retired, but a recently-revealed security breach moved their final days from August 2019 to April 2019. Here is everything you need to know and do now that Google+ will shut down.
What’s Happening
On April 2, 2019, Google is shutting down their social network, Google+. No other Google products (such as Gmail, Google Photos, Google Drive, YouTube) will be shut down as part of the consumer Google+ shutdown. The Google Account you use to sign in to these services will remain.
There are really only two potential steps you need to take, if you haven’t already:
- Make sure that you have a Google My Business profile
- Save any data from your Google+ you want to preserve
Other than that, you can put Google+ out of your mind. Google will handle shutting down all profiles on April 2. If you do need to save your data, follow the steps below from Google:
Download all your Google+ data
You can download an archive of all your Google+ data at once, including your Google+ circles, Communities, Streams, and +1’s. Your Google+ archive includes your photos and videos from Google+.
- Go to the Download your data page. You might have to sign in. Your available Google+ data will be preselected.
- Click Next.
- Choose a file type.
- Choose how you want your data delivered.
- Click Create archive.
Note: If you want to download Google+ Pages content, sign in as the Google+ Page.
Download specific Google+ data
Instead of downloading all of your data, you can download specific Google+ data, like your photos, posts, communities, or events.
Important: If you want to download your photos and videos from Google+, make sure to select Photos under “Google+ Stream.”
- Go to the Download your data page. You might have to sign in.
- Next to the type of content you want to download, like Google+ Stream, click the Down arrow .
- Click Select specific data.
- Select the specific data you want to download.
- Click OK.
- Click Next.
- Choose a file type.
- Choose how you want your data delivered.
- Click Create archive.
Note: If you want to download Google+ Pages content, sign in as the Google+ Page.
Save your photos and videos
Step 1: Download your photos and videos
- Go to the Download your data page. You might have to sign in.
- To download your photos and videos from Google+, make sure that “Google+ Stream” is selected, click on “All Google+ Stream data included” and make sure the Photos option is selected.
- Click Next Step.
- Choose a file type. Choose how you want your data delivered.
- Click Create archive.
Note: Your archive may take minutes or days before it’s available.
Step 2: Save your photos and videos
For best results, follow these steps on a computer:
- When your content is ready to download, you’ll get an email.
- Open the email and click Download archive.
- Sign in to your Google Account.
- Next to your archive, click Download.
- On your computer, go to the downloads folder, and open the file. Your photos will be in the “Photos” folder inside the “Google+ Stream” folder that appears.
Download Google+ data for deleted Google+ accounts
If you previously deleted your Google+ account or your Google+ page, we informed you that your photos and videos from Google+ would continue to appear in your Album Archive and your Google+ Events content wouldn’t be deleted. We will begin deleting this content on April 2, 2019. If you want to keep this content, download it using the above instructions before April 2019. Note: Photos and videos backed up in Google Photos will not be deleted.
Will This Affect My SEO?
You may be wondering if losing your Google+ profile will impact your SEO score. The short answer is your SEO score should not be affected. Google+ historically has had little impact on your SEO. Instead, having a Google My Business profile has more of an impact on your SEO.
It’s been a bumpy ride with Google+, but it’s finally time to say farewell. As always, we’ll keep you up-to-date on Google’s social offerings moving forward. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to Trygve Olsen.
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