Managing thousands of pictures in Google Photos can feel overwhelming, especially when you need to delete, download, or move everything at once. In 2025, Google Photos is still an amazing cloud storage service, but it continues to lack one major feature:

There is still no built-in “Select All” button.

If you want to select multiple photos, you must drag or manually click, which becomes painful if you have 10,000+ photos. Whether you're trying to free up storage space, clean duplicates, or delete unwanted old pictures, selecting all photos manually can take hours.

But don’t worry! In this guide, you will learn:

• How to select multiple photos in Google Photos
• How to bulk-select by date, album, or location
• The limitations of Google Photos
• The easiest way to select ALL photos at once (using a safe browser extension)
• Tips for quickly backing up or deleting everything

Let’s dive in.

Why Selecting All Photos in Google Photos Is Difficult

Google Photos was designed to organize memories, not to mass-delete them. That’s why Google intentionally avoids giving users a one-click “Select All” option—to prevent accidental deletion.

However, this also means:

• You cannot select all photos in one click
• You cannot select by a custom date range
• You cannot select by file type (only images or only videos)
• Manual scrolling loads photos slowly
• Bulk deletion of thousands of files is frustrating

This guide will give you not just the official ways Google allows—but also the shortcut method that actually works in 2025.

1. How to Select Multiple Photos in Google Photos (Official Method)

Even though Google Photos does not offer "Select All," you can select multiple pictures using the stock built-in controls.

Step-by-step:

1. Open Google Photos in your browser.
2. Hover your mouse over the photo you want to start with.
3. Click the check mark on the photo to start selection.
4. Now scroll down.
5. Hold Shift and click another photo.

Google Photos will select everything between the two clicks.

Limitations:

• You still have to scroll through all images manually.
• Selecting 10,000+ photos becomes slow because Google loads images in batches.
• You cannot do this from the Google Photos app.

If you have years of photos, this method becomes impractical.

2. How to Select Photos by Album in Google Photos

Albums make it easier to select multiple photos.

Steps:

1. Go to Albums in Google Photos.
2. Open an album.
3. Click Select (top right).
4. Choose the photos you want.

Limitation:

You still can’t "Select All" for an entire album.
You must click each photo or use the Shift method.

3. How to Select Photos by Date in Google Photos

Google Photos arranges images chronologically, which helps in bulk selection.

How to select by year/month:

1. Scroll to the year you want.
2. Click the checkmark on the first image.
3. Scroll to the last day of the year.
4. Hold Shift and click the final image.

This selects all images between the two points.

Limitations:

• Extremely slow for years with thousands of photos
• Requires manually scrolling from start to end
• Cannot select a custom date range

4. How to Select Photos by People or Places (Face Clusters)

Google Photos offers face-group recognition.

Select all photos of one person:

1. Go to Explore
2. Click People & Pets
3. Select a face
4. Tap the check icon
5. Select multiple photos using Shift

Limitation:

Still no select-all button.
You must scroll until all photos load.

5. The Real Problem: Google Photos Still Does Not Allow Full Selection

Google has intentionally restricted:

• Mass deletion
• Bulk export (beyond Google Takeout)
• Full-range selection

This means:

• You cannot select all photos with one click
• You cannot bulk delete by category
• You cannot filter by file type
• You cannot delete videos in bulk
• You cannot select by custom date range

Many users find this painful, especially when they:

✔ Run out of Google account storage
✔ Want to clean up junk photos
✔ Want to remove old screenshots
✔ Need to delete photos taken years ago
✔ Want to export all memories to local storage

This is why alternative tools have become essential.

6. BEST METHOD (2025): How to Select All Photos in Google Photos Using Google Photos Cleaner

If you want a true Select All option or want to select photos by date range, year, file type, or media type, you must use a third-party tool.

The easiest and most reliable method is using the Google Photos Cleaner browser extension.

What Is Google Photos Cleaner?

It’s a safe Chrome extension that adds a button inside Google Photos that gives you:

✔ Select All Photos

✔ Select by Date Range

✔ Select Only Images / Only Videos

✔ Select by File Type (JPG, PNG, HEIC, MP4, etc.)

✔ Delete thousands of photos in one go

✔ Skip manual scrolling

✔ Lightweight & secure

Once installed, you’ll see a new blue button in the Google Photos interface named:

Google Photos Cleaner

Clicking it opens a popup where you can instantly filter and select thousands of photos.

How to Select All Photos Using Google Photos Cleaner (Step-by-Step)

Step 1: Install Google Photos Cleaner

Go to:
https://googlephotoscleaner.devlints.com

(Official website of the extension)

Step 2: Open Google Photos

Navigate to: https://photos.google.com

Step 3: Click the “Google Photos Cleaner” Button

It appears at the top right corner of the Google Photos interface.

Step 4: Choose “Select All” or a Filter

The popup lets you:

• Select all photos
• Select by year
• Select by date range
• Select only images
• Select only videos
• Select by file type
• Select burst photos/screenshots
• Select RAW photos

Step 5: Click “Start Selection”

The extension automatically scrolls, loads, and selects everything.
You don’t have to scroll manually.

Step 6: Perform Your Action

Once photos are selected, you can:

• Delete
• Download
• Move to an album

Benefits of Using Google Photos Cleaner

⭐ 1. Saves Hours of Work

Manually selecting photos can take hours or days—this tool does it in seconds.

⭐ 2. Works on Huge Libraries

Even if you have 50,000+ photos, the tool can handle it.

⭐ 3. Safe and Local

Your photos never leave your browser.
No upload, no server processing.

⭐ 4. Filters Google Photos Doesn’t Provide

Google Photos Cleaner offers powerful filters such as:

• File type selection
• Media type selection
• Date range selectors
• Year selector
• Month selector

⭐ 5. Delete Unwanted Photos Quickly

You can easily delete:

• Duplicate shots
• Screenshots
• WhatsApp images
• Old downloads
• Blurry photos
• RAW images

7. Alternative Method: Google Takeout (For Exporting All Photos)

If your purpose is to download everything, Google Takeout is the official but clunky solution.

Steps:

1. Visit takeout.google.com
2. Select Google Photos
3. Export your entire library
4. Download the ZIP files

Limitations:

• Cannot delete photos
• Exports photos into many folders
• ZIP files may be too large
• Slow and complex for non-technical users

8. Tips for Managing a Large Google Photos Library

Here are some pro tips to keep your photos organized:

1. Delete junk monthly

Screenshots, WhatsApp images, memes, or random downloads eat 70% of storage.

2. Use albums wisely

Organize your best photos into albums for easy navigation.

3. Back up your phone manually

Turn off automatic backup if your Google storage is limited.

4. Use a cleanup tool

Tools like Google Photos Cleaner help you avoid manual work.

5. Keep RAW and 4K videos on local drive

These files are huge and unnecessary in cloud storage unless needed.

Conclusion

Google Photos is incredibly powerful, but as of 2025, it still lacks a simple Select All button, making bulk deletion or management difficult.

The built-in methods work only for small batches—but if you want to:

✔ Select all photos
✔ Select by date range
✔ Select only images or videos
✔ Delete thousands of photos
✔ Manage your library efficiently

…then using Google Photos Cleaner is the easiest and fastest solution.

It puts the missing “Select All” feature directly inside Google Photos, saves hours of work, and makes storage cleanup effortless.