Back in 2014, we announced our intention to retire Panoramio in order to invest our efforts into improving photo-sharing experiences directly inside Google Maps.  In response to your feedback, we postponed these plans and worked to add features to Maps that better support the level of engagement that you have enjoyed with Panoramio. Today, with photo upload tools in Google Maps and our Local Guides program, we are providing easy options for you to share your photos with an active and growing community. As such, we’ve decided to now close down Panoramio. To make this transition easier, we’ll provide several options to continue sharing photos through other services. If you choose, you can also export all your data and take it somewhere else.

If you link your Panoramio profile with a Google account, all your Panoramio photos will be copied to the Google Album Archive at full resolution after Panoramio goes away. These copied photos will not use any of your Google storage quota.  You can visit your Panoramio profile to see what photos you’ve added.

You must link your Panoramio profile with a Google account for your photos to be automatically copied.  Your account is not currently linked with a Google account.  If you do not link your account, then your photos will be lost after Panoramio is retired in November 2017.   In addition, for your Panoramio photos to keep appearing in Google Maps, after creating your Google account, you must also upgrade to a Google+ account.

After November 4, 2016, you’ll continue to have access to your photos in Panoramio for a year, but you will no longer be able to add new photos, likes, or comments.  Below, we’ve included resources to help you manage or export your data.

1) Keep your photos in Album Archive

If you link your Panoramio profile with a Google account, we will automatically copy your Panoramio photos to the Google Album Archive when Panoramio is retired in October 2017.

• You must link your profile before November 2017 for this to occur.
• Copied photos will not use any of your Google storage quota.
• If you link your profile with a Google+ account, then eligible images and your View Counts will be transferred into Google Maps and will be visible when you sign in to Maps and access the Contributions screen from the main menu.
  

2) Export your photos to a local zip file

1. Sign in to www.panoramio.com
2. Go to your account’s settings page
3. Click the “Get photos” button under the Data Liberation heading

3) Become a Local Guide to keep contributing 

To keep adding photos to Google Maps and engage with a growing community of photographers, join the Local Guides program. You can earn points and unlock rewards for photos submitted with a Google account when they are linked to a point of interest or business. Many of your Panoramio photos may already be counted.

If you prefer to no longer share your photos with Google Maps, you can delete your Panoramio photos or your entire account at any time.  

• If you don’t link your Panoramio account with a Google account, your Panoramio account will be deleted automatically when Panoramio is retired after November 2017.  
• You can also choose to delete your Panoramio account (and photos) immediately by logging in, opening “Settings“, and clicking the “Delete your account” option.  You can also navigate to this page directly by using this link.
• If you delete any photos (or delete your entire account) before Panoramio is retired in November 2017, that content will not be automatically copied to the Google Album Archive and will immediately stop appearing in Google Maps.

Please see our Help Center article for more information and the various options you have to save, transfer, or delete your content. We’ve appreciated your contributions over the years and hope you will continue to share amazing photos with the world.

Thank you,

The Panoramio team

Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043