Copy and move between drives
Start a move or a copy
- Select the photos: see Selecting large set of items.
- Tap the move icon, or tap ⋮, then Move or Copy.
In the viewer, the folder with an arrow moves the photo on screen.
Not every place offers all three:
| Where the photos are | Move icon | ⋮ → Move | ⋮ → Copy |
|---|---|---|---|
| The phone | yes | yes | yes |
| A USB drive | yes | yes | yes |
| The Secret Space | yes | yes | no |
| A cloud or a network drive | yes | no | no |
| Deleted items | no | no | no |
Choose the destination
Select destination always opens on the phone's albums.
- To go somewhere else, tap Current drive. Under Select a drive, choose This phone, the Secret Space, a USB Drive, a network drive under HOME, or a cloud under CLOUD. ADD A NEW ACCESS connects a new one on the spot: your first access is free.
- On the phone and in the Secret Space, tap an album: the photos go there right away.
- On a USB drive, a cloud, or a network drive, open the folder, then tap Move here or Copy here at the bottom.
- New album creates an album and puts the photos in it right away. See Creating a new album.
- The magnifier at the top filters the albums by name.
The Secret Space isn't offered when Hide from menu is on, unless you start from inside it.
Choosing Favorites adds the photos to your favorites instead of copying them.
When a move is a copy
- From a cloud or a network drive, Piktures always copies. The originals stay where they are, and the button reads Copy here.
- Between the phone's albums, and between the phone and the Secret Space, a move is a real move.
- From the phone to a cloud or a network drive, Piktures uploads the photos, then sends the phone's copies to Deleted items, where you can still restore them:
- on Android 13 and later, Piktures first asks Move to trash after upload. OK moves the photos. Not now only copies them. If you tick Don't show this message again, Piktures reuses your answer. To be asked again, turn on More → Settings → RECYCLE BIN → Delete confirmation after upload;
- on Android 11 and 12, Piktures doesn't ask.
Android may first ask you to let Piktures manage your media, or to access a folder. Allow it.
How the transfer runs
When a cloud or a network drive is involved:
- with any paid plan, and during your first 3 days, Piktures shows File operation started, and the transfer runs in the background. It waits for a connection, Wi-Fi or mobile data: the Data usage setting doesn't apply. A notification shows the progress, if you allow Piktures to show notifications;
- with the free Basic plan, a Please wait… window shows the progress until the end, with an ad. Without a connection, Piktures tells you that you don't seem to be connected.
Between the phone, the Secret Space, and a USB drive, a Please wait… window shows the progress, whatever your plan. It has an ad in the free Basic plan.
On Android 13 and later, Piktures may ask to show notifications before a transfer with a cloud or a network drive. The transfer runs whatever you answer.
The notification reads Moving files to during the transfer, and Files moved to at the end, for a copy too.
A copy stops before it would leave less than about 5% of free space at the destination.