Guide
Unlike Google Drive, Yandex Disk has no "send my files to another cloud" option, and Google has no "import from Yandex" button either. So the move is either done by hand through your computer, or by a service that copies between the two clouds for you. This guide covers both, in plain language.
Fine for a small Disk, and worth trying first.
What to expect: Ordinary files — photos, videos, PDFs, Office documents — arrive exactly as they were. Files that other people shared with you on Yandex are not included; they belong to their owners, and you'd have to save copies into your own Disk first.
Both services offer a desktop app that keeps a copy of your cloud on your computer. Put them next to each other and the move becomes a copy-paste.
Google accepts about 750 GB per day into one account. A 2 TB archive therefore takes three days at the very least, no matter how fast your connection is. The upload simply pauses until the next day and continues — that's normal, not a failure. Your computer needs to stay on and awake the whole time.
If the app shows "paused" or seems stuck for hours, check your free space in Google Drive before anything else: a full quota is the most common reason a transfer quietly stops.
If you have hundreds of gigabytes, or you'd rather not leave a computer running for days, a transfer service connects to both accounts and copies directly between them. Nothing goes through your machine, and daily limits are handled for you.
That's what DriveFerry is built for. You connect Yandex and Google, tell us what to move, and we run the transfer — for as many days as it takes — and send you a report listing what arrived, which shared files were included, and anything that needs a second look. It's a flat one-time price, and early access is open now with a founder discount.
See DriveFerry →Whichever method you used, keep Yandex Disk alive for a while. Transfers can look finished with files missing, and you only notice when you go looking. Give it 30 days, and check these seven things first:
7 things to know before moving files between cloud services →
Under 20 GB: an afternoon. A few hundred GB with the desktop apps: one to three days, mostly waiting. Multiple terabytes: several days with any method, because Google limits how much it accepts per day. A service gives you an estimate upfront.
Very likely. A free Google account has 15 GB shared with Gmail and Google Photos. Yandex plans are often much larger, so compare before you start — if Google fills up, the transfer stops.
Not directly. Shared items belong to their owners. Save a copy into your own Yandex Disk first (open the shared link and click "Save to Yandex Disk"; it lands in your Downloads folder), then move them like any other file.
Not automatically. Files copied into Google Drive stay in Drive. If you want them in Google Photos with date search and albums, upload the photo folders to Google Photos separately, or use its "Upload" option from the Drive folder afterwards.
Not right away. Keep it for at least 30 days after you're confident everything arrived. Downgrade the paid plan if you have one, but leave the account alive as a safety net.