Amazon Drive is shutting down, here’s what you should do

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(Pocket-lint) – Amazon will shut down its online file storage service, Amazon Drive, in 2023.

The company has announced that Amazon Drive will be shutting down on December 31, 2023. If you’re already a user, there are other important dates to be aware of, as downloads will be halted sooner.

Read this guide to learn everything you need to know about Amazon Drive closing and what you can do to fix it.

What is Amazon Drive?

Amazon Drive is a cloud file storage service that has been an alternative to Google Drive and Dropbox for about 11 years. It was designed to securely store all kinds of files, including videos, photos, and other files ranging from PDFs to documents.

Access to Amazon Drive was one of the perks of Amazon Prime membership with 5GB of free storage included along with the other perks. It is an alternative to Amazon Photos (aka Prime Photos) that focuses only on photos and offers unlimited storage for your photos through apps on iOS or Android.

What happens to Amazon Drive?

Amazon has officially announced the closure of Amazon Drive at the end of 2023. The company said it is focusing its efforts on Amazon Photos instead.

After December 31, 2023, customers will no longer have access to Amazon Drive, including the files stored there.

Other measures will be taken between now and the closure of the service:

• October 31, 2022: Amazon will remove the Android Drive app from the iOS and Google Play app stores.
• On January 31, 2023, it will no longer be possible to upload files to Amazon Drive via the website.

Amazon says you’ll be able to download files from your Amazon Drive from now until the final shutdown date. Amazon Photos doesn’t suffer the same fate, so you can continue to use this service for photos and videos.

Amazon also said that if the Amazon Drive app is already installed, it will continue to work but will no longer be supported for bug fixes or security updates.

How can I download my files from Amazon Drive?

In the meantime, you can (and should) download your files from Amazon Drive and back them up elsewhere if needed.

To do this :

• Visit the Amazon Drive site and sign in
• Find and navigate to the folders and files you want to back up.
• Click the download icon at the top of the site navigation.
• Repeat this for all files you want to back up.

Amazon says that if you’re having trouble downloading your files, you can contact customer service here.

How to Cancel Amazon Drive

If you paid extra for Amazon Drive’s superior storage options, you might want to cancel your subscription soon.

To terminate Amazon Drive:

What to do with your files

Once you’ve uploaded your files, Amazon offers to store them locally. You can also choose from a number of other reliable cloud storage options. Depending on the size of your files, you may have to pay a fee, but there are also a number of free plans.

Google Drive includes 15GB free as standard just for having a Google account. It is therefore a simple option to consider.

Written by Adrian Willings.