Cant list files from Google Photos - dirs works

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What is the problem you are having with rclone?

Can't list(ls) files from GooglePhotos, but lsd command works

Run the command 'rclone version' and share the full output of the command.

rclone v1.71.1

  • os/version: unknown
  • os/kernel: 3.3.8 (mips)
  • os/type: linux
  • os/arch: mips
  • go/version: go1.25.1
  • go/linking: static
  • go/tags: none

Which cloud storage system are you using? (eg Google Drive)

Google Photos

The command you were trying to run (eg rclone copy /tmp remote:tmp)

rclone --config=/opt/etc/rclone.conf ls gphotos:media/by-month/2025/2025-10

rebashccppcsharpcssdiffgographqlinijavajavascriptjsonkotlinluamakefilemarkdownobjectivecperlphpphp-templateplaintextpythonpython-replrrubyrustscssshellsqlswifttypescriptxmlyamlwasm


Please run 'rclone config redacted' and share the full output. If you get command not found, please make sure to update rclone.

admin@RT-AC55U:/tmp/home/root# rclone --config=/opt/etc/rclone.conf config redacted
[gphotos]
type = google photos
client_id = XXX
client_secret = XXX
auth_url = https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth
token_url = https://oauth2.googleapis.com/token
description = Zdjecia Google
token = XXX

Double check the config for sensitive info before posting publicly

Paste config here

A log from the command that you were trying to run with the -vv flag

admin@RT-AC55U:/tmp/home/root# rclone --config=/opt/etc/rclone.conf -vv ls gphotos:media/by-month/2025/2025-10
2025/10/16 19:12:18 DEBUG : rclone: Version "v1.71.1" starting with parameters ["rclone" "--config=/opt/etc/rclone.conf" "-vv" "ls" "gphotos:media/by-month/2025/2025-10"]
2025/10/16 19:12:18 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "gphotos:media/by-month/2025/2025-10"
2025/10/16 19:12:18 DEBUG : Using config file from "/opt/etc/rclone.conf"
2025/10/16 19:12:20 DEBUG : 7 go routines active
2025/10/16 19:12:20 INFO : Google Photos path "media/by-month/2025/2025-10": Committing uploads - please wait...
admin@RT-AC55U:/tmp/home/root#


As per Google Photos remote docs:

From March 31, 2025 rclone can only download photos it uploaded. This limitation is due to policy changes at Google. You may need to run rclone config reconnect remote: to make rclone work again after upgrading to rclone v1.70.

So effectively Google Photos rclone access is not really useful any more.

You can add your voice to this upstream issue

and hope that Google changes its behaviour (I would not).

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