Amazon has announced that it will be ending Amazon Drive, its cloud storage service. Amazon says the decision is being made so that it can “more fully focus our efforts on photos and video storage with Amazon Photos.” Photos and videos stored in Amazon Drive will remain accessible through Amazon Photos, but all other file types will no longer be accessible after of December 31, 2023. However, Amazon will begin to cripple the service much sooner when it stops accepting new uploads to Amazon Drive on January 31, 2023.

Amazon has put up a FAQ page for Amazon Drive’s upcoming end of service. Apart from uploads stopping at the start of next year and all access ending at the end of next year, the other date worth knowing is October 21, 2022, which is when Amazon will be removing the Amazon Drive app from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. After that, those who have the app installed already will be able to continue using the app until the service is gone for good, but Amazon warns that it will no longer support the app with updates or bug fixes.

Important Dates:

• October 31, 2022: Amazon Drive app will be removed from the iOS and Android app stores.
• January 31, 2023: Uploading to Amazon Drive no longer possible.
• December 31, 2023: All access to Amazon Drive ends.

Amazon says that photos and videos will be “automatically saved to Amazon Photos.” As a reminder, Prime members get unlimited full-resolution photo storage and 5 GB video storage in Amazon Photos. All other customers get 5 GB of free storage for both photos and video.

Here is Amazon’s full email to customers regarding the end of Amazon Drive:

Dear Amazon Drive Customer,

Over the last 11 years, Amazon Drive has served as a secure cloud storage service for Amazon customers to back up their files. On December 31, 2023, we will no longer support Amazon Drive to more fully focus our efforts on photos and video storage with Amazon Photos. We will continue to provide customers the ability to safely back up, share, and organize photos and videos with Amazon Photos.

What this means for you:

You are receiving this email because you have files stored on Amazon Drive that are not supported by Amazon Photos. On December 31, 2023, you will no longer have access to Amazon Drive. Until then, you can continue to use Amazon Drive to manage your files.

If you rely on Amazon Drive for your file storage, you will need to go to the Amazon Drive website and download your files by December 31, 2023. As an Amazon customer your photo and video files have been automatically saved to Amazon Photos. Step-by-step instructions for downloading your files, managing your paid subscription, and resources for additional help can be found on our FAQ page.

As part of this process, on January 31, 2023, Amazon will no longer support uploading files on the Amazon Drive website. You will still be able to view and download files until December 31, 2023.

You can continue to use Amazon Photos for backing up and storing photo and video files. The Amazon Photos app can be downloaded on iOS, Android, and Desktop. Prime members get free, unlimited full-resolution photo storage and 5 GB video storage. If you are not a Prime member, you get 5 GB of free storage for photos and video.

Thank you for being an Amazon customer.

The Amazon Drive team