Michael Cloud Image Auto Importer lets you import images from Google Drive straight into your WordPress Media Library. It is ideal for bloggers, photographers, and content creators who keep their media in Google Drive.

Instead of asking for OAuth permissions, the plugin uses a Google service account. You share a Google Drive folder with the plugin’s service account email, paste the folder URL into the plugin, and click Import. No Google Cloud Console setup needed. No API keys to enter. No annual verification.

Key Features:

Bulk Image Import — Import entire Google Drive folders in one click
Service Account Authentication — No OAuth screens, no API keys to enter
Folder-Level Sharing — You control exactly which Drive folders the plugin can access
Smart Duplicate Detection — MD5 file hashing to skip files already in your Media Library
Image Compression — Reduce file size with a quality slider
WebP Conversion — Convert JPG, PNG, GIF, and BMP to WebP for smaller files
SEO-Friendly Alt Text — Generates alt text automatically from filenames
Real-Time Progress — Live progress bar with success, failure, and skip counts
Detailed Import Logs — Track every import with a full history
Batch Processing — Configurable batch sizes for reliability on any server
Responsive Admin Interface — Clean, modern UI that works on desktop, tablet, and mobile
Multisite Compatible

How to Use

The plugin has four steps. Step 1 is a one-time setup. After that, every import is three steps.

Step 1 – Copy the service account email

Go to Cloud Importer in your WordPress admin menu. At the top of the page you will see the Service Account Setup card showing an email address like:

mcai-drive-image-importer@auto-media-import.iam.gserviceaccount.com

Click the Copy button next to it. You only need to do this once.

Step 2 – Share your Google Drive folder with that email

Open Google Drive in your browser.
Find the folder containing the images you want to import.
Right-click the folder and choose Share.
Paste the email you copied in Step 1 into the “Add people” field.
Set the permission to Viewer.
Uncheck “Notify people” — the service account has no inbox.
Click Send.

If you use a Google Shared Drive, add the service account as a member of the Shared Drive itself with Viewer access, instead of sharing a single folder.

Step 3 – Paste the folder URL into the plugin

In Google Drive, right-click the same folder and choose Get link.
Copy the link. It looks like:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1YT7mz11FqTXLuAxhiDMD3UbbIwu5TJP1
Go back to WordPress, open Cloud Importer, and paste the URL into the Google Drive Folder URL field.

Step 4 – Choose your options and click Start Import

Below the URL field are four options. All are checked by default.

Skip Duplicates — Uses MD5 file hashing to skip images already in your Media Library.
Image Compression — Reduces file size. A slider appears to set quality (50 to 95 percent, default 80).
Convert to WebP — Converts JPG, PNG, GIF, and BMP to WebP format. Typically 25 to 35 percent smaller.
Generate Alt Text — Creates SEO-friendly alt text from filenames, for example fat-brain-dimpl-digits-4.jpg becomes “Fat Brain Dimpl Digits 4”.

Choose your Batch Size — how many files are processed per round trip to the server:

10 — safest for slow hosts
25 — default, good for most sites
50 or 100 — faster on well-configured hosts

Then click Start Import.

What happens next

A progress card appears showing the percentage complete, files processed, and counters for Successful, Failed, and Skipped.

You can pause, resume, or cancel at any time. If you close the browser tab, the import continues on the server. Reopening the plugin page picks up where it left off.

When the import finishes, click View Results to see the imported images in your Media Library.

Importing a different folder later

Repeat Steps 2, 3, and 4. The service account email stays the same. Every folder you share with it becomes available to the plugin.

External Services

This plugin relies on two external services.

Google Drive API

The plugin connects to the Google Drive API to list files in the folder you shared and download the images you select.

Purpose: List folder contents, retrieve file metadata (name, size, MIME type), and download image files.
Data transmitted: File IDs, file metadata (names, sizes, MIME types), and file content (the images themselves).
Authentication: A Google service account. Access is granted only to folders you explicitly share with the service account email displayed on the plugin settings page.
Service provider: Google LLC
Terms of service: https://developers.google.com/drive/terms
Privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

You can revoke the plugin’s access at any time by removing the service account email from the folder’s sharing settings in Google Drive.

Cloudflare Worker

The plugin routes its Google Drive API calls through a Cloudflare Worker operated by the plugin author. This avoids requiring each user to create their own Google Cloud project.

Purpose: Sign and exchange service account tokens, proxy Google Drive API requests, and download image files to your WordPress site.
Data transmitted: Folder IDs, file IDs, and file content when images are downloaded. The service account credentials are held by the plugin author and are never visible to plugin users.
Service provider: Cloudflare, Inc.
Terms of service: https://www.cloudflare.com/website-terms/
Privacy policy: https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/

No personal user data is stored by the plugin author. The Worker stores only a temporary Google access token in Cloudflare KV storage, which expires automatically within 55 minutes. Imported images are stored only in your own WordPress Media Library.

PayPal

The plugin provides an optional hyperlink to the PayPal donation page for the plugin author. PayPal is only contacted if you choose to click the link. The plugin itself does not send any data to PayPal, does not process payments, and does not store any financial information.

Service provider: PayPal, Inc.
Privacy policy: https://www.paypal.com/us/legalhub/privacy-full

Revolut

The Revolut donation option does not contact Revolut. It copies a fixed email address to your local clipboard so you can send a donation from your own Revolut app or website. The plugin never connects to Revolut, never opens Revolut, and never sees or stores your Revolut account details.

Privacy Policy

This plugin does not collect personal data, does not set cookies on the front end, and does not send data to any third party other than the two external services described above (Google Drive API and Cloudflare Worker). No analytics, no tracking, no user accounts.

Support the Developer

This plugin is completely free and always will be. All features are available to every user with no restrictions, no paid tiers, no locked features, no trial periods, and no advertising. If the plugin saves you time and you want to say thanks, you can make a voluntary donation. Donations are entirely optional and are never required to use, install, or update the plugin.

There are two ways to donate.

PayPal

Click the PayPal button on the plugin’s main admin page, or visit:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?business=mikiiiomosh%40gmail.com&currency_code=USD

This opens the PayPal donation page in a new browser tab. You choose the amount, PayPal processes the payment, and no financial details are ever transmitted to this plugin or to this WordPress site. The plugin only contains a hyperlink; it does not process, store, or forward any payment information.

Revolut

The Revolut option does not use a link. Instead, the button on the plugin page displays the following email address directly, and clicking it copies that address to your clipboard:

[email protected]

You can then paste it into your own Revolut app or website to send a donation. The plugin does not connect to Revolut, does not open Revolut, and never sees or stores your account details.

What the donation buttons do

The PayPal button is a simple hyperlink pointing to a fixed PayPal URL. The Revolut button is a copy-to-clipboard action that copies a fixed email address to your local clipboard. Neither button sends any data anywhere on its own. No cookies are set, no tracking scripts run, and no information about you or your site is transmitted when you click either button.

Where donations are shown

The donation options appear only inside the WordPress admin area, on the plugin’s own pages, inside the “Support the Developer” card. They are not shown on the front end of your site, they are not shown on any other admin page, and they are never shown to non-administrators. There are no admin notices, no pop-ups, and no nag screens asking for donations.

WordPress.org guidelines

This plugin follows the WordPress.org plugin directory guidelines for donations. All features are unlocked and free. Donations are voluntary. The buttons are unobtrusive and only visible to logged-in administrators on the plugin’s own pages. The plugin does not require any payment to function.

Support

WordPress.org support forum:

https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/michael-cloud-image-auto-importer/