How to Download All Your Bright Horizons FamilyApp Photos & Videos

If your child is at a Bright Horizons nursery in the UK, your photos live in FamilyApp. That app is built on Famly, which is good news: it means every photo and video in there can be saved in one go.

The catch is the same as it is on Famly. You can save photos one at a time, and when your child moves on, your account is downgraded and the photos get much harder to reach.

NurseryDownloader is a Chrome extension that downloads every photo and video from your FamilyApp account, at full quality, in one click.

Before you start: UK or US?

This matters, because Bright Horizons runs two completely different apps.

• UK: FamilyApp (powered by Famly). Supported. Everything below applies to you.
• US: My Bright Day. A different system, not built on Famly, and not supported. If that is what you sign in to, see our My Bright Day guide for what you can do today.

Download all your Bright Horizons photos in one click

Step 1: Install the extension

1. Open Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge on a laptop or desktop. The extension does not run on phones or tablets.
2. Add NurseryDownloader from the Chrome Web Store.
3. Click Add to Chrome, then Add extension.

Step 2: Sign in to FamilyApp

Go to your usual Bright Horizons FamilyApp address and log in exactly as you normally would. The extension works through your own logged-in session, so nothing is shared with us and no password is ever handed over.

Step 3: Collect and download

1. Open your child's feed. The NurseryDownloader panel appears on the page.
2. Click Collect and let it work through the feed. Large accounts take a few minutes; leave the tab open.
3. Click Download. Photos and videos save straight to your computer, in folders by month, with the date at the front of every filename.

Your first 20 downloads are free, so you can check the quality on your own photos before deciding whether to buy a licence.

Step 4: Get the tagged photos too

FamilyApp also holds photos your child has been tagged in, which do not always appear in the main feed. Open your child's profile and use the tagged download as well, so nothing is missed.

If Chrome asks where to save every file

Chrome will interrupt a bulk download unless you tell it not to. Two settings fix it for good, and both are on our support page with the exact steps.

What you end up with

• Every photo and video, at the original quality the nursery uploaded, not a compressed copy.
• Folders by month, with dates at the start of each filename, so they sort correctly next to your own photos.
• A captions spreadsheet for feed downloads, so the context of each post is not lost.
• Everything on your own computer. Nothing passes through us at any point.

Do it before you leave

Once the placement ends your account is downgraded. There is no export button in FamilyApp, and the nursery is not holding a copy of the originals for you, so whatever you have not saved is much harder to get back afterwards.

If your child is leaving this term, this is a twenty-minute job that gets much harder later.

Questions parents ask

Is this the same as Famly?

Effectively, yes. Bright Horizons FamilyApp in the UK is built on Famly, so it behaves the same way and NurseryDownloader treats it the same way. You sign in at your usual FamilyApp address and everything works as it does on Famly.

Does it work with Bright Horizons in the United States?

No. US Bright Horizons centers use a different app called My Bright Day, which is not built on Famly and is not supported. Only the UK FamilyApp works.

Does it download videos too?

Yes. Videos are saved alongside the photos, at full quality, filed under the date they were posted.

I have more than one child at the nursery. Do I run it twice?

No. It finds every child on your account and saves each into their own folder in a single run.

Can I do this on my phone?

No. Chrome extensions only run on a computer, so use Chrome or Edge on a laptop or desktop.

My child is leaving soon. Will I lose the photos?

Some of them, and the rest get much harder to reach. When a placement ends your account is usually downgraded, and the nursery is not keeping a copy for you. The leaving PDF is a fraction of the quality. Save the originals while you still have full access.

Is it safe?

Yes. Your photos go straight from FamilyApp to your computer and never pass through our servers, so we never see them. And it never asks for your FamilyApp password: it works in your own browser, where you're already signed in.