How to shuffle a Google Photos slideshow

Google Photos plays an album's slideshow in date order, and there's no shuffle button. Paste the album's share link into Random Slideshow and it plays full screen in random order, with a new order every time it's opened.

Start a slideshow, it's free Watch the demo

Shuffle an album in three steps

Get the album's share link. In Google Photos, open the album and press Share, then Create link (or Copy link if it already has one). The link looks like photos.app.goo.gl/….
Paste it on Random Slideshow and press Continue. You'll see the album's name and how many photos and videos it has.
Press Play slideshow. Photos are shown in random order, full screen, six seconds each by default. Videos in the album play too.

Copy the link from Share, not from the address bar. The address you see while browsing your own album (photos.google.com/album/…) only works for you.

Why Google Photos has no shuffle

The slideshow built into Google Photos goes through an album in the order the photos were taken. That's fine for a single trip, but for a big family album the same early photos always come first, and people stop watching before the later ones appear.

Random Slideshow fixes that with a proper shuffle: every photo appears once per round, in a fresh random order each time the link is opened and after each full round.

What else you can do

Change the pace: pick 3 to 60 seconds per photo before you start, or use the − and + buttons while it plays.
Send it to family: copy the short slideshow link, share it from your phone, or show a QR code. They don't need a Google account.
Keep adding photos: anything added to the album shows up in the slideshow within a few minutes. The link stays the same.
One click on a computer: add the bookmarklet and start the slideshow straight from the album page.

Questions

Can Google Photos shuffle a slideshow by itself?

No. Google Photos plays slideshows in date order and has no shuffle setting. Random Slideshow plays a shared album in random order instead.

Do I need to download the photos?

No. The photos stay in Google Photos and load directly from Google. You only paste the album's share link.

Do videos in the album play?

Yes. Videos play to the end, muted to start with; use the speaker button or the M key for sound.

Who can see the slideshow?

Anyone who has the album's share link or the slideshow link. Slideshow pages are hidden from search engines.

More ways to use it

Same free tool, different occasions.