diff --git a/backend/googlephotos/googlephotos.go b/backend/googlephotos/googlephotos.go
index 4fa4b327d..292bb0974 100644
--- a/backend/googlephotos/googlephotos.go
+++ b/backend/googlephotos/googlephotos.go
@@ -134,14 +134,20 @@ rclone mount needs to know the size of files in advance of reading
 them, so setting this flag when using rclone mount is recommended if
 you want to read the media.`,
 			Advanced: true,
+		}, {
+			Name:     "start_year",
+			Default:  2000,
+			Help:     `Year limits the photos to be downloaded to those which are uploaded after the given year`,
+			Advanced: true,
 		}},
 	})
 }
 
 // Options defines the configuration for this backend
 type Options struct {
-	ReadOnly bool `config:"read_only"`
-	ReadSize bool `config:"read_size"`
+	ReadOnly  bool `config:"read_only"`
+	ReadSize  bool `config:"read_size"`
+	StartYear int  `config:"start_year"`
 }
 
 // Fs represents a remote storage server
@@ -202,6 +208,11 @@ func (f *Fs) dirTime() time.Time {
 	return f.startTime
 }
 
+// startYear returns the start year
+func (f *Fs) startYear() int {
+	return f.opt.StartYear
+}
+
 // retryErrorCodes is a slice of error codes that we will retry
 var retryErrorCodes = []int{
 	429, // Too Many Requests.
diff --git a/backend/googlephotos/pattern.go b/backend/googlephotos/pattern.go
index 198a82c06..e54b7c4ab 100644
--- a/backend/googlephotos/pattern.go
+++ b/backend/googlephotos/pattern.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ type lister interface {
 	listAlbums(ctx context.Context, shared bool) (all *albums, err error)
 	listUploads(ctx context.Context, dir string) (entries fs.DirEntries, err error)
 	dirTime() time.Time
+	startYear() int
 }
 
 // dirPattern describes a single directory pattern
@@ -222,11 +223,10 @@ func (ds dirPatterns) match(root string, itemPath string, isFile bool) (match []
 	return nil, "", nil
 }
 
-// Return the years from 2000 to today
-// FIXME make configurable?
+// Return the years from startYear to today
 func years(ctx context.Context, f lister, prefix string, match []string) (entries fs.DirEntries, err error) {
 	currentYear := f.dirTime().Year()
-	for year := 2000; year <= currentYear; year++ {
+	for year := f.startYear(); year <= currentYear; year++ {
 		entries = append(entries, fs.NewDir(prefix+fmt.Sprint(year), f.dirTime()))
 	}
 	return entries, nil
diff --git a/backend/googlephotos/pattern_test.go b/backend/googlephotos/pattern_test.go
index 2fc2648e1..f7aafdd3c 100644
--- a/backend/googlephotos/pattern_test.go
+++ b/backend/googlephotos/pattern_test.go
@@ -59,6 +59,11 @@ func (f *testLister) dirTime() time.Time {
 	return startTime
 }
 
+// mock startYear for testing
+func (f *testLister) startYear() int {
+	return 2000
+}
+
 func TestPatternMatch(t *testing.T) {
 	for testNumber, test := range []struct {
 		// input