How to back up all your photos and videos to Google Photos
In today’s digital age, the convenience of high-quality smartphone cameras has led to an explosion in the number of photos and videos we capture. With our devices serving as the primary means of documenting life’s moments, it’s crucial to ensure these memories are backed up securely. Google Photos emerges as a top contender for this task, offering a seamless way to store and manage your visual content across various platforms, including Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS. Users can start with 15GB of free cloud storage, which is shared across Google services like Gmail and Google Drive, with affordable plans beginning at just $2 per month for 100GB of storage.
Setting up Google Photos is a straightforward process that can be initiated on your smartphone. For Android users, downloading the app is the first step, followed by logging in with a Google account or creating one if necessary. The app allows you to turn on automatic backups by accessing your account settings and toggling the backup option. Users can customize their backup preferences, including choosing the quality of uploads and whether to backup over cellular data or Wi-Fi. iPhone users will find that Google Photos automatically backs up everything from their camera roll, while Android users have the flexibility to select specific folders for backup.
For those who prefer backing up from a desktop or laptop, Google Photos can be accessed through its web interface, which provides an organized view of your photos, complete with automatic categorization features. Users can upload files directly or utilize the Google Drive for desktop app to monitor specific folders for automatic backups. While the syncing process is not two-way—meaning deletions in Google Photos do not affect local files—the platform offers a reliable solution for safeguarding your digital memories. By following these simple steps, you can ensure that your cherished moments are securely stored and easily accessible, no matter where you are.
We’re
taking more photos
than ever, thanks to the convenience of having powerful cameras packed into our smartphones. And unless you want to risk losing all of those precious moments, you need to think about backing up your images and videos.
Google Photos is undoubtedly one of the best tools for the job. There are apps for Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS, and you can use the web interface to upload files too. You get 15GB of cloud storage space for free (which is actually shared across Google Photos, Gmail, and
Google Drive
), and paid plans start at $2 per month for 100GB of room.
All the backing up runs more or less automatically, once you’ve got Google Photos set up on the devices where you take your photos and videos. You’ll also be able to access all your memories from every device. Here’s how to get it up and running.
Google Photos on Android and iOS
Configuring backups on Android.
Screenshot: Google
The first device you probably want to get Google Photos set up on is your phone, as that’s what you’ll be using to shoot most of your photos and videos. If the app isn’t already installed, you can download Google Photos for
Android
and
iOS
—the setup is very straightforward, and if you haven’t already got a Google account, you can create one.
Google Photos is tied into other Google services, such as Gmail and Google Drive, but perhaps not as tightly as you might expect. You can’t, for example, see your photos and videos in Google Drive—but if you’re adding a picture to an email in Gmail, you can access Google Photos with a click.
To get everything seamlessly backed up to the cloud, tap your Google account profile picture (top right), then
Backup
. Turn the backup toggle switch to on, and the syncing will get underway, with the current status of the backup shown on the same page. You can then access further settings by tapping the gear icon (top right).
On the subsequent page you can choose
Backup quality
to choose whether your images and videos are kept at their original sizes or slightly compressed (which of course means your cloud storage goes further). You’ll also find options for choosing whether photos and videos are backed up over cellular connections, or just Wi-Fi.
If you’re on an iPhone, Google Photos automatically backs up everything on your camera roll. If you’re on an Android phone, you get a bit more control: Tap
Back up device folders
on this settings screen, and you can choose which folders are included in the backup. These folders might include screenshots, or images saved from WhatsApp, for example.
Google Photos on Windows and macOS
Backing up folders in the Windows app.
Screenshot: Google
The easiest way to get at Google Photos from a desktop or laptop computer is through
the web interface
: You can view all your photos and videos, search through them, and download them if you need local copies. Down the left of the interface you’ll see some image categories are automatically created, like
People and pets
.
You can also upload new photos and videos from your computer by clicking the
+
(plus) button up in the top right corner. Choose
Import photos
, and you can pick individual files from your Windows or macOS system. This is handy for occasional backups where you don’t necessarily need automatic syncing.
If you click
+
(plus) and then
Folder backup
, you can pick entire folders to upload: Any new photos and videos added to these folders in the future will be backed up too, as long as the Google Photos web app is open. There’s no two-way sync though, so files deleted in Google Photos won’t delete the local copies.
There’s one other option, which is the
Google Drive for desktop
app, available for both Windows and macOS. This runs in the background, monitoring the folders you select, and automatically backing up any photos and videos in those folders. As with the web upload, the sync isn’t two-way, so changes you make in the Google Photos apps aren’t then reflected on Windows or macOS.
The desktop utility is perhaps the most straightforward way of getting files from a laptop or desktop computer up to Google Photos. Sign in with your Google account, then follow the instructions: Click the gear icon (top right), then
Preferences
and
Add folder
to choose new folders to back up. You get the option to send the files to Google Drive, Google Photos, or both (which will of course use up double the cloud storage).
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How to back up all your photos and videos to Google Photos
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