Backing up photos to Google Drive is a great way to ensure your memories are safe. With Google Drive's automatic backup feature, you can easily store your photos in the cloud.
Google Drive offers 15GB of free storage space, which is plenty for most users. You can upgrade to a paid plan if you need more space.
Backing up your photos to Google Drive also makes it easy to access them from anywhere. This is especially useful if you take photos on your phone and want to view them on your computer.
Google Drive's automatic backup feature can be set up to back up your photos at regular intervals, so you don't have to worry about manually transferring them.
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Backing Up Photos
Backing up your photos to Google Drive is a straightforward process. You'll need to give MacOS permission to sync files with Google Drive by clicking the Apple settings icon, then System Settings, and finally Privacy and Security.
The Google Photos app for iOS and Android devices can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play Store. Once installed, sign in to your Google account and choose between backing up 'original' or 'high quality' images.
To change backup settings on your phone or tablet, tap the menu button (the three horizontal bars), select 'settings', and hit 'Backup and Sync'. With 'backup & sync' enabled, your camera roll will automatically upload to Google's servers.
On Android devices, you can select specific folders to back up by heading to 'Backup & Sync' and tapping 'Back up device folders'. This is particularly useful for maximizing the 15GB free account capacity.
You can also download a complete copy of your Google Photos archive through the Google Takeout service. To do this, head to the Data & Personalization tab in your Google Account, select Download your Data, and look for Google Photos.
If you want to keep the metadata for your photos, you can manually export them from Google Photos on the web, share individual photos or albums via email or cloud storage, or try a third-party app or tool.
Related reading: What Is an Azure Storage Account
Choosing Upload Settings
You can choose to upload your photos to Google Photos as 'original' or 'high quality' images. The 'high quality' option slightly compresses images to save space.
If you want to store your photos online in their original form, select the 'original' option. This setting is best if you plan to print your images or use them in design work.
The 'original' option is also ideal for photographers who need a backup option for full-size raw files. Just be sure to check if Google Photos supports your camera's file type.
Google Photos' compression is very efficient, reducing file size without a significant loss in quality. Compressed shots should still be plenty good enough if you're mainly working with smartphone photos or viewing images on your screen.
Managing Your Photos
You can easily organize your Google Photos by creating albums and grouping selected photos into folders in the cloud. This makes it simple to share your albums with family and friends.
Google Photos also offers advanced sorting features, like machine learning smarts that detect subjects, faces, and objects, making it incredibly easy to find specific photos in your collection.
You can even see these categories under the 'Albums' tab, with dedicated folders for 'people & pets', 'places', and 'things', which makes it easy to track down specific photos.
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Managing Your
Organizing your photos in Google Photos is a breeze. You can create albums by selecting photos and clicking the plus symbol, or by going to the Albums tab and creating a new album first.
Google Photos offers limited cataloging options compared to other organizers like Adobe Lightroom. You can't put albums inside albums or group them together.
The real magic of Google Photos lies in its machine learning smarts. It's incredibly good at intelligently detecting subjects, faces, and objects, which you can then find by entering terms in the search bar.
You can also improve the results by reviewing photos and telling Google what they contain, as well as adding anything it might have missed. This helps the AI engine learn and get even better at recognizing faces and objects.
Google Photos has recently rolled out additional sorting features that leverage AI smarts to keep your photo collection tidy. Photo Stacks groups similar photos taken at a similar time to declutter your library view.
You can also set reminders based on information in a given image, such as the date on an event ticket. For a cleaner view in Google Photos, you can set it to automatically archive screenshots after 30 days.
To back up your full Google Photos library, you can download an archive through the Google Takeout service. It's not as quick or seamless as the Google Drive sync, but it'll do the trick.
The archive will be neatly arranged in folders by date, so you can then upload it to Google Drive or store it on an external drive. However, the metadata for the photos themselves will be stripped away upon export.
Expand your knowledge: Backing up Photos to Onedrive
Folder
Managing your photos can be a bit tricky, especially if you've been using Google Photos in the past. If you used Google Photos before last July, any photos that were synced until the minute Google turned off the functionality will remain in your folder.
You can do whatever you'd like with them, but photos deleted from Google Drive will no longer be removed from Photos. This means you'll need to manually delete them from Photos to keep your folder organized.
Photos in your folder are stuck in limbo, synced up until the point Google shut down the functionality. This can lead to a cluttered folder if you don't take action to clean it up.
For another approach, see: How to Make a Folder Public in Dropbox
AI-Powered Tools and Storage
Google Photos works for you, syncing your library and favorites during setup and automatically uploading your photos to the app. You can edit, organize, and search your photos with ease.
Google provides a communal storage space, 15GB, shared by Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. This space is a communal area, and if you're near the limit, it's time to clean up.
To manage your storage, do a regular spring cleaning of unneeded files from Google Drive and Google Photos. If you don't need ultra-high-resolution photos and videos, opt for the 'High quality' option when uploading.
Here's an interesting read: Dropbox Space Check
Here are some tips to keep in mind:
- Do a regular spring cleaning of unneeded files from Google Drive and Google Photos.
- Opt for the 'High quality' option when uploading photos and videos.
- Don't let your Google Drive and Gmail trash bins overflow.
- Leverage Google's Storage Manager for finding and deleting large, dusty, or rarely accessed files.
- Try out third-party apps like FileRev to help manage your Google Drive space.
Storage
Google's storage policies are a bit complex, but essentially, each account gets 15GB of free storage that's shared among Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. This space can fill up quickly if you're backing up a lot of files and photos.
You can upgrade to Google One for more storage, which offers plans ranging from 100GB to 30TB. If you're not careful, your storage limit can sneak up on you, leaving you with no choice but to delete files or invest in more storage.
To avoid this, do a regular spring cleaning of unneeded files from Google Drive and Google Photos. You can also opt for the 'High quality' option when uploading photos and videos, which takes up less storage space.
Here are some tips to help you manage your Google storage:
- Regularly clean out your Google Drive and Google Photos folders to free up space.
- Choose the 'High quality' option when uploading photos and videos to save storage space.
- Don't let your Google Drive and Gmail trash bins overflow, as they count towards your storage quota.
- Use Google's Storage Manager to find and delete large, dusty, or rarely accessed files.
- Consider using third-party apps like FileRev to help you manage your Google Drive space.
It's also essential to keep an eye on your sharing settings and turn on two-factor authentication for an added layer of security.
AI-Powered Tools
AI-powered tools are a game-changer when it comes to managing your digital life. Google Photos, for instance, can automatically upload your photos to the app as soon as you sync your library and favorites during setup.
With Google Photos, you can also edit and organize your photos with ease. The app works for you, making it a seamless experience.
Google Photos allows you to search for specific photos, making it easy to find that one picture from your vacation last year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I backup all my photos to Google Drive?
Photos taken on your phone can be backed up to your Google Account, not Google Drive, but you can access them on any device where you're signed in
Where are my photos backed up on Google?
Your photos are backed up to photos.google.com, but be aware that inactivity for 2 years or more may result in content deletion
Sources
- https://www.google.com/photos/about/
- https://filerev.com/blog/backup-photos-drive-google/
- https://www.techradar.com/how-to/google-photos-how-to-back-up-photos-from-your-phone-tablet-or-computer
- https://www.pcworld.com/article/397733/google-photos-backup-drive-auto-sync-metadata.html
- https://www.alphr.com/automatically-backup-photos-google-drive/
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