There's also the option to backup or not when roaming. In the settings tap "back up & sync" and you'll find the toggles for mobile data backup, if you want them. We prefer the backup over mobile data option for photos, because it means that if you lose your phone, you still have those photos stored online. You'll want to use Google Photos to back up all your photos to the cloud, but the default is to backup over Wi-Fi for photos and videos.
One of he great advantages of Google Photos is the backup options. From there, you will see options to back up and sync to whichever Google account you're using, choose the types of notifications you want to see, manage the suggestions and "memories" you're shown, and way more. Access the menuįind the menu by tapping on your Google account icon - in that list you'll get lots of details, including access to your Google Photo settings. Remember, if you're storing these in a work account and then you leave, you lose all your photos too - so make sure you're using your personal account for your personal photos. Tap this to select the Google account you want Photos to work with. You'll find your picture in the search bar at the top right.
If you have multiple accounts on your phone (personal and work for example), you want to make sure you're using your personal account for your photos.
You can find the full details on the Google Photos account changes right here. Pixel owners will still get unlimited High Quality storage, which is a small advantage, but not as attractive as the original Pixel offering, which was unlimited Original Quality photo storage for the PIxel 1, 2 or 3. Photos pre-dating 1 June 2021 will continue to be free, but this change means that from that date, new photos will now count against your limit, regardless of the quality you store them at.įor those who choose to upload in Original Quality there's no change: those have always counted against your Google storage limit. Note that "High Quality" is a step down from "Original Quality".
That's the free allowance (15GB) you get with every account, or any additional storage you might have through Google One. Google offered free photo storage to many for a number of years, but there's a change coming: from 1 June 2021, new photos uploaded in "High Quality" will count against your Google account storage. Google Photos storage allowance: What's changing?
Library contains a range of features including albums you may have made, shared albums, as well as some Google Photos tools - like the bin, achieved images and utilities, which is where Google Photos suggests rotations, archive suggestions and where you can create movies and collages. If you want to show people photos of your cat, you'll find a section here for your cat - and all these are created using Google AI. Search provides search as the name suggests, but also groups your Google Photos based around people, pets, activities, places, events and a whole lot more. Across the top of the page is a carousel of highlights, with recent highlights and yearly jumps back in time.
The Photos tab is essentially a list/grid of all your images and videos in Google Photos and the default view when you open the app. In the app you'll see a menu bar with three main tabs: Photos, Search and Library.
Note: This guide is primarily about Google Photos for iOS and Android devices, unless otherwise noted.