Before cloud storage became widely available, people saved important files to hard drives and high-end memory cards. But this had limitations. Early phones were limited to 16GB or 32GB, so backing up files more frequently was needed.
Cloud storage solves these problems when storage space is limited; the reasons could be that you’ve bought a budget-friendly phone or installed too many applications that take up space. Depending on your chosen service, you can acquire several terabytes of space and sync those files seamlessly. One of the advantages of owning an Android phone is its easy access to Google Photos. Google Photos lets you back up pictures to your Google account; by default, Google offers 15GB storage space and more (if you decide to expand). To help everyone get started, we’ve created a guide that covers how to sync and back up Google Photos on your device.
How to back up your images using the Google Photos app
You can set Google Photos to automatically backup new images as they enter your gallery. But if you’re also trying to conserve your phone’s battery health, you can opt for manual syncing; this lets you choose the photos to back up and when. To learn how this is done, we outline the steps for turning on automatic and manual image syncing with Google Photos.
How to turn on automatic synchronization
Follow these steps to sync your pictures to Google Photos automatically:
- Launch the Google Photos app and ensure you’re signed in to the Google account you want to store your backups.
- Tap your profile icon in the upper-right corner of the screen.
- Tap Turn on backup. This opens the backup page.
- Tap Turn on. A box pops up asking you to confirm.
- Tap Turn on backup.
Google Photos may not start backing up files until you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network. To back up over a cellular network, tap Use data. To set the backup quality or allow backing up over mobile data, tap the settings cog in the upper-right corner of the Backup page.
How to manually back up Google Photos
Follow these steps to back up pictures to Google Photos:
- Launch the Google Photos app.
- Find the picture you wish to back up.
- Long press the picture until it’s selected. A box pops up from the bottom of the screen.
- Tap the other pictures you want to back up to select them.
- Tap Back up from the pop-up box. Your image is uploaded to your Google cloud storage.
Alternatively, tap an image to open it, then tap the cloud icon in the upper-right corner of the screen (next to the star icon).
Review your Google Photos backups
The system for creating backups isn’t perfect. For example, you may accidentally lose your internet connection, have app interruptions, or select the wrong photos or albums. Always review your backups after they’re uploaded, which you can do on any web browser after you log in to that Google account.
- Log in to your Google account (where you saved your backups) on any web browser.
- Select the square to access Google Photos and click it. Alternatively, visit photos.google.com.
- You’ll find the images you manually chose to back up on this page. You can add to your list as long as your storage space doesn’t reach its maximum capacity.
- Click your image, locate the circle “I” icon, and click it.
- This page shows the file size, where your image came from, and the backup status.
Managing your backups and storage with Google One
The caveat to using your Google account for storage is that you must adhere to the 15GB limit. If you need to expand your storage space, subscribe to Google One. Google One is an all-in-one package for extensive cloud storage, including Google Drive, Gmail, and Photos.
Google One: The AP guide to Google’s premium cloud storage service
Running out of Google Drive storage. Google One offers a lot of storage and some other awesome perks
There are affordable subscription plans (ranging from 100GB to 2TB) billed monthly or annually. Otherwise, you can always look into activating family sharing for others to back up photos in your household as another alternative.
Never lose your photos
Although cloud storage offers several advantages, it may not be within everyone’s budget. Compared to hardware devices that you buy once and own, most cloud storage services are subscription-only. While Google Photos can use the free 15GB of space tied to your Google account, you’d have to pay into a service to gain additional space. It’s also important to remember that the 15GB of space is tied to all Google services related to your account, including Google Drive and Gmail. Fortunately, you can maximize your Google Photos collection to optimize your storage space, ensuring you don’t solely use the 15GB for Google Photos.
