Does Google Photos App Have To Be Open To Back Up

Google Photos backups are an absolute life-saver when migrating to another device or if you need to free up storage on your phone. All too often, smartphone users store every precious photo and video but never back them up. Not only does this cause issues if your phone has an issue, but it can also take several hours to transfer all of your photos from one device to another.

Google Photos Backup: How to Back Up Photos in Google Photos

That's where Google Photos steps in, making the task of backing up your photo library *relatively* painless. Whether you're concerned about losing your photos, you're preparing to get a new device, or you're simply trying to free up some precious space on your phone, Google Photos is one of the best cloud services for this.

Here's our handy guide to using Google Photos to back up your photo library.

How to Back Up Photos in Google Photos

Storing your photos in Google's cloud storage is simple but the instructions do vary depending on which device you have. You can sync the app across all of your devices and even use it to delete all images from the device once the backup is complete.

Take a look at how you can back up your photos for each of your devices.

Back Up Photos in Google Photos from an iPhone or iPad

Install the Google Photos app on your iPhone or the desktop app on your Mac.

2. With iOS, Google Photos will need permission to begin a backup. You can select the option to allow Google Photos to access all images or select the ones you want to be backed up.

3. Once you've selected your photo permissions, the backup will begin automatically as evidenced by a blue ring around your profile image in the upper right-hand corner of the app.

On a Mac, you have to nudge it in the right direction: simply select the folder where your photos are stored.

4. If you want to turn automatic syncing off, open the app and select Menu > Settings > Back up and sync, which you can tap to turn on or off.

CAVEAT ALERT: If you're using Apple's iCloud Photo Library, be wary. Sometimes your photos stored in the cloud are visible on your device, but not technically stored on them. As such, Google Photos might be unable to see and save said content. There's an easy, yet slightly irritating solution to this: make sure every file is saved on your smartphone/computer. Annoying, yes, but it's a foolproof plan.

How to Back Up Photos in Google Photos on a PC

Install Backup and sync, the Google Photos desktop uploader.
Sign in with the Google Account you'll be using for Google Photos.
Select the option Back up photos and videos.
Select which folders you'd like to continuously back up to Google Photos.
Select the photo and video upload size you'd prefer; High-quality (unlimited storage) or Original (15GB storage').
Select Start.

How to Back Up Photos in Google Photos on Android

Download Google Photos from the Google Play Store – Pixel device users should have it as standard.

2. Once installed, Google Photos will ask for permission to back up your various folders online. Pick which folders on your phone you'd like it to have access to and then it automatically backs them up.

3. If you want to back up photos so you can free up storage space on your phone, opening Google Photo's Free up space tab will then let the app erase any images it's backed up from your device to give you some more room. Simple.

How to Make Sure Your Photos are Saved

Now that you've gone through the backup process, you're probably ready to move on with a reset of your device or to start deleting photos. It's a good idea to check that everything is saved securely in Google Photos before making any changes.

Google Photos can be a little tricky because it may show your images in the app, but they may not have been saved just yet. To verify that all of your photos are stored, do this:

Open the Google Photos app and tap on the profile icon in the upper right-hand corner.

2. In the menu that appears, you will see how many images that have yet to back up. If this number is zero, everything on your device is saved in Google Photos. If this menu shows that some photos have yet to backup, make sure you're connected to WiFi and wait a little longer.

Google Photos – Bonus Features

Once you've completed the steps above, you may want to take a few minutes to organize your photos. Fortunately, Google Photos will give you a lot of customization options. From Archive folders to complete Albums you can share with your family and friends, there's a lot you can do.

How to Move and Share Photos in Google Photos

For starters, Google Photos automatically stores your images in folders. You can reorganize these folders by long-pressing the photos and tapping the + icon at the top.

2. Now, select an album that you'd like to send the photos to in the list that appears, or you can create a new one. Depending on what you'd like to do with your photos, click the Share icon at the top and share it with other people who also use Google Photos.

How to Add a Photo to Your Favorites Folder Using Google Photos

If you have a photo in Google Photos that is one of your favorites, you can tap the Star icon above it to easily put it in your Favorites folder. When you open Google Photos, tap on the folder and you can show everyone the pictures you love most without scrolling to look for them.

How to Create a Collage or Slideshow in Google Photos

Following the same steps as above to move your photos to new albums, you can also create collages and slideshows. Long-press the photos you're working with and tap the + icon in the upper right-hand corner. From this new pop-up window, select one of the options. Then follow the steps to create your next masterpiece.

Frequently Asked Questions

We've included some more of the answers to your most frequently asked questions here:

Are my photos automatically saved to Google Photos?

If you want Google Photos to backup automatically you'll likely need to make some changes to the Settings. The Google Photos app is designed to save battery life and cellular data so wifi and background permissions are set as a default.

To backup over cellular data rather than wifi open the Google Photos app and tap on the profile icon in the upper right-hand corner. Next, tap on App Settings and toggle the Cellular Data option on.

Next, go into your phone's settings and toggle the background battery usage for Google photos on as well (the instructions to turn on background permissions will vary depending on your OS). Now, Google Photos should automatically backup anything in your camera roll.

How do I retrieve my pictures from Google Photos?

Once everything is backed up, accessing your photos is easy. All you need to do is open the Google Photos app and sign in using the same Gmail account everything is saved to.

Once logged in you should see all of your photos in the Google Photos app. Tap on a photo or album and select the Share icon to send the photos to another person or save it somewhere else.

Can I save all Google Photos to my phone at once?

Yes. Whether you're using an iOS or Android device you can save all of your photos to your device but it will take some time. iOS users will need to long-press a photo to initiate the option to select all of the photos they want to save. Then, tap the iOS share icon to save all photos to their device.

Android users will need to follow a similar process. Using the Android share icon you can save to your device or you can share the photos with another cloud service or contacts.

Backing up Photos

Google Photos makes it easy to keep all your important photos backed up. Now that you know how to back up your photos, be sure to take advantage of the free storage available with a Google account. Share your thoughts and experiences with Google Photos below.