Google Photos is a fantastic way to encounter your photos and the powerful search makes it easy to find pictures of certain people, places or times. Before i June 2021, Google did offer unlimited free storage for photos. Now, things have changed.

You lot only get 15GB of Google storage in total, which counts files on your Google Drive and Gmail, likewise as Google Photos. Therefore, if y'all want to upload more than photos and videos that will take your limit past 15GB, y'all'll need to purchase more storage with Google One.

There's four tiers of storage currently on Google 1. These are:

  • 15 GB - Free
  • 100 GB - £1.59 per month/£15.99 per twelvemonth
  • 200 GB - £ii.49 per month/£24.99 per yr
  • 2 TB - £7.99 per calendar month/£79.99 per year

Sadly, no unlimited storage option is currently available. Yous'll have to look at other Cloud storage options if you want that. You can besides make more room for photos and video by clearing out large files on your Google Drive.

In that location's no demand to worry almost existing files from before 1 June, as these photos will remain on Google's servers and won't exist deleted or blocked if you lot don't pay - that's a common misconception.

If, like me, you take a photo library total of pictures you took prior to owning a smartphone, chances are they're saturday on a hard drive somewhere. Google hasn't made it like shooting fish in a barrel to upload them, simply here'southward are two ways to upload every single photograph, one of which is automatic.

Upload to Google Photos via a web browser

Before I get to the best way, here's the obvious way: head to photos.google.com and click on Upload.

How to upload to Google Photos from Windows

Unfortunately, the like shooting fish in a barrel way won't work for nearly people because the Upload choice in Google Photos will only upload the contents of a unmarried folder.

Nearly people keep their photos in multiple folders then they take 'albums' for unlike occasions. Unless yous're willing to go through dozens or fifty-fifty hundreds of folders and re-create – or move – those photos into a unmarried binder, you won't exist able to use this option.

Yous could laboriously use the Upload button for each folder you have but, again, that'due south impractical if you accept a hundred or more.

TIP: Before you lot upload all your photos, upload one or ii and bank check that Google Photos tin can correctly identify when they were taken. Otherwise, you'll accept a tough time finding them over again.

In one case uploaded, y'all should be able to enter the appointment it was taken, such as '22 May 2000' and all photos from that appointment should be shown. If not, search for the exact filename of the photograph you just uploaded, and Google Photos should show it. Click the i symbol at the peak and you lot'll see the info for that photograph.

How to upload to Google Photos

If in that location is a problem and the 'appointment taken' isn't identified correctly, you'll need to use a tool to edit this metadata.

Once you've striking the limit of what you can upload, Google volition inform yous. If you need more space, you tin get a premium Google One account.

Upload to Google Photos via Backup & Sync

And and then nosotros come to the best pick for uploading your whole photo library to Google Photos. It involves downloading Google's Backup & Sync utility, choosing a folder or folders to sync, then leaving it to upload the photos, as well as any videos in those folders.

If those folders happen to be on a NAS drive every bit mine were, you may find you cannot select the root folder in Fill-in & Sync. The workaround is to create a folder inside that (call it upload or whatever you like), and then move all your folders of photos into that.

Here, step by stride, is how to go near installing Backup & Sync and uploading all those snaps to Google Photos.

Note: this only works for Windows computers and you'd need to install the Google Photos app on Android or iPhone if you lot want to upload the camera roll from your phone. This guide is primarily aimed at those who've already washed that and now want to upload photos stored on their Windows laptop or PC.

i. Outset, caput to the Google Photos website https://photos.google.com/apps and click the Download button.

How to upload to Google Photos

2. When the file is downloaded, click on information technology in your web browser, or navigate to the folder where downloaded files are stored – usually Downloads. Double-click on the file (chosen installbackupandsync.exe) and click the Get STARTED push button.

How to upload to Google Photos

iii. You'll demand to sign into your Google account, the one you utilise for Google Photos.

4. On the 'set-up' screen, cull Back upwardly photos and videos.

How to upload to Google Photos

v. Next, you need to tell Backup & Sync which folders your photos are in. This could exist equally simple as clicking the box adjacent to Pictures, just if your photos are stored elsewhere, such as another folder on your difficult drive, on an external bulldoze or on a NAS bulldoze, click CHOOSE Binder and navigate to information technology.

How to upload to Google Photos

You lot can sync multiple folders, simply you can't select multiple folders at the same time.

6. Select the quality you want for your photograph/video - Storage Saver takes upward less room, but compresses the file. Meanwhile Original Quality will not compress the files, simply will take upwards more storage in your quota.

seven. Click Offset and Backup & Sync will brainstorm uploading photos and videos in the folder(south) you've chosen to Google Photos.

8. If you desire to bank check on progress, click the ^ symbol on the Windows Taskbar and click the trivial white cloud symbol. You'll run across a scrolling listing of the files beingness uploaded.

How to upload to Google Photos

How long it will accept to upload all your photos and videos will depend on the total amount of data to exist uploaded and the upload speed of your net connection, which is typically a lot slower than the download speed.

Leave your laptop or reckoner on while it'due south uploading the files. In my case, with a 16Mbps upload speed, it took around 24 hours to upload xxx,000 photos and videos from hundreds of folders on a NAS drive.

Once more, the amount you'll be able to upload volition depend on the corporeality of storage you have in your Google One account.

Related articles for further reading

  • Best alternatives to Google Photos
  • What to do when Google Photos complimentary storage ends
  • How to download all your photos from Google Photos in one go