Google Photos is a fantastic way to see your photos and the powerful search makes it easy to find pictures of sure people, places or times. Earlier ane June 2021, Google did offer unlimited gratuitous storage for photos. Now, things have inverse.

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

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

  • fifteen GB - Free
  • 100 GB - £i.59 per month/£xv.99 per year
  • 200 GB - £2.49 per calendar month/£24.99 per year
  • two TB - £seven.99 per calendar month/£79.99 per year

Sadly, no unlimited storage option is currently available. You lot'll accept to wait at other Cloud storage options if you desire that. You lot can also make more room for photos and video by clearing out large files on your Google Drive.

There's no need to worry about existing files from before ane June, as these photos will remain on Google's servers and won't be deleted or blocked if you don't pay - that'southward a common misconception.

If, like me, you lot have a photo library full of pictures y'all took prior to owning a smartphone, chances are they're sat on a hard drive somewhere. Google hasn't fabricated it easy to upload them, but here's are two ways to upload every unmarried photograph, 1 of which is automatic.

Upload to Google Photos via a web browser

Before I get to the all-time mode, here'due south the obvious way: head to photos.google.com and click on Upload.

How to upload to Google Photos from Windows

Unfortunately, the easy way won't work for nigh people because the Upload option in Google Photos will simply upload the contents of a single folder.

Most people keep their photos in multiple folders then they have 'albums' for unlike occasions. Unless you're willing to go through dozens or even hundreds of folders and re-create – or motility – those photos into a single binder, you lot won't be able to employ this option.

You could laboriously apply the Upload push for each folder yous take but, again, that's impractical if you lot take a hundred or more than.

TIP: Earlier you upload all your photos, upload one or two and check that Google Photos tin can correctly place when they were taken. Otherwise, y'all'll have a tough time finding them 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 exist shown. If not, search for the exact filename of the photograph you lot only uploaded, and Google Photos should show it. Click the i symbol at the top and you'll see the info for that photo.

How to upload to Google Photos

If at that place is a problem and the 'date taken' isn't identified correctly, yous'll demand to use a tool to edit this metadata.

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

Upload to Google Photos via Backup & Sync

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

If those folders happen to exist on a NAS drive equally mine were, yous may find you cannot select the root binder in Backup & Sync. The workaround is to create a binder within that (telephone call it upload or whatever you like), then motion all your folders of photos into that.

Hither, step past stride, is how to go well-nigh installing Backup & Sync and uploading all those snaps to Google Photos.

Notation: this just works for Windows computers and you'd need to install the Google Photos app on Android or iPhone if yous desire to upload the photographic camera roll from your phone. This guide is primarily aimed at those who've already done that and at present want to upload photos stored on their Windows laptop or PC.

1. First, 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 it in your spider web browser, or navigate to the binder where downloaded files are stored – usually Downloads. Double-click on the file (called installbackupandsync.exe) and click the Become STARTED button.

How to upload to Google Photos

three. Y'all'll need to sign into your Google account, the one you use for Google Photos.

four. On the 'prepare-up' screen, cull Back up photos and videos.

How to upload to Google Photos

5. Next, y'all need to tell Backup & Sync which folders your photos are in. This could be as simple equally clicking the box next to Pictures, just if your photos are stored elsewhere, such as some other folder on your difficult drive, on an external drive or on a NAS drive, click Choose FOLDER and navigate to it.

How to upload to Google Photos

Y'all can sync multiple folders, but you can't select multiple folders at the same time.

6. Select the quality y'all want for your photo/video - Storage Saver takes up less room, but compresses the file. Meanwhile Original Quality will non compress the files, but volition accept upwards more storage in your quota.

7. Click Get-go and Backup & Sync volition begin uploading photos and videos in the binder(s) you've chosen to Google Photos.

viii. If you desire to check on progress, click the ^ symbol on the Windows Taskbar and click the little white cloud symbol. Yous'll run into a scrolling list of the files beingness uploaded.

How to upload to Google Photos

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

Exit your laptop or computer on while it'southward uploading the files. In my case, with a 16Mbps upload speed, it took around 24 hours to upload 30,000 photos and videos from hundreds of folders on a NAS bulldoze.

Again, the amount you'll be able to upload will depend on the amount of storage you have in your Google One account.

Related manufactures for farther reading

  • Best alternatives to Google Photos
  • What to practice when Google Photos free storage ends
  • How to download all your photos from Google Photos in 1 go