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Our phones can do so many great things, but one of the most important is that our Android phones take pictures, capturing the life and the insanity around us as we traverse this kooky world of ours. But those photos don't do much good just living on your phone; we need to get them off our phones and somewhere more accessible and somewhere more secure, because if your phone decides to take a dive in the swimming pool, they'll all be irreplaceably gone! It only takes a moment to backup your photos, and no matter how many or how few photos you take, it's worth backing them up somewhere. Here's how to get your photos off your phone and backed up somewhere safe.
Google PhotosYou are using an Android phone, meaning you have a Google account. And every Google account comes with Google Photos and free photo and video backups for an unlimited number of 16MB photos and 1080p video. If you want to backup your videos and photos at their original quality, then your photos and videos count against your Google Drive storage limit. If you own a Google Pixel phone, congrats! You've got free backups at original quality. Google Photos is perhaps the best service Google offers today, simply because of how easy and intuitive it is to use. You can set your photo and video backups to run automatically under certain conditions, such as when connected to Wi-Fi. Best of all, because Google Photos is made for sharing, by backing up your photos and videos to Google Photos, they're already ready to be shared over social media or email. Google Photos isn't automatically installed on all phones, so if it isn't on your phone, go download it from Google Play (opens in new tab) and get started with the simplest backups you will ever use. How to set up automatic backups in Google Photos
Read more: Everything you need to know about Google Photos Prime Photos from AmazonIf you're an Amazon Prime subscriber, then did you know you've been paying for a photo backup service along with your two-day shipping and streaming video library? Prime Photos (opens in new tab) includes free photo and video backups for the Prime subscriber and up to 5 family members, who each get their own personal Prime Photos library and access to a shared 'Family Vault'. This service isn't quite as polished as Google Photos, but it's well worth a look considering it's included with your Prime subscription, and it does automatic backups just as easily as Google Photos. Additionally, if you're an Amazon Echo Show or Echo Spot, these devices can display photos of your family and travels from your Prime Photos, so you might want to use Prime Photos just to diversify the photos it displays. So download the Prime Photos app (opens in new tab) and let's get started. How to set up automatic backups in Prime Photos
Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, and other cloud storage servicesThere are a nearly endless number of cloud storage services out there, from Google Drive to Dropbox to Microsoft OneDrive to Amazon Drive to Apple iCloud to Box and beyond. Each allows you to upload photos, videos band any kind of document you want, which makes them ideal for backing up your photos. Matter of fact, Google Photos uploads are added to Google Drive by default. Each service has their own upload or backup mechanism, so instead, I'll show you how you can upload your entire photo library to any cloud storage service using a cloud-enabled file explorer like Solid Explorer. How to manually back up photos to a cloud storage service using a file manager
USB transfersYou may not want your photos stored on a server somewhere. You might want to keep things on your own machine and in your own hands. That's perfectly fine. We can still kick it old school by plugging our phones into our personal computers and backing up via USB. This is a manual process, meaning you'll need to remind yourself to do this every now and again so you don't lose recent pictures. How to manually back up your photos to a computer using USB
It doesn't matter how you backup your photos, so long as you backup your photos somewhereWhether you sing Google Photo's praises, use Dropbox to safeguard your photos, or kick it old-school by plugging your phone in to transfer your pictures to your computer, the result should be the same: your photos are backed up somewhere safe should your phone malfunction or flat-out die. And while some methods are certainly easier than others, any amount of trouble is worth it to avoid losing pictures that are truly irreplaceable, like weddings, or the video of your daughter's first steps, or those blackmail pictures that are keeping you gainfully employed. So what's your insurance policy? How do you keep your photos safe? Tell us in the comments. Ara Wagoner was a staff writer at Android Central. She themes phones and pokes YouTube Music with a stick. When she's not writing about cases, Chromebooks, or customization, she's wandering around Walt Disney World. If you see her without headphones, RUN. You can follow her on Twitter at @arawagco. Where are my photos backed up on Android?When you turn on back up and sync, your photos are stored in photos.google.com.. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Google Photos app .. Make sure you're signed in to the right account.. Tap your account profile photo or initial to find your backup status.. What is the best way to save photos from an Android phone?For a physical backup, go with a secure external drive
If you want to store your photos physically, a secure external drive is a better choice. These devices tend to have higher storage capacity and faster speeds, plus they're harder to lose. They're also cheaper now than they were years ago.
How do I know if my photos are backed up on Android?Check a photo's backup status and upload size. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Google Photos app .. Select a photo or video.. Select More .. Scroll to 'Details'.. If the photo is backed up, the backup status and size display beneath Backed up .. How do I transfer my photos to my new phone? Make sure you have Smart Switch on both devices. ... . Open Smart Switch on your new device and tap Receive data.. Select Galaxy/Android.. Select Wireless or Cable depending on the method you want to use. ... . Follow the on-screen instructions to transfer data from your old Android device.. |