Google Photos is a fantastic fashion to run across your photos and the powerful search makes it easy to observe pictures of sure people, places or times. Before ane June 2021, Google did offer unlimited costless storage for photos. Now, things accept changed.

You but become 15GB of Google storage in total, which counts files on your Google Drive and Gmail, besides as Google Photos. Therefore, if you lot want to upload more photos and videos that will have your limit by 15GB, you'll need to buy more storage with Google Ane.

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

  • 15 GB - Gratis
  • 100 GB - £i.59 per month/£fifteen.99 per yr
  • 200 GB - £2.49 per calendar month/£24.99 per year
  • two TB - £7.99 per month/£79.99 per twelvemonth

Sadly, no unlimited storage pick is currently bachelor. You lot'll have to look at other Cloud storage options if you want that. You tin also make more room for photos and video by immigration out large files on your Google Drive.

In that location'south no need to worry about existing files from earlier 1 June, every bit these photos volition remain on Google's servers and won't exist deleted or blocked if yous don't pay - that'southward a common misconception.

If, like me, you have a photo library full of pictures you took prior to owning a smartphone, chances are they're sabbatum on a hard drive somewhere. Google hasn't made information technology easy to upload them, but here'due south are two ways to upload every single photo, one of which is automatic.

Upload to Google Photos via a web browser

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

How to upload to Google Photos from Windows

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

Almost people keep their photos in multiple folders so they have 'albums' for unlike occasions. Unless you're willing to go through dozens or fifty-fifty hundreds of folders and copy – or move – those photos into a single binder, you won't be able to utilize this option.

You could laboriously utilise the Upload button for each folder you have but, again, that's impractical if you accept a hundred or more.

TIP: Before you lot upload all your photos, upload 1 or two and check that Google Photos tin correctly identify when they were taken. Otherwise, you'll accept a tough time finding them once more.

Once uploaded, y'all should be able to enter the date it was taken, such every bit '22 May 2000' and all photos from that engagement should be shown. If not, search for the exact filename of the photograph yous but uploaded, and Google Photos should bear witness it. Click the i symbol at the top and you lot'll meet the info for that photograph.

How to upload to Google Photos

If there 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 hit the limit of what you can upload, Google will inform you. If you need more infinite, you tin can go a premium Google One account.

Upload to Google Photos via Fill-in & Sync

And so we come to the all-time option for uploading your whole photo library to Google Photos. It involves downloading Google'due south Backup & Sync utility, choosing a folder or folders to sync, then leaving it to upload the photos, also as whatever videos in those folders.

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

Here, step by pace, is how to get about installing Backup & Sync and uploading all those snaps to Google Photos.

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

i. Kickoff, head 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 – normally Downloads. Double-click on the file (called installbackupandsync.exe) and click the Go STARTED button.

How to upload to Google Photos

3. You'll need to sign into your Google business relationship, the ane you use for Google Photos.

iv. On the 'prepare-up' screen, choose Back upward photos and videos.

How to upload to Google Photos

5. Next, you need to tell Backup & Sync which folders your photos are in. This could be equally simple as clicking the box next to Pictures, but 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 tin't select multiple folders at the same fourth dimension.

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

7. Click Beginning and Fill-in & Sync volition begin uploading photos and videos in the folder(s) you lot've called to Google Photos.

eight. If yous want to bank check on progress, click the ^ symbol on the Windows Taskbar and click the footling white deject symbol. Y'all'll encounter a scrolling list of the files beingness uploaded.

How to upload to Google Photos

How long it volition take to upload all your photos and videos volition depend on the full corporeality of data to exist uploaded and the upload speed of your net connexion, which is typically a lot slower than the download speed.

Go out your laptop or computer on while it'southward uploading the files. In my example, 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 corporeality you'll be able to upload will depend on the amount of storage you take in your Google 1 account.

Related manufactures for farther reading

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