Google Photos is a fantastic style to see your photos and the powerful search makes it like shooting fish in a barrel to discover pictures of sure people, places or times. Before i June 2021, Google did offer unlimited complimentary storage for photos. Now, things take changed.

Y'all just get 15GB of Google storage in total, which counts files on your Google Drive and Gmail, as well as Google Photos. Therefore, if you want to upload more photos and videos that will have your limit by 15GB, you'll demand to purchase more storage with Google 1.

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

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

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

There'due south no need to worry almost existing files from earlier 1 June, every bit these photos will remain on Google's servers and won't be deleted or blocked if you lot don't pay - that's a mutual misconception.

If, like me, you take a photo library total of pictures yous 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 means to upload every unmarried photo, ane of which is automatic.

Upload to Google Photos via a web browser

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

How to upload to Google Photos from Windows

Unfortunately, the easy mode won't work for well-nigh people because the Upload selection in Google Photos volition only upload the contents of a single folder.

Most people continue their photos in multiple folders so they take 'albums' for different occasions. Unless you're willing to go through dozens or even hundreds of folders and copy – or motility – those photos into a single folder, you won't be able to utilize this option.

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

TIP: Before yous upload all your photos, upload i or two and check that Google Photos can correctly identify when they were taken. Otherwise, yous'll have a tough time finding them again.

Once uploaded, you should be able to enter the date 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 photo you simply uploaded, and Google Photos should show it. Click the i symbol at the summit and yous'll see the info for that photograph.

How to upload to Google Photos

If there is a problem and the 'appointment taken' isn't identified correctly, yous'll need to employ a tool to edit this metadata.

Once you've hit the limit of what y'all can upload, Google will inform yous. If you lot need more than space, you can get 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'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 as mine were, you may notice you lot cannot select the root folder in Backup & Sync. The workaround is to create a folder within that (phone call it upload or whatever y'all like), then motility all your folders of photos into that.

Here, footstep by footstep, is how to go about installing Fill-in & Sync and uploading all those snaps to Google Photos.

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

1. Kickoff, 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 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 GET STARTED push.

How to upload to Google Photos

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

4. On the 'set-up' screen, choose Dorsum upwards photos and videos.

How to upload to Google Photos

v. Next, you need to tell Fill-in & Sync which folders your photos are in. This could be as simple as clicking the box next to Pictures, but if your photos are stored elsewhere, such every bit another binder on your hard drive, on an external drive or on a NAS drive, click CHOOSE FOLDER and navigate to it.

How to upload to Google Photos

You can sync multiple folders, but you tin can't select multiple folders at the aforementioned time.

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

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

8. If you lot desire to check on progress, click the ^ symbol on the Windows Taskbar and click the fiddling white deject symbol. You lot'll encounter a scrolling list of the files being uploaded.

How to upload to Google Photos

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

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

Once more, the amount you'll exist able to upload will depend on the amount of storage you have in your Google One business relationship.

Related manufactures for further reading

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