Google Photos is a fantastic way to encounter your photos and the powerful search makes it like shooting fish in a barrel to observe pictures of certain people, places or times. Earlier i June 2021, Google did offering unlimited free storage for photos. At present, things accept changed.

You 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 take your limit past 15GB, you'll need to buy more than storage with Google One.

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

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

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

At that place's no need to worry about existing files from earlier i June, as these photos volition remain on Google's servers and won't be deleted or blocked if you lot don't pay - that's a common misconception.

If, like me, you lot accept a photo library total of pictures you lot took prior to owning a smartphone, chances are they're sat on a difficult drive somewhere. Google hasn't fabricated it easy to upload them, just here's are ii ways to upload every single photograph, ane of which is automatic.

Upload to Google Photos via a web browser

Earlier I go to the best fashion, 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 way won't piece of work for most people because the Upload choice in Google Photos will only upload the contents of a single folder.

Most people keep their photos in multiple folders so they have 'albums' for different occasions. Unless you're willing to get through dozens or even hundreds of folders and re-create – or movement – those photos into a single folder, you won't be able to utilize this option.

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

TIP: Before you lot upload all your photos, upload i or ii and cheque that Google Photos can correctly place when they were taken. Otherwise, yous'll take a tough time finding them again.

In one case uploaded, you should be able to enter the engagement it was taken, such every bit '22 May 2000' and all photos from that date should be shown. If not, search for the exact filename of the photograph you only uploaded, and Google Photos should show it. Click the i symbol at the top and y'all'll run into the info for that photo.

How to upload to Google Photos

If there is a problem and the 'appointment taken' isn't identified correctly, you'll demand to use a tool to edit this metadata.

One time you've hit the limit of what yous can upload, Google volition inform you. If you need more space, you lot can get a premium Google I account.

Upload to Google Photos via Backup & Sync

And so we come to the best option for uploading your whole photograph library to Google Photos. It involves downloading Google's Backup & Sync utility, choosing a folder or folders to sync, and then leaving information technology to upload the photos, besides every bit whatever videos in those folders.

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

Hither, pace by step, is how to become well-nigh installing Backup & Sync and uploading all those snaps to Google Photos.

Annotation: this only 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.

one. First, head to the Google Photos website https://photos.google.com/apps and click the Download push.

How to upload to Google Photos

two. When the file is downloaded, click on it in your web browser, or navigate to the binder where downloaded files are stored – commonly Downloads. Double-click on the file (chosen installbackupandsync.exe) and click the Become STARTED button.

How to upload to Google Photos

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

iv. On the 'set-up' screen, choose Back upwardly photos and videos.

How to upload to Google Photos

5. Adjacent, yous need to tell Backup & 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 as another folder on your hard bulldoze, on an external bulldoze or on a NAS bulldoze, click Cull FOLDER and navigate to it.

How to upload to Google Photos

Y'all can sync multiple folders, simply y'all can't select multiple folders at the same fourth dimension.

six. Select the quality you desire for your photo/video - Storage Saver takes upwardly less room, but compresses the file. Meanwhile Original Quality volition not compress the files, but will take up more than storage in your quota.

7. Click START and Backup & Sync will begin uploading photos and videos in the folder(southward) you lot'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. You lot'll see a scrolling list of the files being 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 internet connection, which is typically a lot slower than the download speed.

Go out your laptop or computer on while it's uploading the files. In my example, with a 16Mbps upload speed, information technology took effectually 24 hours to upload 30,000 photos and videos from hundreds of folders on a NAS drive.

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

Related articles for farther 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 1 become