Google Photos

What Is It, In Plain Words?

Google Photos backs up the photos on your phone to your Google account, so they're safe if you lose your phone. It uses AI to help you find pictures by typing what's in them.

Search "beach", "dog" or someone's name and it finds the right photos, even ones from years ago.

What You Can Use It For

• Finding old photos. Type "birthday cake" or "snow" to find them in seconds.
• Sharing albums. Make an album of a family wedding and share a link with relatives.
• Safekeeping. Your photos are saved even if your phone breaks.

Getting Started Step By Step

On A Phone Or Tablet

1. Open the App Store (iPhone and iPad) or Google Play (Android).
2. Search for Google Photos and check it's made by Google LLC. Copycat apps exist.
3. Tap Get or Install, then open it.
4. On many Android phones it's already installed.

Setting Up Backup

1. Open the app and sign in with your Google account.
2. When asked, turn on Backup. Choose to back up over Wi-Fi only if you have a small phone data allowance.
3. Tap Search at the bottom and type what you're looking for.

On A Computer

1. Open your web browser and go to photos.google.com. Check the address carefully, because look-alike sites exist.
2. Sign in to see the same photos on a computer.

Things To Try Typing

Try typing these into the Search box.

What It Costs

Every Google account comes with 15GB of free storage, shared between Google Photos, Gmail and Google Drive. If that fills up, you can pay for more with Google One.

Prices checked 16 October 2026 on the official Google One plans page. Prices can change, so check there before you pay.

The plans page showed UK prices when we checked, so please check the US price there.

Privacy And Safety

• What it keeps. Your photos are stored privately in your Google account. Only people you share with can see them.
• Face grouping can be turned off in the app's settings if you'd rather it didn't recognise faces.
• Be careful with shared albums: anyone with the link may be able to see them.
• Never type passwords, PINs, bank or card numbers, your National Insurance number (UK) or Social Security number (USA).

Good Points And Watch-Outs

Good Points

• Never lose photos if your phone breaks.
• Search by what's in the picture.
• Works with your phone's text size settings, and you can pinch to zoom on photos.

Watch-Outs

• Free storage can fill up, especially if Gmail is busy.
• Deleting a photo on your phone may delete it from your backup too. Read the message before you tap.
• Backing up uses data, so use Wi-Fi.

Similar Tools

• Photomyne: scans printed photos with your phone.
• MyHeritage Deep Nostalgia: animates old family photos.
• Google Lens: point your camera at anything to identify it.

Common Questions

Is Google Photos free?

Yes. You get 15GB of free storage, shared with Gmail and Drive. More storage costs extra with Google One.

How do I find a photo?

Tap Search and type what's in it, such as 'beach' or a person's name.

Will deleting photos from my phone delete them from Google Photos?

It can. Read the message on screen before you tap delete.