Google Photos: Backup but don't download?

May 2, 2020 6:02 AM

I use Google Photos on my Android phone to back up my photos and videos to the cloud. As I have been known to occasionaly loose my phone I really like this feature. But, I can't find an option to not download photos back to my phone. The result is that as soon as I enable backup&sync ALL my photos get downloaded and my storage is full. I would like to have only backup and no sync. Is there a solution for that besides using another app?
posted by SweetLiesOfBokonon to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

Best answer: Hm, that's not how it's supposed to work. Do you see a "Free up space" option in the menu in Google Photos? Or "free up device storage" as the second entry under Settings?
posted by esker at 6:32 AM on May 2, 2020 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Google Photos is a sync app so it will sync your photos to your device and the cloud and try to keep them in sync by reflecting changes such as edits or deletions across all devices. There are ways around it but they are convoluted. At one point I used Google Photos with the sync turned off and manually uploaded photos but that's also kind of a pain.

Flickr has auto backup without sync.
posted by srboisvert at 10:11 AM on May 2, 2020

Best answer: Since you're on Android, adding a Micro-SD card may be an option on your phone, and thus you may be able to increase your storage space on your phone. If you do, get a Class 10 Micro-SD; the class refers to the maximum rated read/write speed of the memory card.
posted by Sunburnt at 10:48 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]