How to auto backup iPhone photos to Google Drive?

Shreyas Patil
Shreyas PatilUpdated :
How to auto backup iPhone photos to Google Drive?

In today's digital age, our smartphones have become the primary storage for capturing precious moments through photos. However, it's essential to have a backup of these photos to avoid losing them due to device damage, loss, or accidental deletion. Google Drive, a popular cloud storage service, offers a convenient solution for iPhone users to automatically back up their photos. This article will guide you through the process of setting up automatic photo backups from your iPhone to Google Drive.


Introduction

In this digital era, our smartphones have become an extension of our lives, capturing cherished memories through the lens of a camera. However, smartphones are susceptible to accidents, theft, or technical issues, making it vital to have a backup plan for your photos. By leveraging Google Drive's cloud storage capabilities, you can automatically back up your iPhone photos, ensuring they are safe and accessible whenever you need them.


Benefits of Auto Backup to Google Drive

Backing up your iPhone photos to Google Drive offers several advantages:

  • Peace of Mind: By enabling automatic backups, you can have peace of mind knowing that your precious photos are securely stored in the cloud.
  • Protection against Data Loss: In case of device damage, loss, or accidental deletion, you can retrieve your backed-up photos from Google Drive.
  • Storage Space Management: By offloading your photos to Google Drive, you free up valuable storage space on your iPhone, allowing you to capture more memories without worrying about running out of storage.
  • Cross-Platform Access: Google Drive provides seamless access to your backed-up photos across multiple devices, including smartphones, tablets, and computers.

Setting Up Google Drive on your iPhone

Before you can start auto backing up your iPhone photos to Google Drive, you need to set up the Google Drive app on your device. Follow these steps:

  • Open the App Store on your iPhone.
  • Search for "Google Drive" and install the app.

    Setting Up Google Drive on your iPhone

  • Launch the Google Drive app and sign in with your Google account credentials.
  • Grant the necessary permissions for the app to access your photos.

Enabling Auto Backup for Photos

Once you have the Google Drive app installed and set up on your iPhone, you can enable the auto backup feature for your photos. Here's how:

  • Open the Google Drive app on your iPhone.
  • Tap on the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the top-left corner of the screen.
  • Scroll down and select "Settings" from the menu.
  • Tap on "Backup & Sync" and ensure the toggle switch for "Photos" is turned on.

Congratulations! You have now enabled auto backup for your iPhone photos to Google Drive. From this point forward, any new photos you capture will be automatically uploaded to your Google Drive account.


Customizing Backup Settings

Google Drive provides options to customize the backup settings according to your preferences. Here are some essential settings you can adjust:

  • Upload Size: You can choose between "Original Quality" or "High Quality." Original Quality retains the full resolution of your photos, while High Quality offers unlimited free storage with slightly compressed photos.
  • Cellular Data: If you have limited data on your mobile plan, you can decide whether to allow backups only when connected to Wi-Fi or allow backups on both Wi-Fi and cellular data.
  • Backup Folder: You can specify the folder in Google Drive where your photos will be backed up.

Feel free to explore these settings and adjust them to suit your needs.


Managing and Accessing Backed-up Photos

Once your iPhone photos are backed up to Google Drive, you can easily manage and access them from various devices. Here's how:

  • On your computer, open a web browser and visit the Google Drive website.
  • Sign in to your Google account.
  • Navigate to the "Photos" folder in your Google Drive to view your backed-up photos.

Alternatively, you can install the Google Drive app on other devices, such as tablets or computers, and access your backed-up photos from there.


Troubleshooting

In case you encounter any issues with auto backing up your iPhone photos to Google Drive, here are a few troubleshooting steps you can follow:

  • Ensure that your iPhone has a stable internet connection.
  • Check if you have sufficient storage space in your Google Drive account.
  • Verify that the Google Drive app has the necessary permissions to access your photos.

If the issue persists, you can visit the Google Drive Help Center for further assistance.


Quick Tip to Keep your Photos Safe

Making backups of your photos & videos is a chore you probably skip, but it really doesn't have to be hard. Here's an effortless way to backup photos - PicBackMan. PicBackMan is the easiest and simplest way to keep your photos safely backed up in one or more online accounts. 

Download PicBackMan

Simply download PicBackMan (it's free!), register your account, connect to your online store and tell PicBackMan where your photos are - PicBackMan does the rest, automatically. It bulk uploads all photos and keeps looking for new ones and uploads those too. You don't have to ever touch it.


Conclusion

Backing up your iPhone photos is crucial to safeguard your memories against unforeseen circumstances. Google Drive provides a seamless solution for auto backing up your photos, offering peace of mind and easy access across multiple devices. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can ensure that your precious photos are safely stored and readily available whenever you need them.




FAQs

Can I automatically backup photos to Google Drive?

Yes, you can set up automatic photo backups to Google Drive by enabling the feature in the Google Drive app on your iPhone. This ensures that your photos are backed up regularly without manual intervention.

How do I change my iPhone backup from iCloud to Google Drive?

To change your iPhone backup from iCloud to Google Drive, you need to disable iCloud backup for photos and enable the auto backup feature in the Google Drive app. Go to your iPhone settings, select your Apple ID, tap on "iCloud," then "Photos," and turn off "iCloud Photos." After that, follow the steps mentioned earlier to enable auto backup to Google Drive.

What is the best way to back up photos from iPhone?

The best way to back up photos from your iPhone is to utilize a combination of cloud storage services like Google Drive, iCloud, or other third-party backup apps. By enabling automatic backups and choosing reliable cloud storage options, you can ensure the safety and accessibility of your photos.

When you delete photos from iPhone, are they deleted from iCloud?

When you delete photos from your iPhone, it depends on your settings. If you have enabled iCloud Photos and the "Optimize iPhone Storage" option, the photos will be removed from your iPhone but remain in iCloud. However, if you have chosen the "Download and Keep Originals" option, the photos will still be available on iCloud and other devices.

How do I backup my iPhone photos without iTunes?

You can back up your iPhone photos without iTunes by using cloud storage services like Google Drive, Dropbox, or iCloud. Simply install the respective app on your iPhone, sign in with your account, and enable the auto backup feature. Your photos will be automatically backed up to the chosen cloud storage.

How do I store photos without iCloud?

If you prefer not to use iCloud for storing your photos, you have alternative options such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, or Amazon Photos. These cloud storage services offer similar functionality, allowing you to back up and access your photos from various devices. Choose the one that suits your needs and follow the steps provided by the respective service to store your photos securely.

World's #1 Photo/Video Uploader

Backup & Transfer your Photos in Minutes

Automate backup & migration of your photos & videos with support for all top services.

(283 reviews)

Trusted by users in 125+ countries.

95,000+ PicBackMan Users

95,000+ Users Trust PicBackMan To Backup Precious Memories

money back guarantee
Kip Roof testimonial Kip Roofgoogle photos flickr
PicBackMan does exactly what it's supposed to. It's quick and efficient. It runs unobtrusively in the background and has done an excellent job of uploading more than 300GB of photos to 2 different services. After having lost a lot of personal memories to a hard drive crash, it's nice to know that my photos are safe in 2 different places.
Julia Alyea Farella testimonialJulia Alyea Farella smugmug
LOVE this program! Works better than ANY other program out there that I have found to upload thousands of pictures WITH SUB-FOLDERS to SmugMug! Thank you so much for what you do! :) #happycustomer
Pausing Motion testimonialPausingMotionsmugmug
I pointed PicBackMan at a directory structure, and next time I looked - all the photos had uploaded! Pretty cool. I use SmugMug and while I really like it, the process of creating directories in is pretty laborious when you need to make 80+ at a time. This was a breeze. Thank you!
Gavin Whitham testimonialGavin Whithamflickr
PicBackMan was really easy to setup and has been running for 3 days now backing up all my locally saved photos to Flickr. My photos are really valuable to me so it's great to be able to have them easily backed up to a secure location.
 Jim Griffin testimonialJim Griffinsmugmug
It's AWESOME!! I have tens of thousands of pictures...and they are now successfully uploaded to SmugMug, where they are safely backed up, and I can edit and organize them. If you are hesitating about using PicBackMan, hesitate no longer...try it...and you'll be glad you did!!
close icon
World's #1 Photo/Video Uploader

World's #1 Free Photo/Video Uploader

PicBackMan has everything you've ever wanted to backup your photos or migrate/transfer from one account to another. No feature left behind!

(283 reviews)
Trusted by users in 125+ countries.
  • Maintain Folder StructureMaintain Folder StructureUpload to your online accounts & keep your folder structure as you have it.
  • Sub-folder SupportFolders & their sub-folders are automatically picked up.
  • Smart De-dupeDe-dupes photos before uploading so you don’t have duplicate copies.
  • AutomaticPicBackMan monitors & automatically uploads from connected folders.
  • PrivacyPrivacyAll uploaded photos & videos are always marked as private by default.
  • RAW FilesComes with support for RAW files for uploads as well as transfers.

“Your pictures are scattered. PicBackMan helps you bring order to your digital memories.”

the wall street journal
close icon
One Uploader for All Services

One Uploader for All Services

PicBackMan is the only tool you will need to backup to one or more of the top online photo and video services.

(283 reviews)
Trusted by users in 125+ countries.
Google Photos

Google Photos

Flickr

Flickr

SmugMug

SmugMug

Dropbox

Dropbox

Google Drive

Google Drive

pCloud

pCloud

OneDrive

OneDrive

youtube

Youtube