How to Use Google Photos to Free up Storage Space in iCloud?

If you are using iPhone and getting message that there is not enough iCloud storage available, then first you need to determine what is taking up the most space when your phone performs backups. You can manage your storage in Settings. iCloud offers 5 GB of free storage space to all its users. You can upgrade your free account to paid subscription. But if you don't want to upgrade an account, then you have option to backup your photos i.e. "Google Photos". Because Google Photos allows you to backup an unlimited number of photos for free, with a few gotchas. Google Photos app for iOS has an automatic backup and sync option for your device photos. So you can use Google Photos to backup photos and then free up storage space in iCloud by eliminating that backup feature from iCloud.

To do so, download and install "Google Photos" app on your iPhone. Open "Google Photos" app on your iPhone, it will be prompted to enter your Google account credentials. If you have multiple accounts, then make sure you choose wisely which one you want to associate with your backed up photos. Now you have to choose what quality photos you want to upload i.e. "High Quality" or "Original" size. If you choose "High Quality", then you will be able to upload an unlimited amount of photos to Google Photos. High quality photos can be up to 16 megapixels in size and video resolution to 1080p. Now you have to choose to enable the automatic sync and backup feature. You can choose to backup photos on Wi-Fi only or using Cellular data plan.

To turn ON automatic sync and backup feature, open "Google Photos" and tap "menu" icon and then tap "Settings". Now tap "Back up & sync" tab and then move the slider from left to right to turn ON "Back up & sync" feature. Once you have enabled automatic backup and syn feature, the app should begin automatically backing up your photos to Google Photos.

Once your photos are backed up to Google Photos, you can disable the iCloud photo backup. To do so, tap "Settings" on your iPhone and then tap "iCloud" option. Now tap "Photos" option to disable the full backup of your iPhone photo library or the Photo Stream feature or both.