If you're asking how do I stop Google Photos from syncing, this guide provides simple steps to disable auto-sync and manage your settings across all devices.
Before we get to the solutions, let’s take a look at some of the reasons why you might want to prevent Google Photos from syncing. Here are some general explanations:
Preventing Google Photos sync on Android devices is relatively simple. For users who want to save data or battery life, this will prevent the app from automatically uploading new photos.
This sync issue has a simple underlying cause: Google Photos is set to auto-sync with Google Drive by default. So, once you’ve taken a photo or video, it’s automatically uploaded to the cloud.
1. Open the Google Photos app on your Android device.
2. Tap the profile icon in the top-right corner.
3. In the drop-down menu, select Photos settings.
4. Under Backup & sync, tap Backup & sync again.
5. Toggle off the Back up & sync switch. This way, Google Photos won’t add new photos to the cloud right away.
Note: You can turn off Background App Refresh in your phone settings to prevent Google Photos from syncing in the background. To turn off background data usage in Google Photos, go to Settings > Apps. This will prevent syncing when the app is closed, saving data and battery.
Turning off Google Photos sync is equally easy for iPhone and iPad users, but it has to be done directly through the Google Photos app. Here’s how to prevent photos on your iPhone that primarily use Wi-Fi and cellular data in iOS from syncing to the cloud
1. Open the Google Photos app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap your profile icon in the top-right corner.
3. Click Photos Settings.
4. Tap “Backup & Sync.”
5. Turn off the Backup & Sync switch.
Note: You can also change the setting in Photos Settings > Backup & Sync, and enable the Use cellular data option to prevent Google Photos from syncing over cellular data (while allowing Wi-Fi syncing). Photos will only upload when you’re on a Wi-Fi network.
In some situations, you might want to stop uploading specific images or albums instead of stopping all syncing. This is especially useful if you want to control which image files stay on your device and which are backed up to Google Photos.
The catch is that all your photos—whether they’re in albums or anything else—are automatically uploaded to the cloud when you enable Google Photos sync. You can manually choose to back up your photos or turn off all syncing, which prevents specific photos from syncing.
1. Open the Google Photos app.
2. Select the album or photos you don’t want to sync. Tap the three-dot menu in the upper right corner of the screen.
Depending on your device, select “Import from Cloud” or “Don’t Back Up.” This will prevent your Google Photos account from syncing those photos.
Note: You can also select specific albums to exclude from backups in Photos > Backup & Sync Settings. This gives you more control over which albums are synced. This way, you can have more control over which photos are uploaded to the cloud while still backing up the rest of your photos.
This article addresses the question "how do I stop Google Photos from syncing?". If you’re considering migrating files from your current cloud service to Google Photos, or vice versa, MultCloud can be extremely useful. Trusted by over 3 million users, MultCloud is a multi-cloud management tool that facilitates the transfer or synchronization of files between various cloud services.
For instance, it allows for seamless file transfers from cloud drives like Google Photos to iCloud Photos without the need to download and then re-upload files. MultCloud also enables you to access and manage all your cloud accounts via a single application. Currently, it supports more than 30 different cloud services, including Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Box, Google Photos, iCloud Photos, FTP, WebDAV, and more.
With those points in mind, you probably have three workable solutions to stop Google Photos from syncing. For all androids and iOS users, the steps are not as complicated as they may seem. Be careful of the data that gets uploaded and adjust your settings to save not the excessive memory of the phone, but also the battery life.