Tips to get the most out of Google Photos

Google Photos have become the Swiss Army knife For anyone who takes photos with their mobile phone: cloud backup, smart gallery, brutal search engine And a handful of extras that many people don't even know exist. If you only use it to look at photos and little else, you're missing out on a good part of what it offers.

In this guide you will find a huge compilation of Tricks, settings and hidden functions To get the most out of Google Photos: from better organizing your library and finding any image in seconds, to saving space, editing like a pro, or sharing without compromising privacy. Get ready because there's a lot to discover, and you'll see that, once you master it, the app completely changes the way you save and use your photos.

Master the navigation and organization of your library

Google Photos organizes your entire collection into a timeline. where the most recent photos appear at the top and the oldest at the bottom. If you just swipe, finding a photo from years ago can take forever, but there's a quick trick: tap and hold the small slider that appears on the right edge and move it up or down. You'll instantly see the month and year as you scroll—perfect for jumping straight to an old vacation or a specific event.

If you want to be even more comfortable, play the zoom in on the grid using the pinch gestureBy pinching inwards, the thumbnails become smaller, allowing you to see many more at once—perfect for quickly navigating your gallery. Pinching outwards enlarges the photos, letting you appreciate them more fully without opening them individually.

Another hidden gem of the interface is the single-finger multiple selectionPress and hold a photo until it's selected, then, without lifting your finger, drag over the other images you want to select. Everything you touch will be selected as a group, perfect for deleting, sharing, or adding to the same album without having to tap each one individually.

When you work from the browser on your computer, Google Photos also has its own features. keyboard shortcuts To move around like lightning. Use the left and right arrow keys to go to the previous or next photo, press the "x" key to select, "/" to search, or "Escape" to exit a selected photo or cancel it. There are more combinations: "e" to edit, "f" to mark as a favorite, "i" to view information, "Shift + d" to download, "Shift + a" to archive or unarchive, and "#" to send something to the trash.

If you get dizzy while editing and don't know if the photo looks better or worse, the web editor lets you Press and hold on the image to compare live with the originalRelease to see the edited version and press and hold again to see how it was originally; this way you don't accidentally overdo it with filters or contrast.

Configure backups and folders however you like

Out of the box, the app uploads to the cloud. the photos you take with your mobile phone camerabut it leaves out other folders such as those of WhatsApp, downloads, Instagram or various memes. You can decide what gets uploaded and what doesn't by going to Settings > Backup and sync > Device folder backup. There you'll see all the folders with images and you can activate only the ones you're actually interested in.

You can also manage this from the tab of Albums and the "Device Folders" sectionWhenever an app creates a new folder with photos or screenshots, Google Photos usually displays a notification asking if you want to include it in the backup. Take advantage of this to avoid filling up the cloud with unwanted files.

Another key decision is the quality of the images and videos you uploadIn "Backup," you can choose between "Original Quality," which maintains the exact resolution and file size but reduces the 15 GB of shared storage with Drive and Gmail, or "High Quality," which compresses photos above 16 megapixels and videos above 1080p, but allows you to store many more files while using less space. On Pixel phones, depending on the model and current conditions, there are significant storage advantages for uploading with no limit or fewer restrictions.

If you've been using "Original Quality" for a while and are running out of time... storageYou have a powerful option: Convert everything you've already uploaded to "High quality"From the "Reclaim space" or "Manage storage" section in the settings, you can have Google Photos compress all your old photos and videos. You'll gain a good amount of gigabytes, but be aware that the process cannot be undone; once compressed, there's no way to revert to the original quality unless you have a local backup.

To avoid surprises with your data plan, go to "Backup and sync" and Turn off the use of mobile data for photos and videosleaving backups only for when you're on Wi-Fi. That way, you don't suddenly find yourself with half your data allowance used up overnight because of a trip with lots of photos and videos taken on 4G.

Save space: clean, compress, and take advantage of other services

With the end of unlimited free storage, it's time to tighten our belts. One of the most effective ways to increase margin is take advantage of the Google Photos storage managerFrom "Manage storage," the app suggests deleting blurry or out-of-focus photos, old screenshots, very large items, or videos that take up too much space. You'll see how much space each category will free up, and you can select everything or review it to make sure nothing important is missing.

If you often take screenshots or photos of receipts and tickets that are only useful for a short time, you'll see that Those folders take up more space than you'd think.You can empty your Photos app at once using the suggested cleanup tips or the "Clean up" card in the Assistant. Content sent to the trash is kept for 60 days in case you change your mind; after that time, it's permanently deleted.

Another underutilized idea is Move your large videos to YouTubeYou can locate them in your storage manager, download them to your computer or mobile device, and then upload them to your YouTube account (which is linked to your Google account) by marking them as "Private." YouTube doesn't impose a reasonable limit on the number of videos, so you can keep them there and delete their copy from Google Photos to free up a significant amount of space.

Don't forget that the 15 GB of free storage is shared between Google Photos, Drive, and Gmail, so you also gain space. If you clean up huge emails and outdated files from DriveIn Gmail, you can search for large messages using filters like "larger:10M" or "larger:20M", review the largest attachments, and delete anything you no longer need. In Drive, review presentations, videos, or old backups that are gathering dust.

If you still fall short, you have two payment options: Expand storage with Google One (Plans starting at 100 GB for a monthly or annual fee) or opt for a Pixel that offers better upload speeds to Photos. It's not the cheapest option, but if your photo library is huge and you use it for work, family, and other things, it can be much more worthwhile than blindly deleting photos.

Search and find any photo in seconds.

One of Google Photos' strengths is its AI-powered search engine. The app analyzes the content of your images so you can search by objects, concepts, or scenes without having tagged anything. Type "beach", "christmas", "birthday", "dog", "cat", "bridge" or even "LEGO", and you'll see how photos related to that topic appear without you having done anything else.

It goes even further: you can also search by emojis directly from the keyboardIf you type in an emoji with glasses, the app will try to show you photos of people wearing glasses; if you use a dog or cat icon, it will find images of pets. It's not 100% foolproof, but it's usually surprisingly accurate and is a really fun way to use the search function.

The engine also understands Dates, months, and years written in textIf you type "February" or "2019," it will show you photos taken in that month or year; if you type "summer 2018," it will combine dates and locations to find photos from that period. And, of course, you can search by cities or areas ("Rome," "Cordoba," "Paris") thanks to the location tags included in the metadata.

You add another layer of precision by adding personalized descriptions for specific photosOpen the image, tap the information icon ("i"), and type some text in the "Add a description" field. Everything you enter there will be indexed, so you can later search by the event name, a friend's nickname, a detail from the scene, or anything else you can think of.

If you're too lazy to tag people, no problem: the system itself groups similar faces to offer you a "People" (and pets) album where you can assign names and then type them into the search bar to see all the photos in which that person appears. As we'll see now, this facial recognition aspect is quite complex.

Group by faces, people, and pets

Google Photos is able to automatically detect faces that appear in your images and group them into collections. To activate this feature, go to Settings and look for the "Group similar faces" option. There you'll see the "Group by faces" switch; activate it and let the AI ​​do its work. Depending on the size of your library, the process may take minutes or hours.

When it's finished, an album called "People" or "People and Pets" will appear in the Albums tab. Inside, you'll see all the detected faces and you'll be able to assign a name or nickname to each oneTap on a face, type a name, and you're done. This works for both humans and animals, so your dog or cat can have their own album too.

If there is someone you prefer not to identify, you can hide your face so it stops being automatically recognizedSimply tap and hold on that person's album in "People & Pets" and select the "Hide" option from the menu. The photos aren't deleted and nothing is lost; Google Photos simply stops using that face in its groupings and suggestions.

Once the names are set up, the search engine becomes incredibly useful. Type the name of a friend or family member in the search bar and You'll see all the photos where the system believes that person appears.Furthermore, this fits perfectly with other features, such as automatic albums or "Live Albums", which can be automatically filled with all the photos in which a specific person appears.

Privacy: location, metadata, and photos you don't want to see

Each time you open a photo in full screen, you can swipe up or tap the information icon to see all its metadata: date, time, resolution, device, shooting settings, and location on the map If the phone or camera had GPS enabled. This information is very useful for remembering which phone you used to take the photo, your exact location, or what settings you used in a complex scene.

The problem is that if you share that image as is, the location data can also travel with it. To prevent this, Google Photos settings have an option called "Remove geolocation" when sharing via linkIf you activate it, any photo or album you share via a link will lose its exact location before leaving your account, so you don't unintentionally reveal where you live, work, or vacation.

Another way to protect your visual privacy is to use the file to hide photos Images you don't want to see constantly, but don't want to delete either. These could be screenshots of receipts, documents, conversations, memes, or anything cluttering up your gallery. Select the images you want, tap the three-dot menu, and choose "Archive." They'll disappear from the main view, but will still appear in albums and search results.

If you want something more positive to hide, you can Mark photos as favorites with the star which appears when you view them in full size. Doing so creates a "Favorites" album accessible from the Albums section, where you'll have your favorite or frequently viewed images at your fingertips. It's perfect for keeping track of those four or five photos you always share among thousands of others.

Edit photos: filters, cropping, and advanced adjustments

Although it doesn't compete with professional editors, Google Photos brings a built-in editor that's more than enough for everyday useOpen a photo, tap the edit icon (three handles or three lines, depending on the version), and you'll access Instagram-style filters, cropping tools, straightening tools, and color and lighting controls. You can adjust brightness, contrast, shadows, warmth, or color intensity with very simple sliders.

In some images, you'll see special options like "Intense blue" to enhance skies and waterWithin the color section, tap the down arrow to find this tool: moving the slider to the right intensifies the blue areas, while the other colors remain more stable. It's ideal for beach landscapes, mountain scenes, or scenes with the sea in the background.

If you shoot in portrait mode on a compatible mobile phone (especially the Pixel range), Google Photos lets you playing with background blur afterwardOpen the editor, find the "Depth" setting, and move the slider to increase or decrease the bokeh effect. You can also tap on different areas of the photo to specify which parts should be in focus and which should be more blurred.

When you finish editing, you can "Save" so that the new version replaces the original, or Use the "Export" option to create an edited copy without touching the original file. This is very useful if you want to try more aggressive versions or different finishes without ruining the photo as it came out of the camera.

If the basic editor isn't enough, you can also jump from the editing menu to apps external tools like Snapseed or other third-party tools will be used, and Google Photos will handle that. save the final result to your library, keeping everything organized in one place even if you use multiple editors.

Automatic edits, GIFs, collages and other montages

The built-in Google Photos assistant takes care of Create montages, stylize images, and generate videos or animations without you having to do anything.When it detects, for example, a series of photos of a monument, a trip, or a special event, it can suggest an enhanced version, a collage, a GIF, or a short video. You'll receive a notification and can decide whether to save it or discard it; the original photo is never lost.

Besides that, you can do it yourself Create animated GIFs by selecting multiple imagesFrom the "Assistant" tab, tap "Animation" and choose up to 50 photos. The app will combine them into a quick sequence that is saved as an animation; when you share it via WhatsApp, Telegram, or social media, it will be exported as a GIF and you can use it however you like.

If you'd prefer a classic collage of several photos in a single image, the process is just as simple: go to the Wizard, tap on "Collage" and Choose up to nine photos to combine.Google Photos will automatically create the panel layout. It doesn't allow for precise adjustments to each frame, but it works very well for quick edits, and you can then apply filters or extra cropping.

Something similar happens with movies. The app offers themed templates ("A Year of Smiles," Mother's Day, best selfies, etc.) that They automatically create videos from your photos and clips.Music included. But if you prefer, you can go to "Create movie" and select up to 50 photos or videos, decide the order and adjust the duration of each one, as well as change the soundtrack to another track.

In some countries, you can also do this directly from the Assistant. order physical photo books Directly with your favorite images. Simply choose your photos (up to 100 per book), review the basic layout suggested by Google, and place your order. It's an easy way to go from the cloud to print without struggling with layout software.

Scan documents, old photos, and crop perspectives

If you have old photo albums or printed photos that you want to preserve, Google offers PhotoScan, an app designed for digitize physical photographs with the mobile phone cameraFrom the Google Photos side menu, you'll see an option called "Scan photos" that takes you to the FotoScan download page on Google Play or the App Store. Once installed, place the photo on a well-lit surface, follow the instructions to move your phone around the four points, and let the app remove glare and correct the perspective.

For simpler documents or a quick photo of a piece of paper, Google Photos includes a feature to document cropping with perspective correctionTake the photo with your camera, open it in Photos, go to Edit, and tap the Extensions icon (nine dots in a square). Select "Crop Document," align the four corners to the edge of the paper, and confirm. The resulting image will look as if you had scanned it.

Thanks to Google Lens, which is integrated within Photos, you can also extract text directly from imagesOpen a photo with text (a sign, a document, a card), tap the Lens icon, and select the area where the text you're interested in is located. The app will recognize the text and allow you to copy it. clipboardYou can search for it on Google or translate it, which is great for noting down information without rewriting it.

Sharing, collaborative albums, and Chromecast

Sharing from Google Photos is much more flexible than simply sending files. When you open a photo or select multiple photos, you can send them to specific contacts or generate a shared link which anyone can open in a browser, even if they don't use the app. You decide exactly which photos or albums are included in that link, so no one can snoop through the rest of your library.

If you want to combine photos from a trip or event taken by several people, create a shared album where everyone can add their materialFrom the sharing tab or Albums, create a new album, add your photos, and then invite your friends via email or a link. Each person can upload their own photos, and everyone will see the whole album without having to send photos through WhatsApp in terrible quality.

The side menu also contains a very powerful function called «Add collaborator account»With it, you can automatically grant someone else access to part of your library: all your photos, photos of specific people (like your children), or photos from a particular period. It's ideal for couples or families who want a shared collection without having to exchange albums one by one.

If you have a Chromecast or a compatible TV on the same Wi-Fi network, you'll see the cast icon in Google Photos. With one tap, you can... project a photo, an entire album, or a specific selection on TVThis is great for showing off your vacation photos without everyone staring at their phone screens. You can scroll through the pictures from your phone like a remote control.

Advanced management: Recycle bin, recovery, and videos only

Every time you delete something in Google Photos, you actually It will go to the bin for 60 daysDuring that time, you can access that section from the side menu, select what you want, and recover it without any problem. If you're absolutely sure and want it completely deleted, you can also empty the trash before that time expires.

If you find it overwhelming to see everything mixed together, remember that clicking on the search bar will give you quick access to... specific types of content such as videos, films, animations, collages, or FotoScan scansTap on "Videos" to see only clips, on "Movies" to find the montages you've made, or on "Animations" to find all your GIFs created with the app.

If your phone and the app allow it, you can also save and play back moving photos, such as Live Photos of iPhone to Android Motion PhotosIn the photo view, you'll see an icon that lets you turn the animation on or off, and in settings you can decide whether you want those small associated videos included in the backup or if you prefer to keep only the still image to save space.

Finally, when you want to do a thorough cleaning without sacrificing security, you can use Google Takeout to Download a complete copy of all your stored photos and videosSelect only Google Photos in the data export tool, generate the compressed file, and when you receive it you'll have a backup that you can save to an external drive before you start deleting material from the cloud with a little more peace of mind.

With all these tricks and adjustments, Google Photos is no longer just a cloud service for uploading images. to become your photographic command center: organize by time, place and faces, edit without complications, share without losing control of your privacy, save space when 15 GB is tight and retrieve memories in seconds thanks to a search engine that seems like magic; once you get used to using it thoroughly, it's hard to go back to a simple gallery without intelligence behind it.