Back up photos & videos

About back up and sync

Back up and sync is a storage service that automatically saves your photos and videos to your Google Account. These photos and videos will be accessible from any device where you are logged into your account.

Benefits

  • Never lose a memory: Any photos you take from a device with backup enabled will be saved to your Google Account.
  • Automatic sync: Any edits you make or photos you take will be accessible across any device that you sign in to. If you edit and save a photo on your phone, the photo will look the same on Google Photos.
  • Fast and powerful search: You can search your photos by the people (when you've enabled face grouping), places, and things in them. No tagging is required.
  • Automatic creations: Bring photos to life with automatically created movies, collages, animations, and panoramas.

Before you get started

What you need to back up photos & videos

  • Good internet connection.
  • File sizes that can be backed up.  Your files won't be backed up if they are:
    • Photos larger than 200 MB or 150 MP
    • Videos larger than 10 GB.
    • Items smaller than 256 x 256.
  • File types that can be backed up.
    • Photos: .jpg, .heic, .png, .webp, .gif, and some RAW files.
    • Live photos can be backed up if you use the Google Photos app on your iPhone or iPad.
    • Videos: .mpg, .mod, .mmv, .tod, .wmv, .asf, .avi, .divx, .mov, .m4v, .3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .m2t, .m2ts, .mts, and .mkv files.

If you try to back up a file type not listed here, it may not work with Google Photos.

Important: Your Google Account storage is shared across multiple products like Google Photos, Google Drive, and Gmail. If you have used all of your storage, you won't be able to back up new files.

Types of RAW files you can back up

Canon
EOS-1D X Mark III, EOS-1D X Mark II, EOS-1D X, EOS-1Ds Mark III, EOS-1Ds Mark II, EOS-1D Mark IV, EOS-1D Mark III, EOS-1D Mark II, EOS-1D C, EOS-1D Mark II N, EOS 5D Mark IV, EOS 5D Mark III, EOS 5D Mark II, EOS 5D, EOS 5Ds, EOS 5Ds R, EOS R5, EOS 6D Mark II, EOS 6D, EOS R6, EOS R, EOS Ra, EOS RP, EOS 7D Mark II, EOS 7D, EOS 90D, EOS 80D, EOS 70D, EOS 60D, EOS 60Da, EOS 50D, EOS 40D, EOS 30D, EOS 20D, EOS 20Da, EOS 9000D (EOS 77D), EOS 8000D (EOS REBEL T6S/EOS 760D), EOS Kiss X10i (EOS REBEL T8i/EOS 850D), EOS Kiss X9i (EOS REBEL T7i/EOS 800D), EOS Kiss X8i (EOS REBEL T6i/EOS 750D), EOS Kiss X7i (EOS REBEL T5i/EOS 700D), EOS Kiss X6i (EOS REBEL T4i/EOS 650D), EOS Kiss X10 (EOS REBEL SL3/EOS 250D/EOS 200D II), EOS Kiss X9 (EOS REBEL SL2/EOS 200D), EOS Kiss X7 (EOS REBEL SL1/EOS 100D), EOS Kiss X5 (EOS REBEL T3i/EOS 600D), EOS Kiss X4 (EOS REBEL T2i/EOS 550D), EOS Kiss X3 (EOS REBEL T1i/EOS 500D), EOS Kiss X2 (EOS DIGITAL REBEL XSi/EOS 450D), EOS Kiss X90 (EOS REBEL T7/EOS 2000D/EOS 1500D), EOS Kiss X80 (EOS REBEL T6/EOS 1300D), EOS Kiss X70 (EOS REBEL T5/EOS 1200D), EOS Kiss X50 (EOS REBEL T3/EOS 1100D), EOS Kiss F (EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS/EOS 1000D), EOS Kiss Digital X (EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi/EOS 400D DIGITAL), EOS Kiss Digital N (EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT/EOS 350D DIGITAL), EOS Kiss M (EOS M50), EOS M6 Mark II, EOS M6, EOS M5, EOS M3, EOS M2, EOS M, EOS M10, EOS M200, EOS M100, PowerShot G9 X Mark II, PowerShot G9 X, PowerShot G7 X Mark III, PowerShot G7 X Mark II, PowerShot G7 X, PowerShot G5 X Mark II, PowerShot G5 X, PowerShot G3 X, PowerShot G1 X Mark III, PowerShot G1 X Mark II, PowerShot G1 X, PowerShot G16, PowerShot G15, PowerShot G12, PowerShot G11, PowerShot G10, PowerShot S120, PowerShot S110, PowerShot S100, PowerShot S95, PowerShot S90, PowerShot SX70 HS, PowerShot SX60 HS, PowerShot SX50 HS, PowerShot SX1 IS

Fuji
X100

Nikon
1AW1, 1J1, 1J2, 1J3, 1J4, 1S1, 1S2, 1V1, 1V2, 1V3, D3, D3X, D4, D4S, D40, D40X, D50, D60, D70, D70s, D80, D90, D200, D300, D300s, D600, D610, D700, D750, D800, D800E, D810, D3000, D3100, D3200, D3300, D5000, D5100, D5200, D5300, D5500, D7000, D7100, D7200, Df
Coolpix: A, P7800

Olympus
E-M1, E-M5, E-M10, E-P1, E-P2, E-P3, E-P5, E-PL3, E-PL5, E-PL7, OM-D E-M5 Mark II

Panasonic
CM1, FZ300, G70, GF1, GF3, GF5, GF7, GH3, GH4, GM1, GM5, GX1, GX8, LX5, LX7, LX100

Sony
A7, A7R, A7S, A7 Mark II, A55, A58, A65, A77, A77 Mark II, A99, A700, A3000, A5000, A5100, A6000, QX1, NEX-5, NEX-5N, NEX-5R, NEX-6, NEX-7, NEX-C3, NEX-F3, RX1, RX1R, RX10, RX10 Mark II, RX100, RX100 Mark II, RX100 Mark III, RX100 Mark IV

DNG files
All .dng files

Turn back up & sync on or off

Change your backup settings

  • Choose the Google Account to back up photos and videos: Under "Backup account," tap the account name.
  • Change your upload size: Tap Upload size. Learn more about upload sizes.
  • Back up on mobile data: If you don't want to wait for Wi-Fi to back up your photos, under "When to back up," tap Use cellular data to back up photos or Use cellular data to back up videos. Charges from your service provider may apply if you upload using your mobile network.

Check if your photos are backed up

  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Photos app Photos.
  2. Sign in to your Google Account.
  3. In the top right, tap your Google Account profile picture.
  4. You can view if backup is complete or if you have items in wait to back up. Learn how to fix backup issues.

Costs to back up

As of June 1, 2021, any new photos or videos you back up in Storage saver quality (previously named High quality) or Express quality will count toward your Google Account storage. Photos and videos backed up in Original quality will continue to count toward your Google Account storage. Learn more about photo and video backup options.

Each Google Account comes with 15 GB of storage.

Check your Google Account storage.

Important: Any photos or videos you've backed up in High quality or Express quality before June 1, 2021 won't count toward your Google Account storage.

Related resources

  • Download photos or videos to your device
  • Stop syncing Google Drive files with Backup and Sync
  • How your Google storage works

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