Google Photos automatically backs up your photos and videos to the cloud so you can access them from any device (iOS, Android). But sometimes you may want to pause or completely stop the backup to save data, storage, or battery. Here’s how you can easily manage it.
Start Backup in Google Photos
- Open the Google Photos app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device.
- Tap your profile icon in the top-right corner.
- Select Photos settings (sometimes just called Photos settings > Backup).
- Tap Backup and turn the toggle ON.
- Choose your backup preferences:
- Account: Pick the Google account where you want your photos saved.
- Upload quality: Choose Original (full resolution, counts toward storage) or Storage saver (compressed, saves space).
- Mobile data usage: Decide if you want backups to run on Wi-Fi only or also on mobile data.
Once turned on, your photos and videos will start syncing automatically.
Stop Backup in Google Photos
You can either pause backup temporarily or turn it off completely.
Pause Backup
- Open Google Photos.
- Tap your profile picture > Backup. (Backup is running, then under the Backing up… section, Tap on Media preview)
- Select Pause backup. (Disable the Toggle) or Force close the app
- To resume later, tap Resume backup.
Turn Off Backup Completely
- Open Google Photos.
- Go to your profile icon > Photos settings > Backup.
- Switch the Backup toggle OFF.
- Your photos and videos will no longer upload to Google Photos.
Extra Tips
- Free up space: Once your photos are safely backed up, use Free up space in the Photos app to remove local copies and save storage.
- Check backup status: The profile icon shows a cloud symbol if backup is in progress or paused.
- Multiple accounts: If you have more than one Google account, make sure you select the right one for backup.
That’s it! Now you can easily control when Google Photos backs up your photos and videos.
