Losing years of family photos because your phone slipped into the sink is a awful feeling. You need to back up your photos today so your memories stay safe forever. Setting up an automatic copy takes less than ten minutes, and you only have to do it once.
The easiest way to save your pictures is by turning on cloud backups on your phone. Apple Photos and Google Photos can save every picture the second you take it. You can also plug your phone into a computer to copy the files to a hard drive for extra safety.
Set Up Automatic Cloud Backups on iPhone
If you use an iPhone, iCloud is already built into your device. It runs quietly in the background while your phone charges at night. My sister forgot her phone on top of her car last month, but every single picture was safe on her computer because iCloud was on.
To turn this feature on, open the Settings app on your main screen. Tap your name at the top of the list. Next, tap iCloud, and then tap Photos. Turn on the switch next to Sync this iPhone.
You get 5GB of free space with your Apple account. That holds about 1,500 photos. If you need more room, tap Manage Account Storage inside the same menu. You can buy 50GB of space for 99 cents a month.
Make sure you check your camera settings too. Go to Settings, tap Camera, and then tap Formats. Choose Most Compatible if you want your pictures to open easily on any computer, or High Efficiency to save space on your phone.
Set Up Google Photos on Android or iPhone
Google Photos works great on both Android phones and iPhones. It gives you 15GB of free storage right away. That is enough room for about 4,000 normal phone photos.
First, open the Google Photos app. If you have an Android smartphone, it is already on your screen. iPhone users can get it for free from the App Store. Log in with your standard Gmail address.
Tap your profile picture in the top right corner of the app. Tap Photo settings, then tap Backup. Turn the switch to On. Make sure to tap Backup quality and choose Original quality if you want full resolution pictures.
Scroll down to Cell data usage inside that same Backup menu. Switch this off if you have a limited phone plan. Your phone will wait until you connect to home WiFi before it sends your photos to the cloud. This saves your monthly mobile data.
How Do I Back Up My Photos to a Computer?
Saving your pictures to a computer is a great second layer of safety. Cloud services are nice, but having a real copy on your own desk gives you full control. It also works when you do not have internet access.
If you use a Windows PC, plug your phone into the computer using a USB cable. Unlock your phone screen. A popup on your phone will ask if you trust the computer. Tap Allow or Trust.
Open File Explorer on your PC by clicking the yellow folder icon on your taskbar. Click This PC on the left side menu. Double-click your phone's name under Devices and drives. Open the Internal storage folder, then open the folder named DCIM.
Inside DCIM, open the Camera folder. This is where your phone keeps your pictures. Highlight the pictures you want, right-click, and select Copy. Go to your PC Documents folder, right-click an empty space, and select Paste. You can also read our guide on How to Speed Up a Slow Laptop in 9 Simple Steps if your PC moves slowly while moving large media files.
For a Mac, plug your iPhone in with its wire. Open the Photos app on your Mac. Click your iPhone's name on the left sidebar. Click the button in the top right corner that says Import All New Photos. The files will copy straight into your Mac photo library.
Save Your Memories to an External Hard Drive
Keeping copies in two different places is smart. Tech experts call this a backup routine. A small portable hard drive costs around 50 dollars and holds hundreds of thousands of full size images.
Plug your external drive into your computer's USB port. Open your computer photo folder where you stored your copied phone pictures. Select the picture folders you want to save. Drag those folders directly over to the icon for your external drive.
Wait for the green progress bar to finish completely. Do not unplug the drive while files are moving or you might corrupt the pictures. Once it finishes, right-click the external drive icon and select Eject before you pull out the wire.
Store your external drive in a drawer away from heat and direct sunlight. Put a note on your calendar to plug it in once every three months to copy over your newest pictures. You can learn more smart system setups at our main tech guide hub today.
Check That Your Copies Actually Work
A backup is only good if your pictures are actually there. Far too many people turn on a setting, assume it works, and then find out months later that their drive was empty. Take two minutes to test your system today.
Open a web browser on your computer. Go to cloud websites like photos.google.com or icloud.com and log into your personal account. Look at the top images on the screen. Do you see pictures you took earlier today or yesterday?
If you see your latest pictures on the website, your auto-save is working fine. If the newest picture is from three months ago, open your phone app. Check if you signed into the correct email account or if your phone storage is full.
Next, try opening five random picture files from your external hard drive. Make sure they open in full size and do not look blurry. If the files open quickly and look sharp, your memories are safe and sound.
Take out your phone right now and turn on auto-backup before you forget. Which storage method are you going to set up today?
