

While that sounds like a dramatic change, Google says that "your files are not affected" and this is effectively just an update to the way you access and sync them. The upshot is that all Google Drive and Photos users will have until the end of September to move to the new 'Drive for desktop' syncing app. This apparently hasn't make things any simpler for business users, though, with Google saying that many people have ended up using both applications, creating even more confusion. Google's streamlining of its desktop syncing clients into one app is mainly borne out of a desire to help its business users, rather than offer any major benefit for personal Google Photos and Drive users.Īfter all, Google did once have a single Drive app, which was then split into 'Drive File Stream' and 'Backup and Sync' in 2017. If you want to take a closer look at these new changes, please check out our guide.Th new 'Drive for desktop' app and its option to either sync to Drive or backup to directly Google Photos.

We’ll continue to look for more ways to help support Drive and Photos users going forward. Our goal with these changes is to simplify some features that caused confusion for our users, based on feedback and our own research. If you have a “Google Photos” folder in Drive, it will remain in Drive, but will no longer update automatically. Your existing photos and videos will stay in Google Drive and Google PhotosĪny photos or videos from Drive in Photos that you have uploaded prior to this change will remain in Photos. As before, items uploaded in High Quality won’t count against your account storage quota, and items uploaded using Backup and Sync in Original Quality to both services will count only once towards your quota. You’ll still be able to use Backup and Sync on Windows or macOS to upload to both services in High Quality or Original Quality. Since photos and videos will no longer sync across both products, items copied in Original Quality will count towards your storage quota in both Drive and Photos.īackup and Sync for Windows and Mac will continue to work Once copied, these items are not connected between the two products. So we’re bringing a new feature to called “Upload from Drive,” which lets you manually choose photos and videos from Drive, including “Shared with Me” items, to import into Photos. We’ve heard that many of you would like more granular control when copying photos and videos from Drive into Photos. New “Upload from Drive” feature in Google Photos This change is designed to help prevent accidental deletion of items across products. Similarly, items you delete in Photos will not be removed from Drive.

Photos and videos you delete in Drive will not be removed from Photos. Similarly, new photos and videos in Photos will not be added to the Photos folder in Drive. Starting in July, new photos and videos from Drive won’t automatically show in Photos. We’ve heard feedback that the connection between these services is confusing, so next month, we’re making some changes to simplify the experience across Drive and Photos.Ĭhanges to automatic sync between Google Drive and Google Photos Many of you store your photos and videos on both Google Drive and Google Photos, which keeps them safe and easy to access.
