Can I Delete My Photos After Backing Them up to Google Photos?

If you use an Android device, you can free up a lot of storage space by backing up your photos to Google Photos. Many users wonder if it’s safe to delete their pictures after backing them up to Google Photos. Head below to learn the answer.

Can I Delete Photos from My Phone If I Back Them up to Google Photos?

You can safely delete your photos from your phone once you’ve uploaded all of them to Google Photos. To stay on the safe side, you can use the Free Up Space feature in the Google Photos app. That’s the safest way to delete pictures from your phone.

The Free Up Space option will delete only the photos you already backed up to your cloud account. Any photos that have not been backed up yet will remain on your phone. Keep in mind that you can’t get back photos you deleted from your phone if you haven’t uploaded them to Google Photos. As they say, measure twice, cut once.

Don’t Use Third-Party Apps to Delete Photos

Don’t use third-party apps such as the File Manager to delete your photos. While the File Manager should not delete your photos from Google Photos, you can’t know for sure if you uploaded all of them.

If your photos capture unique moments in your life, you should always back them on an external hard drive. You can also print them out. Backing your photos up to a cloud storage service is not 100 percent safe. For example, you may forget your account password, or hackers might break your account.

By the way, there are plenty of alternatives to Google Photos if you’re not really happy with Google’s cloud storage service.

Conclusion

You can delete your photos from your phone after uploading all of them to Google Photos. Use the Free Up Space option to delete only the photos you already backed up to your cloud account. Don’t forget to back up your photos on an external hard drive if anything goes wrong with your Google account.

What would you improve about Google Photos? Let us know in the comments below.