Cloud storage by nature is a versatile storage solution& but as a pig in Orwell’s Animal Farm famously said& some are more equal than others. That is true for cloud storage solutions like Microsoft OneDrive and Google Drive. Take Google Drive& for example. This cloud storage is indispensable because of its integration with other Google services that touch our lives every day& and without which& we’d be lost in today’s digital world.

We all know how Gmail from Google comes with a 15 GB inbox to ‘never delete an email’ as Google’s marketing team once used to say. If Google were just an email provider& a 15 GB inbox is still a lot more than what other email providers provide for free& and you can send and receive a lot of media over a lot of years and still have some gigabytes to spare. But that 15 GB inbox storage is your Google Drive storage that is being used by all Google services you subscribe to& such as Gmail& Drive itself& Google Photos& etc. If you need more storage than 15 GB& there are affordable plans available.

The relatively large storage of 15 GB that Google provides free with each Google Account is shared by Google Services like Google Photos and Google Drive and& of course& Gmail. Google initially did not have a hard bifurcation between Google Drive and Google Photos. Still& as this stands today& Google positions Drive and Photos for separate purposes and allows integration between the two so you can upload photos to Google Drive. And for most purposes& Google Photos is a better app for your photos anyway& since that app is dedicated to video formats and image formats only and brings DAM features (digital album management). But there is a catch – Google Photos stores all your photos for free – not even counting them towards your 15 GB storage – but only if you do not store them in the original resolution and instead store them in high resolution. So& when we want photos to be in their absolute best& original resolution& we need to upload photos to Google Drive and not store them in Google Photos.

So& how does one upload photos to Google Drive? You do that the same way you upload all other files and folders to your Google Drive. Here are the several ways you can upload photos to Google Drive.

Table of Contents

• Upload Photos To Google Drive From Computer/ Mac
• Upload Photos To Google Drive Using Wondershare InClowdz
• How To Upload Photos To Google Drive From Android?
• Upload Photos From iPhone To Google Drive
• How To Automatically Upload Photos To Google Drive
• Automatic Upload Photos To Google Drive From Computer

Upload Photos To Google Drive From Computer/ Mac

Photos can be uploaded to Google Drive using a web browser or Google’s Backup and Sync app that integrates with File Explorer on Windows computers and macOS Finder on Mac computers.

Using Web Browser

Step 1: Open Google Drive in a new browser tab by going to https://drive.google.com and sign in if required.

Step 2: If you want to upload photos in the root of the drive& skip to the next step& otherwise create a new folder wherein you will upload your photos and open the folder.

Step 3: Using your computer’s File Explorer or macOS Finder& navigate to the location of your photos that you want to upload to Google Drive and simply drag them over into your Google Drive open in your web browser.

Using Desktop Apps

On both Windows and macOS& Google’s Backup and Sync app allows for integration with File Explorer and macOS Finder respectively& and you can use this integration to not only upload photos but do practically everything you want to do with your Google Drive& from the comfort of your native file browser.

Step 1: When you log into your Google Drive in a web browser& towards the bottom left-hand side& there is a notification to download Google Drive for Desktop. This is a system-aware link that downloads the correct package of Backup and Sync application for your operating system without you having to make a choice or bother about.

Step 2: Set up Backup and Sync on your computer in 3 easy steps:

Step 2.1: Sign in to your Google Account

Step 2.2: Select the folder you want to sync to Google Drive (this is the folder that contains the photos you want to upload to Google Drive)

Step 2.3: Select any folders on Google Drive that you want to sync to your computer.

Step 3: If you did not select a folder on your computer to sync with Google Drive at the setup time& these steps would carry you through. Now& once the setup is complete& you will have a shortcut for Google Drive in your file browser’s sidebar. Open a new file explorer window or a new Finder tab and click your Google Drive shortcut in the sidebar.

Step 4: Navigate to the location you want to upload your photos to create a new folder if you wish.

Step 5: In the previous File Explorer window or Finder tab/ window& navigate to the location with your photos that you want to upload to Google Drive and now just select them and drag and drop them into the Google Drive window/ tab. Backup and Sync application will take care of the rest.

Upload Photos To Google Drive Using Wondershare InClowdz

Wondershare InClowdz is the multi-utility knife you can use to do it all – sync data between clouds& migrate data from one cloud account to another& and what’s more – manage your data in the cloud from within InClowdz. You can use Wondershare InClowdz to upload photos to Google Drive and many more cloud accounts easily using the Management feature of Wondershare InClowdz and do much more.

Migrate, Sync, Manage Clouds Files in One Place

• • Migrate cloud files such as photos, music, documents from one drive to another, like Dropbox to Google Drive.
• • Backup your music, photos, videos in one could drive to another to keep files safe.
• • Manage all cloud drives such as Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, box, and Amazon S3 in one place.
• • Sync clouds files such as music, photos, videos, etc., from one cloud drive to another.

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How To Upload Photos To Google Drive From Android?

Android& being a Google product& comes with Google Drive preinstalled in most cases& and almost always& you will be signed in to it& courtesy of the Google Account you use for your Android device.

Step 1: Check if you have Google Drive installed& and if you do not see the app& head over to Play Store& download it& and sign in to it using your Google Account credentials.

Step 2: Photos in an Android phone are stored in two locations generally. Your photos will usually be found in the phone’s Gallery app or Google Photos& whichever is the default app on your phone. The second location is some folder in your internal storage. This is when you save photos from an app or a web page that stores photos in your internal storage folder and not straightaway in your default app for photos.

So& if you have photos in your Gallery app or Google Photos and want to send some of them to Google Photos& the steps are simple:

2.1: In Google Photos or your Gallery app& select the photos you want to upload to Google Drive

2.2: Use the Share button to send the photos to Google Drive& where Google Drive will ask you to select the location you want to upload the photos to 2.3: Select the location and finish the task. It is that simple.

If photos are in a folder in your external storage& do the following:

2.1: Go to the folder containing your photos in your phone’s internal storage. You may need to download Google Files app to your phone if your phone does not have a file browser app already or if you find any other app too cumbersome to use.

2.2: In Google Files& navigate to the folder containing images& select all images by long-pressing one file& and then tap on the photos you want to upload to Google Drive.

2.3: Select the Share button and tap Save to Drive to upload photos from phone storage to Google Drive on Android.

Upload Photos From iPhone To Google Drive

Uploading photos from iPhone to Google Drive is a simple process. Photos on iOS are stored in the Photos app or the Files app& and photos can be uploaded from these apps as well as from within Google Drive on iOS. Download the Google Drive app from the iOS App Store and sign in to your Google Account.

Photos on iOS

Step 1: If the photos that you want to upload are in Photos app on iOS& just select the photos you want to upload to Google Drive& tap the share button and from the list of apps& select Google Drive

Step 2: Select the location to upload in Google Drive and select Upload.

Files App on iOS

Steps to upload using the Files app are similar to the Photos app& only different in navigation. If your photos are in a folder in your Files app& you can navigate to the Files app and to the folder& select the images you want to upload& and then tap Share to bring up the iOS share sheet. Now& select the Google Drive app& select the location to upload& and tap Upload.

Google Drive App on iOS

You can upload photos to Google Drive from within Google Drive.

Step 1: Launch Google Drive on iOS

Step 2: Tap the large round + symbol to the bottom right

Step 3: Click Upload

Step 4: Select Photos and Videos

Step 5: After providing permissions& select the photos you want to upload and tap Upload.

Step 6: If you want to upload photos stored in your iCloud Drive to Google Drive& then& instead of selecting Photos and Videos in step 4& select Browse& and that will take you to your iCloud Drive where you can navigate to your photos and upload.

How To Automatically Upload Photos To Google Drive

Photos can be automatically uploaded to Google Drive from your computer and not from your phones& be it Android smartphone or iOS smartphone.

Automatic Upload Photos To Google Drive From Computer

For uploading photos to Google Drive automatically& you will have to set up Google Drive Backup and Sync on your computer& as described above. In step 2 of setting up Backup and Sync& you are required to select a folder to sync to Google Drive from the steps described above. Simply ensure this folder is the one that you store your photos in& and Google Drive will automatically upload your photos for you.

Conclusion

Uploading photos to Google Drive is easy. There are several ways to upload photos from your devices to Google Drive& and you can even automatically sync your photos to Google Drive from your computer& be it Windows or macOS.