Samsung Galaxy Blog

Backup Samsung Gallery to Google Photos Guide

In today's world, our smartphones are our primary cameras, capturing countless memories. For Samsung users, the Gallery app is the central hub for these photos and videos. However, relying solely on your device for storage is risky. You need a reliable, secure backup solution. For many, the preferred choice is Google Photos, thanks to its powerful search, easy sharing, and cross-platform accessibility.

This guide is designed to walk you through exactly how to back up your Samsung Gallery to Google Photos. We will clear up a major point of confusion regarding Samsung's partnership with OneDrive, provide clear, actionable steps, and answer the most frequently asked questions. By the end, you'll have a foolproof system to ensure your memories are safe and accessible forever.

The Core Question: A User's Perspective

One of the most common frustrations we hear from users switching to Samsung or trying to streamline their cloud storage comes from a place of deep familiarity with the Google ecosystem. A user perfectly captured this sentiment:

"Is it possible to point the gallery app to Google photos? Coming from a pixel I've always used Google and I'm not a fan of one drive inserting itself everywhere. I do like the gallery app though."

This question gets to the heart of the matter. You love the Samsung Gallery app for its features and organization, but you want the reliability and power of Google Photos for backup. The confusion is understandable, and we are here to clarify exactly how this works.

This is the most critical concept to grasp. The Samsung Gallery app and the Google Photos app are two separate applications that serve different primary functions, even though they can work together.

By default, the Samsung Gallery app is designed to sync with Microsoft OneDrive. This is a deep integration, meaning you can see your OneDrive albums directly within the Gallery app, and photos you take can be automatically synced to your OneDrive storage. This is why you might feel "OneDrive inserting itself everywhere."

Google Photos: The Independent Backup Powerhouse

Google Photos operates as its own app and service. While the Samsung Gallery cannot directly sync its database to Google Photos, the Google Photos app is fully capable of scanning your device's internal storage—including the folders managed by the Samsung Gallery—and backing up those photos to your Google Account.

In short: You don't need to "point" the Gallery to Google Photos. You simply need to install Google Photos, give it access to your photos, and let it do its job.

How to Set Up Google Photos Backup on Your Samsung Device

Here is the definitive, step-by-step process to back up your Samsung Gallery to Google Photos. We recommend following these steps carefully.

Step 1: Install and Sign In

If you don't already have it, download the Google Photos app from the Google Play Store. Open the app and sign in with the Google Account you want to use for your backups. Remember, you can only back up to one account at a time per device.

Step 2: Grant Necessary Permissions

When you first open the app, it will ask for permission to access your photos and media. You must tap Allow. This permission is what enables the app to see the photos stored in your Samsung Gallery.

Step 3: Turn on Backup

Once permissions are granted, you will be prompted to turn on backup. Follow the on-screen instructions:

  1. Tap Turn on backup.
  2. You can choose your backup quality: Storage saver (high quality, unlimited free storage until June 1, 2021, now counts toward your account quota) or Original quality (counts toward your Google Account storage).
  3. Decide whether you want to allow backup over mobile data. It is highly recommended to keep this off and only back up over Wi-Fi to avoid data charges.
  4. Tap Confirm or Next, then Done.

Step 4: Verify Your Backup is Working

To ensure everything is running smoothly:

  1. Open the Google Photos app.
  2. Tap on your Profile picture or initial in the top right corner.
  3. You will see the backup status. It may say "Preparing backup," "Backing up X items," or "Backup complete."
  4. You can also open the Google Photos app and look at your photo grid. Photos that have been successfully backed up will typically have a small cloud icon with a checkmark, or no icon at all, indicating they are safe in the cloud.

Checking and Managing Specific Albums

Sometimes, you might notice that certain albums from your Samsung Gallery aren't being backed up. Here is how to fix that directly within the Google Photos app:

  1. Open Google Photos.
  2. Tap on Library at the bottom.
  3. Select the album that isn't being backed up (e.g., "Screenshots," "WhatsApp Images," or a custom folder).
  4. At the top of the album view, you may see an option to "Turn on Backup & sync" for this specific folder. Toggle this on. This ensures that every folder visible in your Samsung Gallery is also included in your Google Photos backup.

The Explicit Problem: Why Can't I See Google Photos in My Samsung Gallery?

This is the most common point of friction, directly stemming from the user question above. You want a unified view where your cloud photos are visible inside the Gallery app. Here is the reality:

By design, the Samsung Gallery app does not display your Google Photos library. It is built to show photos stored locally on your device and those synced from its partner, OneDrive. This is a strategic choice by Samsung.

However, you have two workarounds for sharing and viewing:

  1. Share Directly from Google Photos: When you need to share an older, backed-up photo, open the Google Photos app first. Find the photo you want and use the share function from within that app. This bypasses the Samsung Gallery entirely.
  2. Use the Google Photos App as Your Primary Viewer: If you heavily rely on the Google ecosystem, you can make the Google Photos app your go-to for viewing, searching, and sharing your entire photo library, both local and cloud-based. It offers superior search (by people, places, things) and organization.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: If I delete a photo from my Samsung Gallery, will it delete from Google Photos? No. Because the sync is one-way (device to cloud), deleting a photo from your device's local storage (the Gallery) will not automatically delete it from your Google Photos library. It will remain safely backed up online. To delete it from both places, you must delete it within the Google Photos app and then also remove the local copy.

Q2: I have "Backup & sync" on, but my new photos aren't showing up in Google Photos. What's wrong? First, check the backup status by tapping your profile picture in the Google Photos app. Ensure it isn't paused. Common issues include:

  • No Wi-Fi: If you have backup over mobile data turned off, you need to connect to Wi-Fi.
  • Battery Saver Mode: Battery optimization can sometimes pause background backups.
  • App Permissions: Re-check that Google Photos still has permission to access your storage.
  • Restart the App: Force close and reopen the Google Photos app.

Q3: Will backing up to Google Photos use up my Google Account storage? Yes. All photos and videos backed up in Original quality count toward your Google Account's 15GB of free storage (shared with Gmail and Google Drive). Photos backed up in Storage saver quality that were uploaded after June 1, 2021, also count toward your storage. You can check your storage usage in the Google Photos settings or at one.google.com.

Q4: Can I back up to both Google Photos and OneDrive at the same time? Absolutely. These processes are independent of each other. You can have the Samsung Gallery sync your photos to OneDrive and have the Google Photos app backing them up to your Google Account. This gives you a backup in two separate cloud locations for ultimate redundancy.

Q5: How do I back up photos from my Samsung to Google Photos on a computer? You can manually upload photos from your Samsung device to Google Photos via a computer. Connect your phone to the computer with a USB cable, transfer the photos to a folder on your computer, then go to photos.google.com on your browser and click the "Upload" button to select and upload those photos.

Conclusion: Your Memories, Perfectly Safe

While the Samsung Gallery and Google Photos don't have a direct handshake, creating a seamless backup system is straightforward. By understanding that the Google Photos app works independently to back up the content of your Samsung Gallery, you can easily set up a robust and reliable backup process.

Follow the steps outlined in this guide, and you will never have to worry about losing a precious memory again. Your photos will be safely stored in your Google Account, searchable, shareable, and accessible from any device, for years to come.