Google has announced that Google Drive and Google Photos they will undoubtedly separate. Google has said that “the connection between these services is confusing,” so it is making some changes to “simplify the experience.” This is what that can mean to you.
How did Google Drive and Google Photos connect?
Currently, Google Drive and Google Photos are linked together. From the Drive, you can select a “Google Photos” folder to explore all your photos and videos. The Google Backup and Sync tool for Windows and Mac can synchronize these photos with your computer, as well as synchronize your other Google Drive files.
And from Google Photos, you’ll also see photos that you store in other folders in the Drive. These interfaces are linked together. If you delete a photo from Drive, it also disappears from Photos. If you delete a photo from Google Photos, it will also be deleted from your Drive.
Google has said it heard comments that this connection is confusing. And that is why it is making some changes.
What is changing?
As of the second half of this year, this connection will be removed. New photos and videos added to Photos will not appear in the Photos folder in Google Drive. According to Google’s announcement, all existing photos and videos in your Photos folder will continue there on your Drive, but new ones will not be added automatically.
New photos and videos stored on your Drive will also not be automatically displayed in Photos.
If you delete photos or videos from your Drive or Photos, they will not be automatically deleted from the other service. The tech giant has said that: “This change is designed to help prevent accidental disposal of items in all products.”
In other words, the automatic link between the two services is being removed. Photos and videos will only exist in one place. The giant is already showing a notification that says your “Photos folder is changing.”
What happens to your photos and videos?
Nothing changes for existing photos and videos. If you currently have photos on your Drive, those photos will still be displayed in Photos in the future. If you currently have photos in Google Photos, they will still be displayed in your Drive folder in the future.
However, new photos uploaded to Photos will not appear on your Drive, and new photos uploaded to Drive will not appear in Photos.
How can I move photos from Drive to photos?
Google is adding the “Upload from Drive” function to Photos. When you go to the Google Photos website, you can select “Upload from Drive” to upload photos and videos from your Drive account to Photos.
Once they are uploaded, these photos and videos will not be linked; In other words, if you upload a photo from Drive to Photos and then delete it in one service, it will not be deleted in the other.
This also means that if you upload a 50 MB video from Drive to Photos and leave it in both locations, it will take 100 MB of your Google account storage quota.
Can you still sync Google Photos to your PC or Mac?
Currently, this integration means that you can automatically download (sync) any photo and video added to Photos to your PC or Mac. Everything happens through the normal Google Backup and Sync application that synchronizes Google Drive files, just Select Google Photos and everything will sync.
Will this feature disappear? It seems it could be. Google’s statement says that “you can still use Backup and sync on Windows or macOS to load both services in high quality or original quality.”
In other words, Google says it will still be able to upload photos and videos from your computer automatically, but does not mention downloading photos and videos to your PC. We will have to see exactly what Google does, but it seems that this function will disappear.
If you need to sync photos with your computer, you better switch to Dropbox or OneDrive on your mobile. These services can automatically upload the photos you take and then you can synchronize them with your computer like any other folder.
Can you automatically upload photos to Google Drive?
The Photos application for Android and iPhone will continue to load photos automatically, if you wish, but only in Photos. You can no longer load them automatically and place them on your Drive, at least with Google’s own applications.
As Android Police points out, the Android Autosync app for Drive could help fill the void. It will allow you to automatically synchronize files and folders, including photos with your Drive folder.
Then they will sync with your computer. If you wish, it is also bidirectional synchronization: you can delete photos and other files in the synchronized folder of your Drive and Autosync will delete them in your original location on your Android phone.