Summary
- Filling up Google Photos storage caused sync issues with other Google services like Gmail and Drive.
- Cloud storage subscription plans add up over time and feel like a temporary fix rather than a real solution.
- Deleting photos in Google Photos is a slow, manual process with no easy âselect allâ option.
Back when I got my first Android smartphone in 2013 and learned about Google Photos, I thought it was the best thing ever. 15GB of free cloud backups for all my memories? Yes, please. However, over time, my favorite app turned into a nightmare, and that brings me to where I am now.
Why I Had to Delete My Google Photos
Back when I first turned on automatic photo backup on Google Photos, I had no idea how small 15GB of free storage actually was. My Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus had just 3GB of internal space, so 15GB of cloud storage seemed huge in comparison. In fact, I even enabled âOriginalâ quality backupsâthatâs how confident I was in the free storage Google offered (though I later switched to the optimized setting).
Of course, 15GB wasnât enough then, and itâs definitely not enough now. A single optimized photo takes up around half a MB, so you can theoretically only store 30,720 optimized pictures before hitting the limit. This fills up quickly when Google backs up every photo, screenshot, and video (which take up even more space), even though you had no intention of keeping them around.
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The real issue is that those 15GB are actually shared across your entire Google account rather than just Photos. While I get that providing free cloud storage at such a massive scale costs Google a small fortune (even after deleting old accounts), itâs still barely enough for Gmail alone if you use it for work and regularly send large files.
Now, having my Google cloud storage full wouldnât be such a big deal if it didnât break something else. I could just turn backups off and periodically make room for more important files. But that wasnât the case.
Once my cloud got close to full, Google services started running into sync issues. At around ~80%, email notifications became spotty, and at ~90%, I stopped receiving them entirely, despite my best efforts to fix it. I also could no longer upload photos to Drive, which is how I transfer photos from my phone to my PC. Eventually, I learned that freeing up the cloud fixes the issue, so I started purging Photos, and it worked.
With no reliable cloud backup anymore and having photos scattered across different storage solutions, I figured I might as well download and delete the whole thing. Having photo backups in the cloud was just actively causing me problems instead of solving anything. Iâd rather use the limited space for things that actually matterâmore specifically, my most essential work files, writing portfolio, and emails.
Lucas Gouveia / How-To Geek
Sorry Google, but Iâm Not Paying $1.99/Month
Youâre probably thinking now, âWhy not just pay $1.99/month for 100GB through Google One?â Itâs not expensive at first, but it adds up. My Kingston DataTraveler Exodia 128GB flash drive is only $11.68. I could buy two of these sticks every year for the price of 100GB of cloud storage.
Although the cloud is infinitely portable and arguably more reliable (while paying) than a USB drive, Iâd still rather have my money go towards an item that Iâll own permanently instead of being permanently subscribed to a service that will delete my files if I stop paying. Worse, unsubscribing causes the same sync issues I was already dealing with.
The worst part? Even 100GB wouldnât actually solve anything. On top of being locked into yet another subscription, it still wouldnât be enough for all my photos and essential files. Not to mention that this would just feed my reliance on cloud storage. As my storage needs grow, Iâd inevitably end up upgrading to an even more expensive tier five years down the line.
Deleting Photos Shouldnât Be This Hard (But Maybe Thatâs the Point)
Since I fundamentally refuse to be locked into a subscription plan for personal storage, no matter how cheap, it was time to delete photos to clear out Google Photos and stop sync issues once and for all. Unfortunately, Google doesnât give you a âdelete allâ or âselect allâ button in Photos.
The best method I found was on desktop: zoom out the Google Photos webpage to around 33% to see more thumbnails, select a recent photo, scroll down, then hold Shift and select an older photo.
This selects everything in between, letting me delete thousands of photos in a single batch. Still, selecting too many at once can cause the interface to glitch, so I found it easier to delete in smaller chunks.
If youâre deleting photos on your phone, you can zoom out and select by month. While itâs far slower than on a PC, you only need to delete your entire Photos library once, so itâs worth the effort.
Even using the fastest way still took me a few tedious hours over several days. And I canât help but feel that this friction is intentionalâGoogle benefits from keeping your storage full to nudge you toward paying for more.
How I Back Up My Photos Now
I havenât gone down the rabbit hole of clever backup solutions just yet. I donât have a NAS, and I havenât looked into building my own cloud solution, at least not yet. This is something that I plan to do in the future, though, as it would be a significantly cheaper and likely safer alternative compared to storing files in the cloud.
For now, I exported my Google Photos library and stored it locally on my PC, along with a backup copy on my USB flash drive. I also keep my most important photos on my phone. While none of these options are bulletproof, the odds of losing everything at once are low enough that Iâm comfortable with the small risk.
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Goodbye Google.
Itâs also worth noting that while original-quality photos take up significantly more space, they look far better than the heavily compressed versions Google Photos creates. Iâd rather compress the photos myself using a lossless compression tool, as I donât mind occasionally buying more storage.
A traditional hard drive like the 2TB Seagate BarraCuda will pay for itself over time, especially compared to Googleâs limited and recurring subscription plans. Even if I buy two of them and run them in RAID 1 to serve as a real-time backup, itâs still money well spent.
Deleting tens of thousands of photos from Google Photos took a long time, but it was worth it. Having backups âjust in caseâ is nice, but Iâd rather rely on my own hardware. Itâs more private, affordable, and, most importantly, I wonât get locked into a lifetime subscription that wouldnât meet my needs five years from now. Plus, now that my cloud storage isnât maxed out, Gmail and Drive sync properly again.
