Google is ending a photograph backup characteristic in its Drive for desktop utility from August 10, 2026, requiring customers who depend on the service to shift their desktop picture backup setup to Google Images.
The change applies particularly to the choice that lets customers choose folders on a pc and mechanically ship images and movies from these folders to Google Images. Google Images itself will proceed to function, and media that has already been backed up will stay in customers’ libraries.
Google has been shifting customers in the direction of a separate picture backup expertise. Since June 15, customers have not been in a position to configure new Google Images backup folders via the Drive for desktop interface, though folders that have been already configured have continued to sync in the course of the transition. That assist will finish on August 10.
What customers must do
Individuals who presently depend upon Drive for desktop to again up images from their computer systems might want to arrange the folders once more via Google Photos.
On a pc, customers can open Google Images, select the choice so as to add images and choose “Again up folders”, then choose the folders containing the images and movies they wish to add. Google says the Images web site or its internet app can deal with the backup course of.
Customers ought to examine that the chosen recordsdata are showing in Google Images after establishing the brand new backup. Google says beforehand backed-up content material is not going to be uploaded once more, offered it stays unchanged and has not been deleted.
Who might be affected
The change is related primarily to individuals who use Drive for desktop to ship images and movies saved in laptop folders to Google Images.
Those that again up images immediately from a smartphone utilizing Google Images is not going to be affected by the top of this explicit Drive characteristic. Customers who by no means configured Google Images backup via Drive for desktop additionally don’t must make any modifications due to this replace.
The change doesn’t imply that Google Images is shutting down or that current images saved there might be deleted. Google’s assist documentation particularly says that images already backed up will stay in Google Images.
For folks with giant picture collections on computer systems, the August 10 deadline is subsequently essential. Anybody nonetheless relying on the outdated Drive-based setup ought to configure the substitute backup course of and confirm that new recordsdata are reaching Google Images earlier than the prevailing association ends.
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