How to stop Picasa from downloading albums to my Nexus 4

**Omar_Saleh** · 01-21-2013, 06:55 AM

I tried every single way.
I stopped "Google Photos", "Google+", "Instant Upload" from syncing.. Then deleted all "Gallery" data. Few seconds later, Picasa albums were there AGAIN!! I don't want my album to be removed completely from Picasa site, but I don't want them on my phone!!

Don't tell me uncheck "Sync Picasa Web Albums" because there's no such a thing!! Only those 3 options related to pix I mentioned above!!

**m3lover1** · 01-21-2013, 10:42 AM

Settings > accounts > Google > click on the account name next to the yellow sync icon > uncheck Google photo > go to apps and clear data on gallery

**Omar_Saleh** · 02-03-2013, 04:35 AM

Doesn't work...

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

**ohyeahar** · 02-03-2013, 09:47 PM

Just another suggestion for you to try...

Open Gallery app > menu > Settings

Mess around with the items there to see if it works for you.

**DigitalReality** · 02-03-2013, 10:19 PM

That happened with me when I downloaded Google+ app on Galaxy S. I am sure that is culprit

You check g+ settings.

I just uninstalled g+. But yeah that's me! Using rarely. Try it.

**Double Tap** · 02-03-2013, 10:37 PM

Originally Posted by Omar_Saleh

I tried every single way.
I stopped "Google Photos", "Google+", "Instant Upload" from syncing.. Then deleted all "Gallery" data. Few seconds later, Picasa albums were there AGAIN!! I don't want my album to be removed completely from Picasa site, but I don't want them on my phone!!

Don't tell me uncheck "Sync Picasa Web Albums" because there's no such a thing!! Only those 3 options related to pix I mentioned above!!

I have the same problem and I would appreciate a solution.

**Kevin O'Quinn** · 02-03-2013, 10:45 PM

Get your pics off of Picasa so there are not albums?

**tmfaiz** · 02-14-2013, 04:52 PM

go to google+ album. u can delete it directly from there. and go to your phone, refresh your google photos sync, and your picasa album won't be there anymore. tested.

**markw5586** · 03-07-2013, 07:09 PM

Go here:

It works with the Nexus 4 also. Make sure you click on your Google account email AFTER you get into ACCOUNTS to open up all the syncing options.

**mscarreon** · 05-15-2013, 02:09 PM

This might be too late...
I have an S4 and this happened to me too. To turn off (at least turn off viewing what might already be cached), open Gallery then click the menu key. Select the "Content to display" menu option then uncheck "Content in Picasa". I checked my phone storage and couldn't find the pictures on the SD Memory Card or in Device Storage. However, I think it is stored in a cache somewhere. I turned off my data and wifi but I was able to see the Picasa pictures again. At least for now you don't have to see the content. I'm still looking for answers...

**Jim Zubemo** · 05-29-2013, 12:53 AM

I hope this helps.

BTW if you have multiple google account setup, you'll need to do the same for each.
SETTINGS > ACCOUNTs>Google > Tap and check if you got multiple account setup

**Double Tap** · 05-29-2013, 07:53 AM

Originally Posted by Jim Zubemo

I hope this helps.

BTW if you have multiple google account setup, you'll need to do the same for each.
SETTINGS > ACCOUNTs>Google > Tap and check if you got multiple account setup

I have a Nexus4. Unfortunately this does not work for me.

**hellomiggy** · 05-29-2013, 12:09 PM

We actually had a How-to a couple of weeks ago for this... It was really annoying when you had instant uploads twice and.. other photos from Google+ on there.

Here is the link my good sir.

Remove duplicate and empty Google+ photo albums in your Gallery | Android Central

**jdbii** · 05-29-2013, 03:03 PM

Are the photos downloaded from Picasa the same size, data, and resolution as the photos stored on Picasa? So if you have 5 GB of photos on Picasa, you are going to get 5 GB of data automatically downloaded to your N4? Or are the downloads some kind of compressed and reduced data-versions that are a fraction of the size as those stored on the cloud. If it is the same size, and they are downloaded by default, then it seems like a waste of your N4's storage space. Is it the same for Google Plus photos too?

**wunderbar** · 05-29-2013, 04:00 PM

I don't think it actually stores the pictures on the device, but it will cache them if you actually look at them in the gallery.

That being said, the entire feature is pretty stupid and I hate the stock gallery app, so I just use quickpic and never have to worry about it.

**zhelf** · 05-29-2013, 06:32 PM

After you stop syncing Google photos and Picasa albums in the account settings you went into the gallery app under app management and cleared the cache and delete the data correct?

Posted via Android Central App

**dkhmwilliams** · 06-08-2013, 08:55 PM

I like the stock gallery app. After finding that I can delete albums when I want too on the web, having my pictures automatically stored on Picasa really is convenient.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using AC Forums mobile app

**Kim Siewert** · 07-02-2013, 03:19 PM

I went to my gallery,don't open any folders though. Click your settings icon,click "view by" and uncheck picasa.

I have a galaxy s3 or s4.

**remylovesindie** · 07-31-2013, 11:58 AM

Hello! I have a Nexus 4 and what I did worked for me and I'm 99% sure it will work for you too.

1) Go to Picasa from your PC
2) Click on your album, then hit "Actions", what you should see is an option "Delete Album". If you don't have such an option, which is most likely, 1. go into your album, 2. click on a picture and 3. click on the "Actions" button, 4. then "Delete Photo" (or Picture, I don't remember). What you should do is delete all of your pictures one by one and then, when there's no pictures in the album click on the "Actions" button again -> the "Delete Album" button should be available now, hit it.
3) Go to your "Settings", scroll down and under "Accounts" you should see Google, click on it. Next, tap on your account name, which is , click on "Google Photos" (if it's ticked) then click on it again, which should activate it and sync your gallery again.
4) Puf! Magic! (Check your gallery and there's no Picasa album)

Sorry for the loooong explanation, I hope it does the job for you, and I am sure it will work on other devices too.

**Mr Fun** · 01-06-2014, 03:26 PM

Originally Posted by remylovesindie

Hello! I have a Nexus 4 and what I did worked for me and I'm 99% sure it will work for you too.

1) Go to Picasa from your PC
2) Click on your album, then hit "Actions", what you should see is an option "Delete Album". If you don't have such an option, which is most likely, 1. go into your album, 2. click on a picture and 3. click on the "Actions" button, 4. then "Delete Photo" (or Picture, I don't remember). What you should do is delete all of your pictures one by one and then, when there's no pictures in the album click on the "Actions" button again -> the "Delete Album" button should be available now, hit it.
3) Go to your "Settings", scroll down and under "Accounts" you should see Google, click on it. Next, tap on your account name, which is , click on "Google Photos" (if it's ticked) then click on it again, which should activate it and sync your gallery again.
4) Puf! Magic! (Check your gallery and there's no Picasa album)

Sorry for the loooong explanation, I hope it does the job for you, and I am sure it will work on other devices too.

After doing this, I followed up with Jim Zubemo suggestion above, and it worked.

Thank all

**Buznog** · 02-22-2014, 12:56 PM

Here is a simple solution that doesn't require you to delete Picasa or Google+ albums, or to figure out how to delete photos from your Nexus so they will never come back (which Google seems to have deliberately made impossible).

Move your Picasa albums to a new Google account!
(probably works for Google+ photos too - see below)

1. Open a new gmail (google) account solely for your photos
2. Tell picasa to migrate your existing albums to the new account (see below)
3. About a day later, if all goes well everything you had in picasa will now be in your new account, and will cease to exist on your Nexus (sync took care of it, I didn't need to erase anything).

For those who interface with their web albums through Google+ -- I don't know if they also offer a "migrate albums" option. If not you can access your Google+ albums through the Picasa web interface and follow the steps below. The link to the Picasa interface is

Migrating your Picasa albums
Important!! The migration tool worked for me but some people have reported failure. So start by making a simple manual backup of all your albums by downloading them in one big zip file using google takeout: If migration fails, you can upload the pictures in one go using the Picasa desktop application (available from picasa.google.com if you don't already have it). Use the feature "Tools"/"Batch upload..." However, note that the backup versions of your albums only contain photos, so you will probably lose captions, cover page definitions etc. that you defined in the original albums.

To use the automatic migration:
1. Click Options (the gears icon)
2. Settings->Privacy->Migrate and press Help to read the advisories
3. Follow the instructions

HTH!