help with Google photos!!

[Brandi Nunya]

Alright, Google photos makes me feel like an *****, but I have my photos backed up and synced. With that said, after I'm done arranging my photos, why is it that when i try and delete the duplicate photos, it deletes the ones that I have in the albums too. Am I doing something wrong, I have them backed up. I spend too much time in Google photos trying to figure this out, but Google photos always beats me and in the end I feel like an *****, thanks google photos.

 

[SpookDroid]

That's because those aren't duplicates: they're the same files. Albums in Photos work a little different than local albums (folders) in your computer or phone memory. When you back up a picture to Photos, it gets uploaded to a general 'folder' (no way around this, I'm afraid). Then, those files can get assigned to Albums. BUT that doesn't create another file, it just assigns the main file (in the main back up folder where ALL your photos reside) to said album. That means that you can create several albums that contain the same picture, but that won't create any duplicates, just show the same picture in all the albums that it is assigned to.

This is helpful, for instance, if you back up all your pictures for your family vacation, but want to share different pictures with different people. For example, you might want to share the pictures of the family dinner with your entire family but the ones from the crazy night at the bar after your parents went to bed only with your crazy cousins but without restricting them from seeing the family dinner ones.

So instead of creating copies of the files, Photos can create many albums containing the same picture and give access to different people to different albums. But your picture files remain just one per picture.

So, because of this, if you delete a picture form an Album, it just removes the 'tag' to include said picture in that album. If you delete the picture from your main 'folder', however, will delete it from all albums because the albums never had a different copy there to begin with, just a 'reference' to the original picture, which you just deleted.

 

[Brandi Nunya]

thank you so much, still feel like an *****, but ateast I know now. by chance is there a way around this, because that's a lot of waisted storage.

 

[SpookDroid]

Why would it be a waste of storage? You're only saving ONE copy of your picture. Albums in Photos aren't multiple copies of it, just 'references' to them.

IF you are creating copies of the pictures in different folders in your phone, however, and then syncing those folders into Photos, then yeah, you're creating multiple copies of the same picture.

When you delete a picture on the Photos app, however, that picture is deleted across devices (this I hate, but no way around it...it's part of their sync policy). So if you want a picture to 'live' in Photos but not on your device, you have to specifically go to the 'delete device copy' option in Photos or use your phone's stock Gallery app to do so after the picture's been uploaded to Photos.

 

[chanchan05]

Why would it be a waste of storage? You're only saving ONE copy of your picture. Albums in Photos aren't multiple copies of it, just 'references' to them.

IF you are creating copies of the pictures in different folders in your phone, however, and then syncing those folders into Photos, then yeah, you're creating multiple copies of the same picture.

When you delete a picture on the Photos app, however, that picture is deleted across devices (this I hate, but no way around it...it's part of their sync policy). So if you want a picture to 'live' in Photos but not on your device, you have to specifically go to the 'delete device copy' option in Photos or use your phone's stock Gallery app to do so after the picture's been uploaded to Photos.

It's a waste of storage because they're supposed to backed up already , but I can't delete them on my phone to free up the space.

Personally I've started disabling Google Photos for a few years now and started using OneDrive. After a photo gets uploaded, I can delete it from my phone, but I can still view it on the OneDrive app.

Downside to this is that the OneDrive app doesn't follow folder arrangements on the phone.

I've recently rediscovered FolderSync which can set to copy the folder structure you use for your gallery in the phone to OneDrive, Dropbox, or Google Drive, but still allow you to delete the photos from phone without deleting from the cloud.

 

[SpookDroid]

Problem with those is that you're using up the Drive (or cloud storage) quota, whereas Photos backup allows you to have a High-Quality back up that doesn't take up quota space. Like I said before, for some bizarre reason, Google decided that if you delete a picture form Photos, it gets deleted everywhere (something that wasn't the case before). So in order to keep the picture in Photos cloud but not on the phone, you have two options:

1) Use the Photos app's 'Free up space' option.
2) Use the stock Gallery app to delete pictures from your device after they've been backed up in Photos (NOT the Photos app).

Just remember, if you delete a picture from the Photos app or directly on the Photos webpage, said picture will get deleted everywhere (cloud back up and synced physical copies).

 

[chanchan05]

Samsung gives you free 100GB goodnfor 2 years on OneDrive for every flagship you get from them since the Note 2... So, it's not a big deal to me. And I haven't even used up 50% of my Google Drive yet since it was released.

 

[SpookDroid]

Samsung gives you free 100GB goodnfor 2 years on OneDrive for every flagship you get from them since the Note 2... So, it's not a big deal to me. And I haven't even used up 50% of my Google Drive yet since it was released.

If I'm not mistaken that expires even if you purchase a new device. At least that's how it's been for me (OneDrive 100GB just expired, I purchased a Tab S3, activate the promo, still only get 5GB).

Full-file back ups are, obviously, a much better option since your pictures will not be re-compressed/re-sized, but well, no free lunch.

 

[chanchan05]

If I'm not mistaken that expires even if you purchase a new device. At least that's how it's been for me (OneDrive 100GB just expired, I purchased a Tab S3, activate the promo, still only get 5GB).

Full-file back ups are, obviously, a much better option since your pictures will not be re-compressed/re-sized, but well, no free lunch.

Nope. I first got my 100GB back with my Note 2. That was like 4 years ago. I activated it in my S7E, I still have 115GB on my OneDrive (my free account is 15GB because I've been with then since it was still SkyDrive).

 

[SpookDroid]

Nope. I first got my 100GB back with my Note 2. That was like 4 years ago. I activated it in my S7E, I still have 115GB on my OneDrive (my free account is 15GB because I've been with then since it was still SkyDrive).

Then either MS or Sammy doesn't like me haha. Yeah, mine doesn't seem to want to take the 100GB promo anymore Oh, well!

 

[AutumnElf]

thank you so much, still feel like an *****, but ateast I know now. by chance is there a way around this, because that's a lot of waisted storage.

Don't feel like anything bad (whatever is under the *****) Asking is how you learn and people love to help. Also I'll bet there are people reading this thread going "Hmm I had that problem too but didn't know how to fix it..."