Transfer photos

[Kilroy672]

I'm planning on selling my S22U hopefully in the next or so but in the meantime I'm trying to transfer all my photos that are in My Albums in the Gallery app, but when I try to use Smart Switch it won't transfer all the pictures, only some of them. What can do to make sure I can save them all before I wipe my phone? Are they saved under Google photos or Samsung cloud?

 

[rvbfan]

Use Google photos to back them up. Then Google photos on the new device. Download them if you choose.
Also, backup original quality.

 

[Suntan]

Use a file manager (I prefer Solid Explorer) and plus a USB C drive into the phone. Then transfer them over manually to the drive.

 

[Kilroy672]

Use a file manager (I prefer Solid Explorer) and plus a USB C drive into the phone. Then transfer them over manually to the drive.

I should also add that I’m trying to transfer from phone to laptop. I did another transfer earlier tonight and it doesn’t copy everything over. Smart Switch only does a backup not a total transfer.

 

[monsieurms]

For the moment, the simplest way is to hook the phone into your laptop, open a file manager, as Suntan suggested, and just copy everything in your camera folder manually to the laptop. I use the file manager on the computer--the familiar Windows Explorer. Don't rely on a program to do it automatically or "backup." You're just complicating it for a simple task. Plug the phone in. Open a file manager, treat the phone like any other hard drive. When I plug the phone in to a real computer, in File Manager where I had only "C" and "D" drive icons, it now says "c drive" "d drive" AND S23 Ultra. Click on the phone icon from the drive list. Navigate to where the photos are stored.

All my camera roll photos, btw, are in /DCIM/Camera. Select, copy, paste to your c: drive. Just like anything else. (Your phone may differ in location for storage of pics but that is easy to find. When I open a picture from the recently-taken picture thumbnail on my camera screen where I'd compose a picture, and click "details," it tells me where the phone is storing camera pictures, if there is any doubt. Navigate to that location, again, select, copy, paste.)

Really, this should be simplest and fast for this one issue. But for the future, you should really work out the cloud storage. You aren't sure if they are saved to the cloud, so you haven't checked Google--if you had it set to auto backup, it may be there.

Back up photos & videos - Android - Google Photos Help

You can automatically save your photos and videos to your Google Account when you turn on backup. You can access your saved photos and videos from any device you’re signed into, but only you can find

support.google.com

But it's a good time to open a full-fledged cloud account if you haven't actually done so. (Free, for a limited amount of storage; 5gb on OneDrive) I like OneDrive from Microsoft better, actually, but each to his own and there are many options. After the first upload, check it. Open the app or go online. Are the photos there? Did you turn on auto-upload? Then you're sure. Needless to say, some cloud backup should always be turned on. Phones can be stolen or broken. Pictures disappear. Test it and check it before you wipe anything. Everyone should have a backup for irreplaceable pictures.

To make cloud uploads more functional, btw, I use a third-party program called OneSync with OneDrive and a DriveSync with Google. They give you a lot more flexibility in what you upload and where it goes, but that's complicating things right now.