Want to remove all your pictures from Google Photos without accidentally deleting them from your devices? This guide provides step-by-step instructions for safely deleting your Google Photos while keeping your originals intact. We’ll cover methods for both mobile and desktop, explain Google Photos’ syncing intricacies, and offer a privacy-focused alternative for storing your precious memories.
Deleting Google Photos While Keeping Device Copies
There are two primary ways to delete photos from Google Photos without affecting your device’s local copies: using the Google Photos app and using a web browser.
Deleting Photos via the Google Photos App (Android & iOS)
- Disable Backup: Open the Google Photos app, tap your profile picture, navigate to “Backup,” and disable “Backup photos & videos on this device automatically.” Repeat this on all devices linked to your Google account where you want to retain local copies. This crucial step prevents accidental deletion from those devices.
- Delete Photos: Return to the main photo view. Unfortunately, Google Photos doesn’t offer a “select all” option. Selecting individual photos can be tedious, but using the “Stack similar photos” option and setting the layout to “Month” allows selecting all photos within a month. Repeat for each month.
- Empty Trash: After deleting, navigate to “Library” then “Trash.” Tap “Select,” then “Delete all,” and confirm with “Empty Trash.” This permanently removes the photos from Google Photos after 60 days.
Deleting Photos via Web Browser (Faster for Bulk Deletion)
- Disable Backup (Crucial): As with the app method, ensure backup is disabled on all devices where you want to keep your photos.
- Login to Google Photos: Open a web browser and go to photos.google.com.
- Select All Photos: Select the most recent photo, scroll to the very bottom ensuring all photos load, hold Shift, and click the earliest photo. This selects all.
- Delete and Empty Trash: Click the trash icon, confirm with “Move to trash.” Then, navigate to “Trash” on the left sidebar, click “Empty trash,” and confirm.
Understanding Google Photos Syncing
Google Photos automatically syncs across devices linked to your account. Here’s a breakdown:
- Uploading: Uploading to Google Photos makes images available on all linked devices with the app installed.
- Automatic Backup: Smartphone camera photos are automatically uploaded; the only way to stop this is to disable the Google Photos app or backup.
- Deleting After Disabling Sync: Deleting a photo after disabling sync removes it only from Google Photos, not your device.
- Re-Enabling Sync: Re-enabling sync prompts you to back up newly taken photos. Choosing to “delete” these photos actually removes them from both Google Photos and your device. Be extremely cautious with this option.
Preventing Accidental Deletions
- Avoid “Free Up Space”: Never use the “Free up space on this device” option unless you’re absolutely sure you have backups elsewhere. This option deletes local copies older than 30 days that have been backed up.
- Disable Smart Storage (Pixel Users): Pixel users should disable Smart Storage in the Files app to prevent automatic deletion of backed-up photos older than 60 days. This is found under “Clean” then your storage details.
Completely Stop Using Google Photos
To entirely remove Google Photos, you can delete your Google account (after backing up all data) or disable the app:
On Android:
- Go to Settings > Apps > Google Photos.
- Tap Disable and confirm.
- Tap Force Stop and confirm.
- Go to Permissions and deny all.
- Restart your device.
On iOS: simply uninstall the app like any other.
A Privacy-Focused Alternative: Proton Drive
Proton Drive offers encrypted photo storage, ensuring only you can access your photos. They don’t scan your content or use it for AI training. Features include end-to-end encrypted sharing, password protection, expiration dates, and offline access. Proton Drive is accessible via web browser, desktop apps (Windows, macOS), and mobile apps (Android, iOS).
Consider Proton Drive for a more private and secure way to store and share your photos. It’s part of a larger encrypted ecosystem that includes email, VPN, and calendar services.
