California (Web Desk) — Technology company Google has announced a major change to its computer photo backup system from August 10, 2026, under which automatic transfer of photos between Google Drive desktop backup and Google Photos will be discontinued.
The change will affect users who back up folders containing photos on their computers through Google Drive and expect them to be automatically saved in Google Photos.
New Photo Backup Method
After August 10, users will have to set up photo backups directly through Google Photos. For this, they will need to open Google Photos, click the plus sign in the upper-right corner, select Backup Folders, and then choose the desired folders.
After that, users will need to grant the necessary permissions for photo backup. The backup process will continue automatically, but Google Photos’ website or the dedicated web app will need to remain open for this purpose.
Mac users will face an additional restriction, as Google Photos will not be able to automatically back up the Apple Photos library directly. Such users will first have to sync their photos through iCloud, after which they can save them using the Google Photos app on an iPhone or iPad.