Google Photos

Last updated: June 27, 2024
Audience: All UW

Overview 

Google Photos is a cloud-based photo storage and sharing service that allows you to store, organize, and share your photos and videos across various devices. While this product can be accessed using a UW Google account, it is considered a consumer service and is not supported by UW-IT. 

Important Details 

Google Photos is a consumer product and not considered a UW Google Core service supported by UW-IT. Please review the Productivity Platform Service Design & Guidance entry on Google Consumer Services and Third-Party Services before using this service with your UW Google account. 

Note: Content in Google Photos counts against the total shared storage of your UW Google account (100 GB). 

Key Features 

  • Automatic Backup: Google Photos automatically backs up all of your photos and videos to the cloud, ensuring that you never lose them. You can also choose to back up photos only when connected to Wi-Fi, to save on mobile data usage.
  • Search: With Google’s powerful search technology, you can easily find your photos by searching for people, places, and things. You can also search for photos based on date or location.
  • Organization: Google Photos automatically organizes your photos and videos by date and location, making it easy to find specific moments. You can also create custom albums and collages to keep your photos organized. 
  • Sharing: You can easily share your photos and videos with friends and family by creating shared albums or using the built-in sharing features. You can also choose to share photos directly to social media platforms. 
  • Editing: Google Photos offers a variety of editing tools to enhance your photos, including filters, crop and rotate, and color adjustments. You can also create animations and movies using your photos and videos. 

How to move Google Photos content 

Before moving Photos content from your UW Google account, make sure the destination account has enough storage space. For example: basic consumer Google accounts have a 15 GB limit whereas UW Google accounts have a 100 GB limit. 

Please see the Additional Google Content Migration section of the Migrate UW Google Content page for information on moving Photos content. 

Support 

If you need further assistance, please contact UW-IT at help@uw.edu or 206-221-5000.