How to Store Pictures on Google Drive

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: September 23, 2024 Tested

You can store your pictures on Google Drive just like any other cloud storage service. You can upload the pictures the way you normally do with other files from a computer, or you can upload them using the Google Drive mobile app. Once you’ve put your pictures in the cloud, you can access them anytime, anywhere with Google Drive.

Uploading Photos to Google Drive

You can upload photos to Google Drive using a computer or smartphone. Simply open the Google Drive website or mobile app and click the New or + button, then select the option to upload or add files. You can then select your photos and upload them to your Google Drive.

For popular FAQs on storing pictures on Google Drive, jump to more common questions.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Using a Computer

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Using any web browser on your computer, visit the Google Drive page.
2
Sign in. Under the Sign In box, enter your Gmail email address and password. Click the “Sign in” button to proceed.
- Upon logging, you will be brought to the main drive or directory. All your folders and files on Google Drive can be accessed from here.
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3
Select pictures to upload. Click the “New” button on the top of the left panel menu, then select “File upload.” Your computer’s file explorer will open.
- Navigate through your folders and go to the one that contains the pictures you want to store on Google Drive. Click on all the pictures you want to upload.
Click the “Open” or “Upload” button on the file explorer once you’ve selected all the photos. The selected pictures will then be uploaded to Google Drive.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Using the Google Drive App on iOS

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1
Launch Google Drive. Look for the Google Drive app on your iOS device and tap on it.
- You will be brought to the main drive or directory. All your folders and files on Google Drive can be accessed from here.
The “Add to My Drive” menu will appear.
Google Drive will access your mobile gallery.
Go to the album or folder that contains the pictures you want to store on Google Drive. Tap on all the pictures you want to upload. The selected pictures will be marked with a check.
Tap the check button on the top right corner of the menu box to upload the selected pictures to Google Drive.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Using the Google Drive App on Android

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1
Launch Google Drive. Look for the Google Drive app on your Android device and tap on it.
- You will be brought to the main drive or directory. All your folders and files on Google Drive can be accessed from here.
2
View your mobile gallery. Tap the red circle with a plus sign on the screen. The New menu will appear. Tap “Upload” from here, then select “Gallery.” Your mobile gallery will be brought up, and you can see all your pictures from there.
- You can navigate through the albums and folders as you normally will.
3
Upload a picture. Go to the album or folder that contains the picture you want to store on Google Drive, and tap on it. The selected picture will be uploaded to Google Drive.
- You can only upload one picture at a time.

Common Questions: Adding Photos to Google Drive

Does Google Drive automatically save my photos?

Once you upload a photo to Google Drive, you don't need to click a save button—confirming the upload is essentially "saving" the photo by adding it to your Google Drive files. If you have photos in Google Photos, they won't be automatically saved to your Drive, but they will be counted in your Google storage limit.

How do I download all of my photos from Google Drive?

To download multiple files, first press and hold Ctrl (Windows)/Cmd (Mac) and click on each photo you want to download. Then right-click (or Ctrl-click on Mac) and select Download. You can't download multiple files at once via the Android or iPhone Google Drive apps.

Why can't I upload pictures to Google Drive?

The main reason Drive might not be uploading your photo is a browser error or you've reached your account storage limit. Drive does have a file size limit, but that limit is 5 TB (which is larger than any single photo file) and accepts any file type, though only JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, and SVG can be previewed.