My Photos Won’t Upload To Google Photos For A Long Time

Contents

The question

I have to wait for a long time until my photos upload to Google Photos even when I’m connected to my router’s Wi-Fi network. I log in to https://photos.google.com/ on my laptop, press F5 but I can’t see new images in the roll. Yesterday it took them about an hour or so to start backing up after I came home with my phone. What’s wrong? Thank you.

The Answer

There are several reasons why you don’t see your photos backed up in Google cloud as soon as you connect your mobile to Wi-Fi and have to wait. The thing is the Google Photos app may not start uploading images when it is not running in the background or foreground. It must be related to power saving policy on Android or iOS.

To upload photos more quickly you can:

  1. Place your mobile device not far from your router or access point to ensure the wireless signal is strong.
  2. Enable Wi-Fi and connect to your wireless network: Wi-Fi connected iOS 11.1
  3. Open Google Photos app on your Android or iPhone. Your images should start syncing immediately.
    On Android you should see the circle animation counting how many images left to back up:
    uploading photos to Google Photos
    On iPhone or iPad you will see cloud icons on each photo telling you the item backup is in the process:
    Google Photos backing up iPhone
    In Android app you should see “Backup complete” when all photos are uploaded to Google Photos:
     Google Photos backup complete
  4. Now you can hit “F5” on your computer and you will see new images in the browser: Google Photos desktop

Leave a Comment