On every new iPhone or Android setup, MISRYOUM reader and long-time Google Photos user Elyse Betters Picaro goes straight to a tightly choreographed checklist. She adjusts backup accounts, limits what Photos can access, manages mobile data and overnight upload
The first thing she does isn’t open Google Photos and start snapping.
It’s checking where her backups are going.
Elyse Betters Picaro. who says she’s used Google Photos for more than a decade and relies on it across Android. iOS. the web. and desktop. describes a routine that starts the moment a new device is ready. For her. the app’s searchable cloud library is the draw—something she can use to find everything from a Christmas photo of her dog to a Home Depot receipt and even a birthday cake photo—fast. But she also treats a fresh install like a responsibility. Backup quality. account access. AI features. and the noise level all matter. and she doesn’t let the app run unchecked.
Her checklist begins with the backup account itself. She recommends that on iOS and Android. after opening the app and tapping the profile picture. users go to Photos settings > Backup and check the account listed under Account and storage. The goal is simple: make sure it’s her main Google account. not a work account. a burner account. or an account she hasn’t used in years.
“You don’t want 12,000 toddler photos backed up to the wrong Gmail account,” she notes—because once the wrong connection is in place, the damage is quick.
From there, she turns backup on, but not with a blank check. She says to ensure Backup is enabled by tapping the profile picture > Photos settings > Backup and switching Backup on. Then she chooses what will actually be saved.
On iPhone. she directs users to iOS Settings > Privacy and Security > Photos > Google Photos and select Limited Access. then choose which photos. videos. and device folders Google Photos can see. On Android, she points to Settings > Apps > Photos > Permissions > Photos and videos, then selecting Allow limited access. Another option. she says. is to open Google Photos. tap the profile picture > Photos settings > Backup. then switch from backing up all photos and videos to backing up only specific device folders.
She also emphasizes why she’s careful: if she allows everything—or grants full access—her storage can fill faster, search can get messier, and the app keeps photos she never meant to upload in the first place.
Cellular is the next line she draws. She says she never backs up her entire camera roll over cellular unless she’s prepared for what it could cost. On iPhone, she goes to Photos settings > Backup > Mobile data usage and turns off backup for photos and videos. On Android. she follows the same path. sets “No data” as the daily data limit. and turns off the toggles for backing up videos over cellular data and backing up while roaming. The result: backups run only when the device is connected to Wi‑Fi.
Then she brings the process to night—on purpose. Her preference is to let the phone do the uploading while she sleeps.
On iPhone. she says to open Google Photos. tap the profile picture > Photos settings. scroll to the bottom. tap Overnight backup > Start overnight backup > Exit. and keep the phone plugged in and connected to Wi‑Fi with Google Photos left open. She adds that the screen will fade to black while the app keeps running so photos and videos can upload overnight. Android. she says. doesn’t have the same mode for her. so she leaves the phone plugged in and connected to Wi‑Fi after turning on Backup for the first time.
Backup quality is the next fork. Because she’s mostly on iPhone, she chooses the Storage saver option in Google Photos. She says that while Storage saver still backs files up to her Google account. it does so in a compressed format—including high‑resolution photos and videos—helping her save cloud storage. She points users to Photos settings > Backup > Backup quality and selecting Storage saver. adding that Google Account storage is shared across Photos. Gmail. and Drive. which is why she says choosing Original quality can get expensive fast.
After backup behavior, she turns to AI—starting with the least predictable part: search.
In 2024. Google announced Ask Photos. a Gemini-powered search feature designed to answer natural-language questions about a photo library. like finding specific trips. places. objects. or memories. But she recalls that months later Google paused the rollout after users complained the feature was too slow. inconsistent. and not as useful as classic search.
She says that as of June 2026. the pause is no longer in effect and Ask Photos is available to users who opt in to Gemini features. Still, she prefers classic Google Photos search for basic needs. She warns that Ask Photos can add unnecessary complexity, lag, and extra steps for routine searches. To turn it off, she says to go to Photos settings > Preferences > Gemini features and turn off Ask Photos.
Then comes a broader switch: disabling Gemini entirely.
While she says she uses AI features for work and doesn’t mind experimenting, she argues that some people may not want generative AI involved in their photos or backups. For them, she says Google lets Gemini be disabled across Google Photos.
On iOS and Android. she instructs users to open Google Photos. tap the profile picture. then go to Photos settings > Preferences > Gemini features in Photos and turn off Use Gemini in Photos. She also mentions that a quick switch like this disables all Gemini-powered features in Google Photos, including Ask Photos.
If she leaves Gemini on, she limits it.
In Photos settings > Preferences > Gemini features in Photos. she says users can disable specific components like Ask Photos. Gemini-powered memories (narrated recaps). and Help me title (suggesting titles for memories). She also points to Remember list controls. which limits what Gemini uses for personalization and says users can disable access to Ask Photos queries if they don’t want those queries used to improve Photos. Finally. she says View and manage activity opens all Photos activity history tied to the Google Account. where users can disable Ask Photos activity entirely or review and delete specific activity data.
Her emotional boundaries don’t stop at AI.
Google Photos can surface memories, and she says that can be painful at the wrong moment—especially when she’s recently lost a loved one, ended a relationship, or lost a friendship and doesn’t want the app to “ambush” her with years of photos before she’s ready for the day.
To manage that, she says she hides specific people, pets, and dates, then adjusts featured memories and memory types. She directs users to Photos settings > Preferences > Memories, where Google Photos offers ways to manage which memories appear and which notifications the app can send.
Sharing is another area she insists on auditing. She says sharing features are useful but easy to forget—who received what, and when.
On iOS and Android. she says to go to Photos settings > Sharing > Manage sharing activity. where users can review shared links. memories. and conversations in Google Photos. If something shouldn’t be shared anymore, she says you can tap into it and delete the link or memory. She also advises auditing shared albums separately: go to Collections > Albums. open a shared album. tap the three-dot menu > Sharing. review Link sharing. Collaborate. and the member list. She says she turns off link sharing for any album she no longer wants accessible. disables Collaborate when she doesn’t want others adding photos. and taps Leave to remove herself from old albums shared with her long ago.
And then she goes after the constant interruptions.
She says she gets notification overload “way too easily” and thinks Photo app alerts are overstimulating and seldom useful. Her fix is to go to Photos settings > Notifications and turn off the alerts she doesn’t need—most of them.
To reduce promotional email and reminder clutter. she points users to Photos settings > Preferences > Activity-based personalization. where toggles for promotional emails and draft reminder emails can be disabled. She also turns off “suggestions” that make the app feel noisy. directing users back to Photos settings > Preferences > Activity-based personalization and turning off suggestions for creations. rotations. archive. and more.
Finally, she adjusts the screen itself. Her preference is dark mode because she often scrolls through pictures or edits images at night. She recommends going to Photos settings > Preferences > Activity-based personalization > Appearance, then choosing Light, Dark, or Use device default. She picks Dark so Google Photos doesn’t follow her phone’s system setting, which changes throughout the day.
After the core setup, she includes a few extra questions that come up immediately once people start using the app.
She says Google Photos can free up space on a phone using the “Free up space on this device” feature found under the profile picture menu. It removes local copies of photos and videos that have already been backed up—without deleting items from the Google Photos library. where they remain available to view. edit. and manage in the app or on the web.
But she warns users to be careful: if Backup is on and a photo is deleted from Google Photos, it may be removed from the Google account, Photos library, and synced devices.
She also answers a location question. Users can prevent photos from showing location info by opening Google Photos. going to profile picture > Photo settings > Privacy > Location options > Camera settings to change whether the camera app adds location info to device photos. She says users can view and manage all photos with location info in this menu.
And if someone already uses iCloud Photos, she says they can still use Google Photos. iCloud Photos is best she says if someone lives completely inside Apple’s ecosystem, but she describes Google Photos as useful for cross-platform search, sharing, and web access.
Then she adds two more settings that aren’t technically inside Google Photos but can still affect the broader experience—especially for people using Google Lens, AI Mode, or other visual Search features.
She says Google is rolling out Search Services History and Personalized Recommendations controls. and both can affect how saved activity and media are used across Search experiences. Search Services History can include saved media. such as images uploaded to Google Lens. AI Mode. or other Search services. and because that media may be used to improve Google services and AI models. she says she disables it. She instructs users to open the Google app. tap the profile picture. then go to Search Personalization > Search Services History and turn it off. and if a Save media option appears. turn that off too.
To limit personalization separately, she says to open the Google app, tap the profile picture, go to Search Personalization, and turn it off. She says this controls whether Google uses saved activity to personalize Search, including AI-powered results and recommendations.
For her, the point of all these switches isn’t just tweaking an app.
It’s making sure the tool that can find a receipt from years ago—or resurface memories you’re not ready to revisit—starts by respecting what you meant to give it, and what you didn’t.
Google Photos settings backup account overnight backup storage saver Ask Photos Gemini features privacy settings sharing activity notifications dark theme location options