How to copy photos from iphone to google drive

by Jenefey Aaron   Updated on 2021-05-27 / Update for  Cloud Merge

“Hello there! Can anyone here tell me how to upload photos to Google Drive from iPhone? You see, I have already had an iCloud account linked to my iPhone, but I still want to have another backup option for my extremely private data. It would be much helpful if you help me tell a procedure to upload my pictures to the Drive quickly. Thank You!”

Hello Sir! Uploading pictures and other media on Google Drive is pretty simple and easy from your iPhone. Let's tell you a bit about how Google Drive works, so you know how to upload your files to it.

Google Drive is a cloud backup. This backup tool is powered by Google and has become one of the largest file-sharing and backup tools. When you upload your files to the drive, you can access them from anywhere around the globe.

Let’s talk about some of the features.

Sync:

Google Drive has easy access through your PC or smartphone, so you can synchronize your files and use any device to access them.

Upload:

Google Drive gives iPhone users the authority to upload their stuff like pictures, videos, documents, encrypted files, or any sort of data.

Share:

Google Drive allows iPhone users to share folders and files from the Drive to any other device. The user can also make another person the co-owner of the files, which makes sharing much convenient.

Google Drive allows iPhone users to upload, view, share and edit their important files. It will also free up space from your iPhone if you delete the data from the phone later. 

Following are the ways telling how to upload photos from iPhone to Google Drive. 

Way 1. How to Upload Photos to Google drive from iPhone without App

In this way, we will tell you how to upload iPhone photos to Google Drive without an app from iPhone without the app. The procedure is simple and straightforward.

  • Open your PC and connect your iPhone to a USB-C cable. Copy the images from your iPhone and paste them into the computer.
  • Go to the browser and type photos.google.com on the PC. Once Google Images load into your computer, log in through your Google account.
  • At the top of Google Photos, you will see the upload option. Click on ‘Upload’ and choose the files from your computer.

    How to copy photos from iphone to google drive
  • Select those files and order them for a Google Drive upload. In this way, you can upload your iPhone pictures without the app.

Way 2. How to Add Photos to Google Drive from iPhone with App

You can opt for uploading your pictures through the iPhone directly. If you want to know how to transfer iPhone photos to Google Drive or how to add photos to Google Drive by iPhone using the app, then the following steps below will help you.

  • Go to the App Store. Download the Google Drive app on the iPhone.
  • Launch the Google Drive app. You can also press your home button to activate Google Drive. A new set of folders will be available for you then.
  • You can select a folder from the given ones by Google Drive and save your data in it, or you can also create a new G-Drive folder personalized for you. Click on the + button at the bottom-right to make one.

    How to copy photos from iphone to google drive
  • Click on the blue and white + button on your screen.
  • You will see an option for upload. It will help you import your local pictures and files to the Drive from your iPhone.

    How to copy photos from iphone to google drive
  • Pick the images/videos you want to upload on Google Drive. Google Drive will ask you to authorize to view the pictures if you haven’t imported them from your iPhone before. Click on “Ok” to continue uploading.
  • Long press a picture to choose what you want to share. A blue tick will show the pictures you chose.
  • Hit the “Upload” button on the top-right edge of your screen. Your images will be transferred to be saved to Google Drive.

Google Photos is a good alternative for iPhone users to upload their photos for safe backup. Let’s see the procedure.

  • Download and launch Google Photos.
  • Open Google Photos, go to the "Settings," and navigate the Backup & Sync option. Turn it on.

    How to copy photos from iphone to google drive
  • Go to your iPhone gallery. Select the photos and press on “Share.” Then choose Google Photos, and your photos will be shared with Google Photos.

There are some issues with this method:

  • No advanced editing.
  • No social sharing option.
  • Inconsistent search results.
  • Low-resolution images.
  • Google Photos app consumes lots of space on the iPhone.

However, the users can use Tenorshare iCareFone for transferring their photos to Google Photos and other mediums like PC. It provides good backup too.

Losing memorable pictures is always hard. Thankfully there are tools like Tenorhsare UltData that can help us recover our pictures, texts, videos, contacts, and useful documents.

How to copy photos from iphone to google drive
How to copy photos from iphone to google drive

How to copy photos from iphone to google drive
How to copy photos from iphone to google drive

  • Download and launch UltData. Also, connect your iPhone to PC and choose the ‘Recover Data from iOS Devices’ option.

    How to copy photos from iphone to google drive
  • Make sure that your device is connected and the app can recognize it. In case there is an issue, you can follow the instructions on the screen to resolve it.

    How to copy photos from iphone to google drive
  • Scan your iPhone for lost data by choosing from the list. Once scanned, preview the data you want to keep.

    How to copy photos from iphone to google drive
  • Once scanned, preview the data you want to keep.

    How to copy photos from iphone to google drive
  • Once selected, click on ‘Recover to PC,' and your data will be recovered within a few minutes.

    How to copy photos from iphone to google drive

Now you know how to upload pictures from iPhone to Google Drive in different ways. If you’re stuck, always use iCareFone for the easiest backup and UltData to recover any lost data.

If you use Google Drive on your iPhone, it would have some limitations. Unlike iCloud, you won’t get a seamless experience and you would often do things manually. For example, backing up your photos to Google Drive isn’t seamless, nor is downloading them to your iPhone but there is a way. Let’s see how to upload all photos from iPhone to Google Drive.

Whether you call it Apple’s restrictive policies or Google’s inaction at implementing a seamless method of uploading photos to the Drive, it’s inconvenient for us, the user. I found 4 ways to alleviate this problem.

1. The Conventional way

Before we look at the faster methods, I’d show a quick rundown of the traditional method of uploading iPhone photos to Google Drive.

1: Open the Google Drive app on your iPhone and tap the folder where you would like to upload the photos. When in the desired folder, tap the + button on the bottom right corner of the screen.

How to copy photos from iphone to google drive

2: Tap Upload and select Photos and Videos to upload from the Photos app. If you have photos stored in the Files app, tap the Browse button.

How to copy photos from iphone to google drive

3: Now, you would have to manually tap each photo to select it and then hit the Upload button.

How to copy photos from iphone to google drive

The infuriating part of this method is that you have to tap every single thumbnail. However, I’m used to selecting multiple photos in the Photos app by swiping across thumbnails and it automatically selects every photo I’ve swiped on. You can swipe and hold the finger on the top corner and the app would continue to select images till the last one or until you release your finger. This current method is neither intuitive nor efficient.

2. Use the Files App

The inability to select multiple photos quickly was one of the main reasons I looked for alternative ways and this is the closest option that feels smooth. The Files app can map your Google Drive within itself and you can directly drop all the photos from the Photos app to Google Drive. It really is an amazing method.

1: If you don’t see the Google Drive location in the Files app, you’d have to enable it first. Open the Files app, tap the options button on the top right corner, and tap Edit.

How to copy photos from iphone to google drive

2: It would reveal a toggle switch to enable Google Drive, enable the switch and tap Done.

How to copy photos from iphone to google drive

3: Now, simply open the Photos app and select all the pictures you wish to upload to Google Drive. After selecting, tap the Share button on the bottom left. On the Share Sheet look for the option “Save to Files”.

How to copy photos from iphone to google drive

4: Tap Google Drive to reveal the folders. Select the folder of your choice and tap Save on the top right. Your photos would be immediately uploaded to Google Drive.

How to copy photos from iphone to google drive

The best part of using this method is that I can use that smooth swiping gesture to select all the photos in the Photos app. It’s infinitely better than selecting every photo manually.

3. Enable Auto-Backup with Google Photos

Even though your cloud storage is shared between Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos, you can’t automatically back up your photos to Google Drive. You need to use Google Photos and the backup feature built-in the Google Drive is utterly useless.

When you try to take a backup from Google Drive, it only works if the app stays open until the backup completes or you would have to start all over again. Google Photos, on the other hand, is seamless and even works in the background.

If you can manage with a backup in Google Photos, proceed with the steps below. However, the next method would exclusively enable backup to Google Drive and not Google Photos. That being said, let’s enable Auto backup with Google Photos.

1: Start by installing Google Photos on your iPhone. Once installed, log in with your Google account credentials and allow access to all photos.

How to copy photos from iphone to google drive

The first thing the app would ask you to do is enable backup, tap the backup button and select a backup quality for your photos.

2: Original Quality is the uncompressed image but takes up space of your allocated Google account storage. High-quality images are compressed and consume less space. After choosing a setting, tap Confirm.

How to copy photos from iphone to google drive

3: Your backup would begin and you can check the progress by tapping your avatar on the top right corner.

How to copy photos from iphone to google drive

4. Use Photosync to Upload All Photos to Google Drive

Even if Google doesn’t allow you to backup your photos from iPhone to Google Drive, there is Photosync. It’s was developed to ease the process of transferring files and photos from the device to multiple locations such as NAS, PC, and Cloud storage.

1: Start by installing Photosync from the App Store. Open the app and tap the Settings button on the bottom right. Tap the Configure button to open the list of destinations.

How to copy photos from iphone to google drive

2: Select Google Drive from the list of targets and sign in with your Google account. You can configure exactly where and how the images and videos should be backed up. You can set a destination, define upload quality, create sub-directories, etc.

If you wish to upload in higher or original quality, you would need to unlock that feature by buying the subscription at $0.99/mon. Tap Done to save the changes.

How to copy photos from iphone to google drive

3: To back up the photos, go back to the album section in Photosync and tap the sync button on the top right corner.

How to copy photos from iphone to google drive

4: Select all the pictures by tapping the All button and choose a destination. I chose Google Drive to upload iPhone photos.

How to copy photos from iphone to google drive

5: Simply select the upload quality and tap OK. Your Google Drive backup should initiate.

How to copy photos from iphone to google drive

How Do You Upload All Photos From iPhone to Google Drive

These were a few ways to transfer and create a backup of all the photos stored on iPhone to Google Drive. These methods are way better than manually backing up your photos, especially if you have a ton of pictures. What do you think? Is there a better method to take a backup? Let me know on Twitter.

Also Read: How to Transfer Google Drive Data to OneDrive Easily