When people lose their wallet, phone, or computer, it’s often not the money they miss but the photos. This shouldn’t be the case! With recent developments in accessible and affordable tech, there are lots of easy and convenient solutions to ensure that even if your devices get lost, stolen, or damaged, you still have your photos to enjoy. Show
It’s likely that you have multiple photo libraries scattered across different devices, which makes managing your files and backups extra difficult. Don’t fear! Today, you’ll learn more about catch-all solutions to reconfigure your mobile device, cloud storage, and computer back into backup harmony. In this article, we’ll cover backing up with iCloud, Time Machine, Google Photos, external hard drive, Dropbox, and other ways. Let’s dive in. The best backup apps in one place Use Setapp to discover iCloud alternatives and save time, money, and memories. Try free ✕How to back up your photos to iCloudEvery user gets 5GB of free iCloud storage from Apple automatically. This storage can be used to back up programs, photos, videos, and documents. However, 5GB is often not enough; the price for extra storage starts at $0.99 per month for 50GB. If you want to save up, make sure to clean up your photo library first. Delete duplicate and nearly-identical photographs not to waste space. Fortunately, you don’t have to do all the hard work manually because there is Gemini that can assist you in decluttering your images before backing them up. There are macOS and iOS versions of Gemini. The best part is that you can try it out for free. ✕ Remove app banner Now, let’s get the backup job on your Mac and iPhone done. Let’s start with the computer. There are quite a few locations where photos might live on your Mac. Take a look at the Pictures folder, hard drive locations, Desktop, and Downloads folder. The key is to have anything you wish to upload to iCloud moved to the Photos app. How to backup photos on Mac to iCloud:
Now do the reverse. Duplicating iCloud and creating an offline backup will allow you to put your photos on an external hard drive or into other backup systems, thus making it easier to create multiple backups and save you from any disaster. Unfortunately, photos do take up a large amount of storage on your Mac, which can lead to your computer slowing down. This is just another solid reason why you should transfer your photos onto an external hard drive. How to download iCloud photos to Mac:
There you have it — every photo that gets sent to the iCloud will download itself onto your Mac as well. And now that your photos are saved on your Mac, you can use Time Machine to transfer them to an external hard drive. We’ll explain how you do it later. How to backup photos on iPhone to iCloud:Learning how to backup an iPhone to iCloud is a simple procedure. It only takes a few simple steps, and you’ll be able to restore your data and information if you ever replace your device. Follow these steps:
When you complete the process again in the future, you’ll be able to see when your device’s last backup was made. Easily backup your photos with one clickYou can keep your data safe and secure even if you’ve used all your free iCloud space. Try AnyTrans, an app that makes it simple to transfer files between iOS and macOS. Open AnyTrans and connect your iPhone to your Mac through USB to transfer files. In Device Manager, select a destination for your data and send it there. ✕ Remove app banner If you don’t want to waste time running backups again and again, you may use the built-in Air Backup Manager to set up quick backups that are swift, automatic, and wireless. AnyTrans also offers the option to enable incremental backups. This means it will only back up fresh data that you haven’t backed up before, which is useful if your storage space is restricted. Backup photos from Mac to external hard driveTo move your photo library to an external hard drive, you just require a little drag-and-drop magic. Here is how to backup photos on Mac manually:
For those who have more than one Photo library, it’s important to create backups for all of them. As mentioned above, look in your Pictures folder, all drives, Desktop, and Downloads folder for any rogue images that you want to have backed up. How to backup photos to Time MachineApple clearly recognizes the importance of backing up your photos, and that’s why your Mac comes with its own backup app Time Machine already installed. The benefit of using Time Machine is that you can automate your backups, which could include apps, music, photos, emails, documents, and system files. To create backups with Time Machine, all you need is an external storage device. To perform a photo backup using Time Machine:
Depending on how many photos you have, the transfer process could take some time. So give yourself a pat on the back while you wait. The issue with Time Machine backups is that they are not well compressed, taking up far too much space. Plus, Time Machine will backup everything on your Mac on a regular basis — you may exclude specific files from the backup, but it’s a time-consuming operation that you’d have to do manually every time. It all gets complicated because you can’t manage the backup schedule with Time Machine. Get Backup Pro is a Time Machine replacement that does a far better job of safeguarding data while conserving storage space. Unlike Time Machine’s automatic backups, Get Backup Pro allows you to customize the backup schedule. Here’s how to back up Mac with Get Backup Pro:
✕ Remove app banner Backing up your photos to cloud servicesYou can sync data using online services like Google Drive, Dropbox, One Drive, and more, just like you do with iCloud. Each of these services has a Mac app that you should install in your Applications folder. Log in and sync your files after that. How to Backup Mac Photos to Google DriveThe most significant distinction between Google Drive and iCloud is that Google offers 15GB of free storage. Google, similarly to iCloud, handles backups on a per-device basis, but we’ll focus on how to set up a Google Photos backup on a Mac and iPhone in this case. For Mac:
For iPhone:
If you see a message asking to allow the Google Photos to access your photos:
Using Dropbox to backup your photosDropbox allows you to back up certain folders on your Mac. However, it isn’t designed specifically for photo backups. Therefore, you’ll need to do some manual work. Save your photos to a folder on your Desktop or in your Documents folder. Then take the following steps: On dropbox.com:
In the Dropbox desktop app:
Note that Dropbox basic account comes with only 2GB of storage space for free. You may also use other cloud services at the same time. However, it isn’t convenient to access photos in different places. Here’s a trick. Try CloudMounter to integrate your cloud storage accounts, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, OneDrive, and others, to the Finder on your Mac, allowing you to treat them like local disks. ✕ Remove app banner Backup photos with OneDriveMicrosoft’s OneDrive is another cloud-based photo storage solution. However, it’s a good choice only if you already use it for business and have enough space to back up your photos. The disadvantage is that you can’t sync certain folders. On your Mac, you can only sync the OneDrive folder it creates. So you’ll have some manual work to do. Here’s how you backup photos with OneDrive:
Tired of such complicated schemes? Dropshare lets you share files to a central cloud-based manager. So you can easily drag and drop your pictures. Even your grandma can do that! The best part is that all Setapp users get 10GB of cloud storage from Dropshare for free. How to backup photos on Mac with SetappLosing even a couple of photos you love is so painful. Don’t let your devices’ vulnerability affect your precious moments. Back up! Apple users can backup and restore their devices using iCloud anytime and anywhere as long as they have access to a Wi-Fi network. However, the iCloud service isn’t always the best option. We picked some great alternatives you may like. Try AnyTrans to transfer files between iOS and macOS without iCloud. Perhaps, you’ve used all your free iCloud space and don’t want to pay for more. Another great solution is Get Backup Pro, a Time Machine replacement that does a far better job of safeguarding data while conserving storage space. Unlike Time Machine’s automatic backups, Get Backup Pro allows you to customize the backup schedule. Want to bring your cloud storage accounts, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, OneDrive, and others, to one place? You need CloudMounter, the app that integrates all storage accounts to the Finder on your Mac, allowing you to treat them like local disks. Finally, use Dropshare to easily drag and drop your pictures from your desktop to your cloud. But wait.. there’s more. Use Gemini to declutter your images before backing them up! The best part: with a Setapp subscription, which is one-stop access to 230+ apps, you get AnyTrans, Get Backup Pro, CloudMounter, DropShare, and Gemini, so you can experiment and choose what works best for you. Try Setapp for seven days free. How do I move Photos from Mac to iCloud?In the Photos app on your Mac, choose Photos > Settings, then click iCloud. Select the iCloud Photos checkbox.
How do I backup my entire Mac photo library?Back up the library in Photos on Mac. Use Time Machine: After you set up Time Machine, it automatically backs up the files on your Mac. ... . Manually copy your library to an external storage device: Drag the Photos library (by default in the Pictures folder on your Mac) to your storage device to create a copy.. How do I backup all my Photos to iCloud?First, navigate to Settings > Photos > iCloud Photos and toggle to on, which will automatically upload and store your library to iCloud, including iCloud.com, where you can view and download photos on a computer.
Can I back up my entire Mac on iCloud?Open System Settings, click General > Time Machine, then click Add Backup Disk. Select the drive you want to use for backup, and you're all set. Back up with iCloud. Files in iCloud Drive and photos in iCloud Photos are automatically stored in iCloud and don't need to be part of your Time Machine backup.
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