Google Photos, with its seamless integration and user-friendly interface, has become the preferred gallery alternative for many. However, like any other app, it is not without its flaws. A common problem that you may encounter is when Google Photos does not show all of your photos and videos on your Android or iPhone. To help out, we’ve listed a few troubleshooting tips that will solve the problem in no time.
Table of Contents
1. Check Your Internet Connection
Since Google Photos requires an active internet connection to sync photos and videos from the cloud, you should first check your internet connection. For that, you can run a quick speed test on your Android or iPhone.
If there’s a problem with your internet, switch to another connection and try again.
2. Enable Backup and Sync
Next, you should ensure that you’ve allowed Google Photos to backup and sync data on your phone. Here’s how to check.
1. Launch the Google Photos app on your phone. Tap on your profile picture in the top right corner and select Photo settings.
2. Tap on Backup and enable the toggle in the following menu.
After completing the above steps, restart the Google Photos app and see if you can find your missing photos.
3. Allow the Necessary Permissions
Google Photos might not show all your photos if it does not have the necessary permissions. Here’s how to allow them.
Android
1. Long-press on the Google Photos app icon and tap the info icon from the resulting menu.
2. On the app info page, tap on Permissions.
3. Tap on Photos and videos and select Always allow all.
iOS
1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone and scroll down to tap on Google Photos.
2. Tap on Photos and select All Photos from the following menu.
4. Enable SD Card Access
Is the Google Photos app not showing photos stored on your SD card? That could happen if you haven’t enabled SD card access for the app. Here’s how to turn it on.
1. Open the Google Photos app, tap on your profile picture in the top right corner, and select Photos settings.
2. Tap on Apps & devices and select the SD card access option in the following menu.
3. Tap the Get started button, select your SD card, and hit Allow.
5. Check Archive, Trash, and Locked Folders
The Google Photos app has a feature that suggests archiving or deleting unimportant photos. It also has a locked folder feature where you can store your private photos. If you can’t find your missing photos in the main view, they may be in one of these folders.
In the Google Photos app, switch to the Library tab and go through the Archive and Trash folders to see if you can find your missing photos there. Note that the Trash folder only keeps your backed-up photos and videos for 60 days before deleting them permanently. Photos that aren’t backed only remain available for 30 days.
Similarly, to access the locked folder, head to Library > Utilities > Locked Folder.
6. Allow Unrestricted Battery and Data Usage (Android)
The Google Photos app may fail to sync and show your old photos and videos from other devices if you have applied any battery or data restrictions to it. Here’s what you can do to fix that.
1. Long press on the Google Photos app icon and tap the info icon from the resulting menu.
2. Go to Battery and select Unrestricted from the following menu.
3. Return to the App info page, tap on Mobile data, and enable the toggles next to Allow background data usage and Allow data usage while Data saver is on.
7. Enable Background App Refresh (iPhone)
Turning off the Background App Refresh feature for the Google Photos app can also prevent the app from loading all the photos and videos. To enable it, open the Settings app on your iPhone and tap on Google Photos. Then, enable the toggle next to Background App Refresh.
8. Clear App Cache (Android)
Clearing the cache is a tried and tested solution for any app on Android that struggles to function properly. You can try getting rid of the cache data associated with the Google Photos app to see if that solves the problem.
1. Long press on the Google Photos app icon and tap the info icon from the resulting menu.
2. Go to Storage and tap the Clear cache option at the bottom.
9. Reinstall the App
Some of the core app files associated with Google Photos may have become inaccessible or corrupted. So, if clearing the cache doesn’t make any difference, you can try reinstalling the app on your Android or iPhone.
10. Use Google Photos on the Web
If you are still unable to locate your missing photos after trying everything, you can try using Google Photos on a browser. To do this, open your preferred web browser on your computer and navigate to Google Photos. Go through all the folders and see if you can find your missing photos there.
Get Them Back
It’s natural to feel anxious when Google Photos fails to show all photos and videos. We hope that the above solutions have helped you fix the underlying issue and you have managed to regain access to your old memories.
