Clearing photos off a full phone and worried your Google Photos library will shrink with it? Switching off Backup in the Google Photos app stops new uploads and deletes nothing: pictures already in your Google Account stay there, and the copies on the phone stay too. The risk is in how you delete. Removing a picture inside the app also erases the cloud copy, so use Delete from device or Free up space when only the phone copy should go.
Which result do you want?
“Unsync” means different things to different people. Pick the row that matches what you are trying to do, then jump to that section. This article covers the current Google Photos app on Android, iPhone and iPad, plus photos.google.com on a computer.
| Your goal | What to do | What happens to existing photos |
|---|---|---|
| Stop new photos from uploading | Turn off Backup in the app | Nothing is deleted anywhere |
| Free phone storage, keep the cloud copy | Delete from device, or Free up space | Phone copy removed, cloud copy kept |
| Stop uploading Screenshots or chat images only | Turn off those device folders (Android) | Already uploaded items stay |
| Empty Google Photos but keep the phone copies | Turn Backup off, then delete in the cloud (or Undo backup on Android) | Cloud copies go to Trash, phone copies stay |
| Upload to a different Google Account | Change the backup account | Old account keeps what it already has |
If you only need the basic switch and nothing else, stopping Google Photos from syncing covers that short version. The rest of this page is about what happens to the photos you already have.
Switch off Backup in the Google Photos app
Backup is a per-device setting, so do this on each phone or tablet that should stop uploading. It takes effect right away; you do not need to restart the app.
On an Android phone or tablet
- Open the Google Photos app.
- Tap your profile picture or initial in the top-right corner.
- Tap Photos settings, then Backup.
- Turn off the Backup switch.
On an iPhone or iPad
- Open the Google Photos app.
- Tap your profile picture in the top-right corner.
- Tap the Google Photos settings icon, then Backup.
- Turn off Backup.
Google describes both paths on its Back up photos and videos help page. Older articles call the switch “Backup & sync”; the current label is simply Backup.
On an iPhone you can go one step further and stop the app from reading your library at all. In the iPhone Settings app, open the Google Photos entry, tap its Photos permission and choose a narrower option such as None. Your iCloud Photos setting is separate, so this does not change what Apple stores.
What changes once Backup is off
Turning Backup off freezes the cloud library at the moment you flip the switch. Here is the before and after for each kind of item.
| Item | Backup on | Backup off |
|---|---|---|
| New photos and videos you take | Upload automatically | Stay on this phone only |
| Photos already backed up | In your Google Account and on the phone | Still in both places |
| Google storage used | Grows with each upload | Stays the same until you delete cloud copies |
| Delete in the Google Photos app | Removes phone and cloud copies | Still removes the cloud copy of a backed-up item |
| Delete in the phone’s own gallery or Files app | Removes the phone copy | Removes the phone copy |
| Other devices on the same account | Keep uploading | Keep uploading (the switch is per device) |
Two points surprise people. First, switching Backup off does not give you any Google storage back; what is already uploaded keeps counting until you remove it. Second, the app still shows your whole cloud library, so photos you have not taken on this phone continue to appear.
Free phone space without touching the cloud copy
This is where most accidental losses happen. Google’s delete photos and videos page states that deleting items in the Google Photos app deletes the same items from your device, and for a backed-up item that regular delete also sends the cloud copy to Trash. When only the phone copy should go, use one of these instead.
- One photo or a few: select them, tap More at the top, then tap Delete from device. The phone copy goes; the cloud copy stays.
- Everything already backed up: tap your profile picture, then Free up space on this device. It removes device copies of items that are safely in your account (Google notes very recent items may stay), so it only makes sense for photos that finished uploading before you turned Backup off. On an iPhone, also delete the same items from Recently Deleted in Apple’s Photos app to get the space back.
- Photos that were never backed up: deleting these anywhere removes the only copy. Check the backup status (covered below) before you clear them.
If a photo vanishes by mistake, open Trash in Google Photos. Deleted items stay there for 30 days, according to Google, and then they are gone for good.
Keep camera uploads but skip other folders (Android)
Sometimes the problem is not the camera roll but everything else: screenshots, downloaded memes or chat images. Android lets you keep Backup on for the camera and leave the rest out.
- Tap your profile picture, then Photos settings > Backup.
- Under Settings, tap Back up device folders.
- Turn off each folder you do not want uploaded.
- If you see Back up all device folders, turn it off so new folders are not added on their own.
Google notes that chosen device folders are backed up whenever Backup is on, so this list matters again if you switch Backup back on later. Google’s iPhone page has no folder option; on an iPhone, Backup is all or nothing.
Clear the cloud copies but keep the phone copies
This goes beyond unsyncing, so only do it if you truly want a smaller cloud library. Turn Backup off first on every device whose copies you want to keep; otherwise the deletion reaches those phones too. On Android, Photos settings > Backup > Undo backup removes one phone’s whole backup from Google Photos and switches Backup off for you. On any device you can instead delete selected items at photos.google.com, then reopen the app on Wi-Fi, where those photos may show as local copies only. Before deleting anything from the cloud, consider downloading your Google Photos library as a safety copy, and see how to unback up Google Photos for the full steps.
Other phones, tablets and accounts that may still upload
If new photos keep appearing in your library after you turned Backup off, another device is usually the source. Check this short list:
- An old phone, a tablet or a family member’s device signed in to the same Google Account with Backup still on.
- A second Google Account on the same phone. Backup belongs to the account selected in the app, so check each one.
- A computer uploading folders (see the next section).
Uninstalling Google Photos stops that phone from uploading, but it is a blunt tool: turn Backup off first so the setting is correct if you reinstall. To keep backing up but send photos somewhere else, change your Google Photos backup account instead of switching Backup off.
Computer uploads after the Drive for desktop change
Older advice says to stop computer uploads in Google Drive for desktop. Google’s help page states that Drive for desktop ended support for Google Photos backup on August 10, 2026, so on current setups that option is no longer what is uploading your files. If you still see it in an older install, the path was Settings > Preferences > Folders from your computer, then uncheck Back up to Google Photos.
The current computer method is folder backup in the browser: Create and add photos > Back up folders on photos.google.com, in a Chromium-based browser such as Chrome or Edge. Google says it runs only while the Photos tab or web app stays open, so closing that tab stops it. Stopping a computer backup only prevents future uploads; anything already sent stays in your account until you delete it. For the full set of upload options, see how to back up Google Photos.
Check whether a photo is backed up
Before you delete phone copies, confirm the cloud has them. With Backup off, Google says a photo with a cloud check mark is backed up, while one without it exists only on the phone. For a single item, open it, tap More, then About, and scroll to Details; a backed-up item shows its status and size under Backed up. To browse the cloud side by itself, sign in at photos.google.com or follow the steps to see your backed-up photos.
Turning Backup on again later
You can switch Backup back on at any time from the same screen. Two cautions apply. Google warns that the device copy of an item you deleted from Google Photos may be deleted once backup is re-enabled, so if you cleared cloud copies and want to keep the phone versions, move them somewhere safe first. And on Android, any device folders you left on will start uploading again along with the camera.
Google Photos backup questions
Does turning Backup off give me back Google storage?
No. Photos and videos already uploaded keep using your storage until you delete them from Google Photos and they leave Trash.
How long do photos stay in Trash?
Google’s delete page gives 30 days, for both backed-up items and, on Android 11 and up, items that were never backed up. After that they are permanently deleted.
Does switching off Google Photos Backup affect iCloud Photos?
No. iCloud Photos is controlled in the iPhone’s own settings, and Google Photos Backup does not turn it on or off.
Can I find duplicates before cleaning up?
If you downloaded your library to a Windows PC, you can find duplicate photos on Windows 10 before deciding what to delete.
Can I still edit photos with Backup off?
Yes. Editing tools work on local and cloud photos alike, for example when you flip a photo in Google Photos. Edits to a phone-only photo stay on the phone.
Next step
Turn Backup off on every device that should stop uploading, then do one check: open a recent photo and look for the cloud check mark. If your cleanup involves deleting, use Delete from device for phone copies and leave the regular delete button alone until you are sure the cloud is the copy you want to lose.
Kermit Matthews runs Live2Tech from just outside Philadelphia. He is an IT specialist with over 20 years of experience, from a university help desk to small-business IT, IT management and his own consulting practice, and has written tech guides full time since 2020. Steps are checked against the current software on a real device or the maker’s official documentation. More about Kermit.