Google Photos acts as a photo gallery and storage service. It provides two ways to upload photos. First, photos taken from the camera will be added when backup is enabled. Second, you need to allow manual backup of device folders, such as screenshots. But what if screenshots automatically upload to Google Photos? Let us see how to fix that.
A person often wants to save photos of his family in Google Photos. As screenshots continue to be added automatically, it will affect the overall experience of using screenshots, unless you want to share or transfer them to other devices.
If you’re having the same problem, see how to disable uploading screenshots to Google Photos on Android.
Why Screenshots Appear on Google Photos
To organize the files on your phone, the operating system categorizes them in different folders. The location of the folder plays an important role in Google Photos.
We know that when backup is enabled in Google Photos, it creates a backup of photos in the Camera folder by default. However, that is somewhat untrue. That’s because, in fact, it makes a backup of the DCIM folder that contains the Camera folder. If there are other folders in the DCIM folder, they will automatically be uploaded to Google Photos as well. You don’t need to enable separate backups for them from device folders.
Now the issue of screenshots added to Google Photos occurs on phones like Samsung’s and Mi’s. On those phones, you must have guessed that the Screenshots folder is in the DCIM folder. That’s not the case with stock Android phones that keep screenshots outside of the DCIM folder.
How to disable screenshots folder from backing up to Google Photos
One would think that moving the Screenshots folder out of the DCIM folder would help. It does, but not fully. If you change the location of the folder, a new Screenshots folder will be created immediately when you take a new screenshot. So moving out of the folder will only stop you from backing up old screenshots as long as they haven’t been backed up to Google Photos.
So check out other methods to fix the problem.
1. Add the .nomedia . file
The first method is to add the .nomedia file to the Screenshots folder. When you add a .nomedia file to your folder, it hides the files in such a way that they don’t appear in various applications except File Manager. So when you add it to the Screenshots folder, the screenshots won’t appear in the Google Photos app and they won’t be uploaded to Google Photos.
To add a .nomedia file, launch the file browser app on your phone. The steps may vary by different file managers, but the basic principle is the same. That is, navigate to the DCIM folder > Screenshots. Click the add button and select File. Name it .nomedia and save it. That’s it.
Tip: If the pre-installed file explorer doesn’t support adding files, install third-party explorers like ES File Explorer, Solid Explorer, etc.
Obviously, the downside to this approach is that you won’t be able to view the screenshot via any other gallery app. You can only access them through the File Explorer app.
2. Use a third-party application to change the folder location
You can take the help of third-party applications that automatically change the target location of your files. One such application is Auto Transfer Lite.
With this application, you need to change the destination location of the files in the Screenshots folder to a folder outside the DCIM folder. So whenever you take a screenshot, instead of going to the Screenshots folder, it will go to the new destination folder. As a result, the screenshots will not be in the DCIM folder and they will not be saved to the Google Photos service.
Here are the steps to use this app:
Step 1: Install Auto Transfer Lite app on your phone and open it.
Step 2: Grant the necessary permissions when asked.
Step 3: Click Add new task. Enter a new name for the task on the next screen.
Step 4: Click on Source folder and select Screenshots folder inside DCIM i.e. Internal Storage/DCIM/Screenshots. You will have to tap Allow access to Screenshots.
If you don’t see Internal Storage, tap the three-dot icon at the top and select Show Internal Storage. Then navigate to Internal Storage/DCIM/Screenshot using the three-bar icon.
Step 5: Now tap on Destination Folder and select a new destination folder. You can keep it anywhere but the DCIM folder.
Tip: Tap the three-dot icon at the top to create a new folder.
Step 6: Make sure Transfer Mode is kept as Moving. You can customize many other options according to your needs. Finally, press the save (floppy) icon at the top to activate the automatic transfer.
Once you save it, all your existing screenshots will also be moved to the new folder.
3. Use a third-party screenshot app
Another way to solve the problem is to download a third-party screenshot app. Those apps usually let you choose a destination folder to save your screenshots in.
One such application is the Screenshot app. Install the app from the link below.
Once installed, open the app and change the Saved folder location. Use this app to take screenshots now. Such apps can also be used to take screenshots when the power or home button is not working on your phone.
Hoping for the best
We hope you are satisfied with one of the methods mentioned above to stop uploading screenshots in Google Photos. We wish that other smartphone manufacturers would also lead the way towards stock Android and change the default location of the Screenshots folder.
Next: Don’t like the Google Photos app? Find out what happens if you uninstall Google Photos from your app using the next link.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
