Google Photos does more than you think. Lately, I use it as a personal knowledge base that I can query at any time and from any device. I do this by taking pictures of anything I want to remember, knowing that I can later “ask” Google Photos about something I want to remember, even if I don’t remember the full context. For example, I can ask things like “What is my car’s registration expiration date?” or “How much did I spend on dinners during my trip to NYC?”
But Google Photos can do even more, it can also be your photo print shop and a pro-level editor that works from a single prompt. I’m fairly certain you’re only scratching the surface of what Google Photos can do, and here’s what you might be missing out on.
Use your photos as a knowledge base
Take photos of anything you need to later query
Most people don’t know you can do this but it’s a fantastic feature. You can “Ask Google Photos” questions and if you have a photo of anything related to your question, it’ll present the answer after searching your photos and analyzing the results and using AI to find the answer. Here are some great examples based on things I’ve previously taken pictures of:
- “What is the license plate number of my car?”
- “What is the model number of my refrigerator?”
- “Where did I take the photos of the red roses?”
- “What was the name of the wine I took a picture of last week?”
Because of this capability, I have changed how I take photos. I take photos to archive information that I later want to query against: I take pictures of receipts, documents, concert posters, license plates of my cars, foods I like, stickers on items that contain a device’s model number, and so on — anything I might want to look back on or query.
To use this feature, open Google Photos and tap the magnifying glass in the bottom right corner with the adjacent star icon. Then type your question.
Because of this capability, I have changed how I take photos.
The next feature will have you editing your photos easier than you ever thought possible.
Use generative edit
It’s actually really powerful
Google Photos’ best editing feature, Magic Editor, which lets you use an AI prompt to easily and convincingly edit a photo (to remove backgrounds, fix colors or defects, or even to remove objects or change someone’s clothing), was once Pixel-exclusive. It is now available on all devices running Android 8.0 and up, even ones running iOS (15 or higher).
Magic Editor has gotten shockingly useful, like being able to even remove a phone from my hand, then “recreate” my fingers without the phone, as shown above in the first example. To use the prompt-based editor, open any photo in Google Photos > Edit > Ask > type prompt (sometimes it says “Help me Edit“). As using Magic Editor can be a bit overwhelming because it’s so good, I made a short list of prompts that I have found to be the most useful. For example
- “Change the background of the image to be [a professional office, a museum, a mansion etc]”
- “Remove the shine from my face and fix the red blemishes”
- “Delete the [red dumpster] in the background”
- “Fix the gray sky by making it look more blue with some natural clouds”
All you have to do is ask, and the edits happen in seconds.
Next I’ll explain how to turn your photos into physical prints and books.
Print your pictures
Make photo books easily in Google Photos
Google Photos has a built-in photo printing service that makes it easy and affordable to turn your photos into physical items like photo books, canvas prints, or just regular printed photos. To do this, open any photo, tap the three dots in the corner > Order photo > pick between photo book, photo print, or canvas print. For about $15, you can get a softcover book with 20 pages, or you can opt for a hardcover book for $30. All of Google’s print products (I’ve purchased several photo books and prints) arrive quickly and are very good quality on glossy paper. This is a great way to bring your photos to life in the real world and not just have them exist on your phone.
Next I’ll explain how to stop wasting your storage quota on things you don’t even want to back up so you can get the most out of Google Photos.
Stop wasting your storage space
This one tweak alone can save you many gigabytes
Every Google account gets 15GB of storage space you can use across Google Photos, Google Drive, and Gmail. If you aren’t optimizing your Google Photos backup settings, you’ll easily blow past that as your phone tries to back up all images on your phone, including things you don’t want to keep for the long term, like images sent to you through various messaging apps.
Your habit of taking screenshots often (Samsung devices can take them with just a tap) is costing you a lot of storage space in Google Photos if you don’t turn off screenshot backups. In fact, your device might be backing up not only screenshots, but also every image and meme someone sends you on Telegram, the images you’ve downloaded from Instagram, and more. To stop your phone from including everything in your photo backups, open Google Photos > tap the avatar in the upper right > Photo settings > Backup > Default backup > Device folders > uncheck any folders you don’t want to backup.
Google Photos is not just a photo gallery
Stop treating it like a utility
Google Photos is not just a dumping ground for your photos. It’s where you bring your photos to life with printed photo books, it’s your expert photo editor with just a prompt, and it’s your life’s knowledge base, always one question away.
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