Since launching its photo storage service in May last year, Google Inc. has seen Google Photos become incredibly popular. In November, the company announced that just five months after launch, Google Photos had 100 million users.

Not only is Google Photos a great place to store all your photos and videos and free up space on your smartphone, but it also has handy editing features and the ability for your friends to collaborate on a shared album.

Here are just eights tips and tricks that will allow you to get the most out of your Google Photos account.  

Editing and cropping your photos just got easier

The latest update for Google Photos on the web keeps the edit-tools menu open while you move between your next or previous photos. Any edits that you make to the current photo will be saved prior to moving to the next photo and if you want to undo the edits, simply hit the Revert to Original button at the top of the window.

Another recent update is the aspect ratio selector that ensures you get an exact crop for your photo. Found under the Crop-and-rotate tab, options include Free, Original, Square, 16:9 and 4:3.

These updates are currently limited to the desktop version of Google Photos.

Edit photos on your mobile device

While the above new editing and cropping functionality is currently only available for the desktop version, the mobile version of Google Photos does allow you to edit your photos directly from your device. Edits include the ability to add filters, adjust the color and exposure, crop photos, etc.

Simply select the photo that you want to edit, tap the pencil icon and choose from the various options.

Free up space on your smartphone

In Google Photos, tap Settings > Free up space. All device copies of your backed up photos and videos will be removed.

You can customize your Google Photos settings so that it warns you when storage is running low, alternatively select the setting for Google Photos to automatically remove local device copies of photos and videos older than 30 days.

All your photos and videos will be available on the Google Photos app as well as the web and you always have the option to re-download a photo or video to your smartphone.

Adjust your backup and sync settings

In Google Photos’ settings you can adjust which account your photos and videos are backed up to, as well as when and how your photos are backed up.

To change your account name: Tap Settings > Backup and sync > Active account > tap the account name to change it.

To change the photo and video upload size: Tap Settings > Backup and sync > Upload size > Select either High Quality (allows you to backup unlimited photos and videos, but at a reduced size) or Original (backup is limited to 15GB of free storage, but you keep the original quality of the photo or video).

Adjust when photos backup: Tap Settings > Backup and sync > Back up photos > select whether backup must happen over Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi and the cellular network.

Backup only when your device is charging: Tap Settings > Backup and sync > While charging only. Available on Android only.

Share photos with friends and loved ones

You can easily share any of the photos, videos, albums and movies stored on your Google Photos account with friends and family.

Select the photos that you want to share > tap the Share icon in the top right > share the selected items using one of the apps or tap Get link to send it to someone.

You can also allow your friends and family to add their own memories to your Google Photos album to ensure all the photos and videos from a particular event are kept together. Share the album with the relevant people. Then in the album > tap Options in the top right > switch the Collaborate option on.

Photos automatically arranged by location, date and people

Google Photos will automatically arrange your photos based on when they were taken, where they were taken, the subjects of your photos, etc. Tap the search icon in the bottom right and type in what you want to search for, then tap Search or press Enter.

Backup photos from WhatsApp, Instagram, more

By default, Google Photos only backs up photos taken with your device’s default camera app.

On your phone, open the Google Photos app. Tap Settings > Backup and sync > Choose folders to backup… > select the folders (i.e. Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram etc.) that you want to backup.

This feature is only available on the Android app.

Pinch to zoom or change the view

In the Google Photos app you can pinch to zoom in and out on any of your photos.

You can also pinch in and out to change between the different views of your photos. By default Google Photos shows your images in a daily view, but pinch in or out on your device’s screen and you can change the view to monthly or comfortable view.

Image credit: jarmoluk, Pixabay