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Back up iPhone photos to Google Drive, then free space

5 min read

Moving photos off your iPhone is simple. Doing it without losing anything takes a little more care. This guide shows how to back up iPhone photos to Google Drive, how to confirm the copies are good, and when it is safe to delete the originals.

Check iCloud Photos first

This step matters more than any other. If iCloud Photos is turned on, your library is not stored only on the phone. It is synced across every device signed in with your Apple Account. Apple’s support page states that when you delete a photo or video on one device, it is deleted on the others too.

So “back up to Google Drive, then delete from the iPhone” does not free space the way you might expect. The photo also disappears from iCloud, your iPad and your Mac. In that case your Google Drive copy becomes the only copy.

You can check in Settings > your name > iCloud > Photos. If it is on, either accept that Drive will hold the only copy, or archive with that in mind and verify the copies very carefully.

Google Photos or Google Drive

These are two different services, and the difference affects how you find your files later.

  • Google Photos is built for pictures and videos. It backs up automatically once you turn it on, groups images by date and people, and offers a “Free up space” option in the app.
  • Google Drive is a general file store. Files stay as you uploaded them, in folders you control. Photos uploaded to Drive do not appear in Google Photos, and the reverse is also true.

Photos has three upload quality settings. Original quality keeps the resolution you shot at. Storage saver and Express compress your files, so they are not true backups of the originals. If you want exact copies, use Original quality in Photos, or use Drive.

Know your storage limit

A free Google Account includes 15 GB, shared between Gmail, Drive and Photos. Original-quality photos and videos count against it. Videos fill it fast. Past the limit, uploads fail until you free space or buy a larger plan.

Check what you have left before you start, then compare it with what you plan to move. Settings > General > iPhone Storage shows what your photos take on the phone.

Upload from the Drive app

Here is the manual route:

  1. Install Google Drive from the App Store and sign in.
  2. Tap the + button.
  3. Tap Upload, then Photos and Videos.
  4. Select the items and confirm. iOS may ask you to allow access to your library.
  5. Wait for the upload to finish, with the app open.

It works well for a few dozen items. For thousands, selecting by hand gets slow, and the files carry upload dates, not the dates you took the pictures.

Check the copy before deleting

Do not delete because the progress bar finished. Check first:

  • Compare counts. If you uploaded 300 items, 300 should be there.
  • Open some photos and play a few videos for a few seconds.
  • Check file sizes against the originals.

A stronger check is a checksum. Google Drive computes an MD5 hash for each file it stores. If that hash matches the one computed from the original, the bytes are the same. Few people check this by hand.

About HEIC and Live Photos

Recent iPhones save photos as HEIC by default. Drive stores uploaded files as they are, so HEIC stays HEIC. Apple devices and most current apps open them. Some older Windows software does not. Convert copies when you need to, and keep the archive untouched.

A Live Photo is two files: a still image and a short video. If you upload only the image, you lose the motion. Make sure both are saved, or leave the item on your phone.

Delete from the iPhone

Once the copies are verified, delete the originals in Photos. iOS asks you to confirm. The items go to Recently Deleted and stay there for 30 days before they are removed for good. Do not empty the album right away.

If iCloud Photos is on, remember what the first section said. The deletion syncs everywhere.

How Lisse automates this

Lisse is an iPhone app that frees up storage, and its archive feature follows the same steps, with the checks done for you. You connect your own Google Drive once. Lisse asks for Google’s “drive.file” permission, which means the app only sees files it creates itself, not the rest of your Drive.

You choose photos and videos to archive. Lisse uploads the originals: HEIC stays HEIC, and Live Photos upload both the image and the video, or the item is kept on the phone. Files go into folders named Lisse/YYYY-MM, using the original capture date.

Then Lisse checks every copy against the size and the MD5 checksum reported by Google Drive. Only after that does it offer to delete from the iPhone, with the usual iOS confirmation. Items go to Recently Deleted for 30 days.

Nothing passes through any server of ours. We do not have one. Your photos go from your phone to your Google Drive.

Limits to know about

  • Uploads currently need Lisse open. Keep the app in the foreground until it finishes.
  • Your Google storage quota still applies. Lisse cannot upload past it.
  • Lisse is free for the first 25 deletions or archives. After that you need Lisse Premium: $29.99 per year with a 3-day trial, or $4.99 per week.
  • Lisse is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.

Frequently asked questions

Does Google Drive keep the original quality of my photos?

Yes. Drive stores the file you upload without recompressing it. Google Photos is different: it offers Storage saver and Express settings that compress files, so choose Original quality there if you want exact copies.

If I delete photos from my iPhone, are they deleted from Google Drive?

No. Drive does not sync with your photo library, so deleting on the phone leaves the Drive copy alone. The risk is iCloud Photos: if it is on, the deletion syncs to your other Apple devices and iCloud.

Can I get a photo back after deleting it?

For 30 days, yes. Deleted items stay in the Recently Deleted album in Photos. After that they are removed. This is why a verified copy in Drive matters before you delete anything.

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