In this article, I will describe the ways to back up photos and videos for various operating systems with the help of «Google Photos. We will also show you how to recover deleted data.

Introduction

Transferring most data to the Internet and using network resources to share and spread the information feature a number of benefits as well as certain drawbacks – and one of these is the risk of unexpected loss of user data.

Undoubtedly, one of the well-known services to help you store digital images and videos is Google Photos, which is considered to be a vast and reliable store for user data. However, for various reasons, you may still encounter loss of data even if you use this service.

That is why in this article we will try to describe the main ways of backing up user photos and videos in various operating systems and storing the materials with Google Photos, and we will also focus on methods applied to recover deleted data.

Google Photos features a number of various functions. In case of any file being deleted by mistake it gives you a chance to restore the lost data in a number of ways which we will describe below.

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Creating a Backup and Using it to Recover Data

Google cloud storage suggests using the backup tool which automatically saves selected photos and videos transmitted over the Internet to remote Google servers, and therefore enables recovering files from a backup copy if necessary.

It is difficult to overestimate the benefits of backup when working with photos. With the auto-upload and synchronization mechanism, users can instantly save their photos and videos to the Google Photos library. All files uploaded by users from their devices will be available only to them until they decide to share the files. Any changes affecting devices synchronized with Google Photos will apply immediately to the user’s storage library which helps to update files in the storage app.

A simple Way to Recover Deleted Photos and Videos with Google Photos

Using Google Photos makes it easier to arrange, exchange and store pictures and videos, and what is more, the app has a built-in recovery tool you can use when a file is removed deliberately or by mistake. This tool is actually the Trash system service which stores deleted files for sixty days and lets you recover them if necessary. The step-by-step algorithm to recover files from the Trash differs depending on whether you work with personal computers or mobile devices. Belo, we will examine both methods for each of the devices.

Recovering Photos and Videos with Google Photos on a PC

The recovery procedure for Recycle Bin won’t take long and consists of a few steps only.

Step 1. Use your browser to open the Google Photos page. In the left upper corner, click on the Main menu button fashioned like three horizontal lines.

Step 2. From the list of available elements, select Trash.

Step 3. You will see al removed files. Put the cursor on the element you’d like to recover and click on the button that appears in the left corner of the image/video thumbnail. When you select it, the button will change its color.

Step 4. In the right upper corner, click the Restore button fashioned like a rounded arrow.

The selected elements will be immediately restored to the Google Photos user library and added to other albums where they have been kept before being deleted.

Recovering Photos and Videos with Google Photos on a Mobile Device

If you deleted an element and now you need to recover it, here is the sequence of steps to follow. .

An important note. This recovery procedure also works for iOS devices.

Step 1. Open Google Photos on your mobile device and sign in to your account.

Step 2. When the app is ready, tap on the menu button in the left upper corner (it looks like three horizontal lines).

Step 3. In the menu that opens select Trash.

Press and hold the photo or video you want to restore until you see a blue circle with a white tick inside, then tap Restore.

The selected element (or group of elements) will be restored to the gallery of your mobile device, the Google Photos library, and other albums where it used to be stored.

Recovering Photos and Videos from the Windows Recycle Bin on a PC

Sometimes you can find deleted images and videos in the Windows Recycle Bin if it is configured properly so that deleted files are not removed immediately but remain in the storage for an unlimited period of time. To find and recover deleted photos and videos, just do the following.

Step 1. Open the Recycle Bin in any way you prefer. For example, by double-clicking on the Recycle Bin desktop shortcut.

Step 2. Check its contents and select the files you need to restore.

Step 3. Right-click on the selected elements and choose Restore from the menu. Otherwise, click on the Restore the selected items button which you can find in the Recycle Bin Tools tab to achieve the same result.

The selected user files will be restored immediately.

If you visit our YouTube channel, you can also find out how to recover video files removed accidentally from a hard disk, a USB drive, a memory card or an Android device – and all that you can see in one of our videos, How to Recover a Video File in Windows 10 or Android in 2019.