Samsung Cloud photos: where they went and how to back up your Galaxy photos now

If you’ve searched through Samsung Cloud recently looking for your old photos and found nothing, it’s probably because of Samsung’s decision to discontinue backing up photos from Galaxy devices’ Gallery apps to Samsung Cloud back in 2021.

Many online articles written before this change still include steps to back up photos to Samsung Cloud, so it’s easy to get confused. Luckily, we’re here to help! In this article, we’ll explain where your Samsung Cloud photos went and show you how to back up your photos using the method that’s compatible with your phone’s OS version.

Samsung announced the end of OneDrive photo syncing on Galaxy devices, with the feature being completely discontinued on 30 September 2026.

What happened to Samsung Cloud photos

Over six years, Samsung has changed the location of its Gallery backup a number of times (deadlines for ending Gallery backup to Samsung Cloud in 2021 depended on country). The following table shows those changes in chronological order, based on announcements from Samsung and Microsoft as well as contemporaneous reporting by SamMobile.

Samsung Cloud is still up and running, though. At the time of writing (November 2026), Samsung’s official Galaxy backup page for Australia still lists the service’s backup capabilities, including messages and call logs, but not Gallery.

On a Galaxy S25 Ultra with One UI 9, the Galaxy phone’s Back up data page lists nine different types of data Samsung can back up to the cloud, from Contacts to Voice recordings, but again there’s no mention of photos or Gallery.

Shared albums, which, according to a 2023 report by SamMobile, can collectively consume up to 5GB of Samsung Cloud storage, are stored on Samsung’s servers, and there’s also a Temporary Cloud Backup feature (more on that below) that stores photos in Samsung Cloud for up to 30 days.

Can you still download photos from Samsung Cloud?

Samsung’s own support page reiterates that once Samsung Cloud’s Gallery sync ended in its final stage, any photos and videos uploaded to its Drive or synced with Gallery can’t be downloaded as they were deleted permanently. According to SamMobile, the option to download files from Samsung Cloud ended on 30 November 2021.

But if you did remember to make a backup after 2021, there’s a chance that backup is still sitting in OneDrive. According to Microsoft, ending the OneDrive sync didn’t delete or modify photos and videos uploaded to OneDrive via the Gallery app. They just aren’t shown in Gallery anymore.

1. 1

   Sign in to OneDrive

   Go to onedrive.com on your computer and log in using the same Microsoft account you linked to Gallery. Everything that’s in the OneDrive app on your phone should show up here.

2. 2

   Find the photos

   Navigate to the folder where your photos are stored, either Photos or My files, as neither Microsoft nor Samsung specifies which folder Gallery stores your photos in, and try searching for the name of a particular photo you know you’ve taken.

3. 3

   Download them

   When you’ve found everything you want, select the files/folders and tap Download. Microsoft notes that if you download multiple files at once, they’ll be zipped for you (with a maximum of 10GB per zipped file and 20GB total), so if you’re trying to download a large collection of photos it might be best to download one folder at a time.

Choose how to back up your Galaxy photos now

Depending on the version of One UI you’re using, there’s a slightly different process for each. Also, depending on whether you already pay for Google or Microsoft storage, this may be slightly different.

The numbers quoted are from Google’s and Microsoft’s own support pages.

For most people, having one copy of their data on the cloud and another copy on a local computer should suffice. Your local copy can serve as backup in case you can’t log into your cloud storage account, and the cloud copy can protect your data when your phone is lost. Our Gallery app guide covers search and Trash, the bin older versions call Recycle bin. Sort photos into albums worth syncing using Gallery albums and collages. Check out our photography apps for Android roundup for other backup apps like Amazon Photos for Prime members.

Set up cloud backup on One UI 9 and older phones

The following instructions list the steps to do so on One UI 9 first and other versions of One UI second.

Google photo sync is one of three cards on the Tips app’s What’s new page, as checked on a Galaxy S25 Ultra with One UI 9 in November 2026.

1. 1

   Check your software version

   Go to Settings → About phone → Software information to find out which version of One UI your phone is running. Sync with Google is available on One UI 9.0 and later, according to Samsung, and according to Google’s own help page it’s also Android 17-only.

2. 2

   Open the sync settings

   If you’re on One UI 9, head to Gallery → Menu → Settings → Sync photos and videos, and sign in to your Samsung account if prompted. (Before One UI 9, this is where you’d find Gallery sync with OneDrive, which Samsung ended on 30 September 2026, meaning you’ll have to use the OneDrive or Google Photos app instead.)

3. 3

   Turn on backup

   Enable Sync with Google on One UI 9 and tap Continue, then take a look at how much space you have available in your Google account. In Google Photos on earlier versions of Android, tap your profile picture → Photos settings → Backup, and enable Backup. In OneDrive, tap your account icon and enable Camera backup.

4. 4

   Choose the albums and folders

   Only photos in the Camera album get synced by default on One UI 9, so you’ll need to head to Albums to sync and add any other albums you want backed up. This is known as Back up device folders in Google Photos (also found in Backup), and OneDrive keeps it under Settings → Camera backup → Back up device folders.

5. 5

   Keep an eye on storage

   Samsung includes handy Clean up space and Get more storage shortcuts on One UI 9’s Sync with Google page. Google Photos will slap a Not enough storage to back up label on any pics it hasn’t synced due to a lack of space in your account, so it’s worth checking for these if you’ve just returned from a photo-heavy holiday.

Sync photos and videos is the first option under settings in the Gallery app with One UI 9. It's placed above the Viewing, Editing, Stories and Albums sections. This is how it looked on a Galaxy S25 Ultra when we checked it back in November 2026.

If you haven’t set up sync on your phone yet, the Sync your photos and videos screen will appear. It will show you which Google account will be used and have a Sync with Google option that’s described as syncing your photos and videos to Google and letting Samsung apps see and control your synced photos and videos. Press Continue.

What Sync with Google covers and what it leaves out

The Google Photos app has its own backup function which works differently to Sync with Google.

Further information can be found on Samsung's support pages and on Google's help page for this feature.

• Google says two types of Google accounts aren’t supported: supervised accounts for children and Google Workspace accounts. It works with your personal Google account.
• Files stored on an SD card won’t sync. Move them to your phone’s internal storage and include the album in backup.
• Photos will count against your Google account’s storage space (shared with Drive and Gmail).
• They also won’t lose any quality through compression.
• Google says synced photos will appear in Memories and search features only if you turn on backup in the Google Photos app as well.
• Deleting synced photos in either Gallery or Google Photos will delete them from both apps. They’ll be available for 30 days in the bin folder.
• Samsung says you can back up photos up to 200MB in size and videos up to 20GB in size.

Disabling sync later on will not remove any of your stuff from Google, according to Samsung. Photos uploaded to Google will remain there, although photos that are only on Google will not be visible in Gallery. Also, if you edit a photo in Gallery, Google will save that edit as a new photo, so you may end up with two copies of the same photo.

Keep an offline copy with Smart Switch

Accounts aren’t unlimited or always accessible, as they can get full or blocked, so it’s wise to have a second copy somewhere you’ve got access to.

Samsung’s Smart Switch app for computers (Windows 10 or later and macOS 10.13 or later according to its UK page) can back up photos and videos in common formats, according to a guide on Samsung’s Australian website.

1. 1

   Install Smart Switch on the computer

   Head over to Samsung’s website and download Smart Switch for either Windows or Mac. If you’re using a Mac, Samsung also recommends that you uninstall Android File Transfer before opening Smart Switch, as Smart Switch won’t open while it’s installed.

2. 2

   Connect with a data cable

   Connect your Galaxy phone to your computer using a data-capable USB cable (not charge-only). When prompted on your phone, tap Allow to share your phone’s content.

3. 3

   Run the backup

   On your computer, select Backup. By default, all content will be selected for backup, but according to Samsung’s website (US), you’re able to choose and deselect the types of files/content you want backed up (e.g. just your photos/videos).

4. 4

   Find the backup

   On a Mac, according to Samsung’s U.S. website, the backup is located at /Users/[username]/Documents/Samsung/SmartSwitch/backup. On Windows PCs, the backup folder can be found in Documents → Samsung → SmartSwitch → backup. There will be a folder with the name of your phone model. Open it and you’ll see everything backed up there.

Smart Switch backups are intended to be used for a complete device restore. To sort individual pictures instead, copy the DCIM folder with our PC transfer guide or our guide to moving photos to a Mac.

Samsung Cloud's 30-day temporary backup

Samsung introduced this temporary backup solution in October 2023. Temporary Cloud Backup doesn’t limit the amount of data you can back up. However, Samsung will only keep the backup for up to 30 days (the company will notify you 7 days before deleting it). Temporary Cloud Backup will save your photos and videos, as well as your apps, documents, and other data.

It’s only compatible with phones running One UI 6 or newer. It also can’t back up data stored on an SD card. To use Temporary Cloud Backup, Samsung’s announcement says to go to Settings → General management → Reset → Temporary cloud backup. Use this feature if you’re about to send your phone in for service or perform a factory reset, but remember to set up one of the more permanent backup solutions above. For all other changes in the update, see One UI 9 camera and Gallery changes.