Fix: Google Photos backup stuck on Android (2022)

Ideally, Google Photos will work in the background and back up all your photos and videos. However, that’s not always the case and, to make things worse, some users report that Google Photos backup got stuck for some reason. We have a few things to suggest on how to solve upload issues below. Give them a try and tell us if they fixed the problem.

Table of contents:

1. Check the file size
2. Stop the upload and try again
3. Check the network
4. Reset Google Photos
5. Turn off the Battery Saver

My photos aren’t backing up to Google Photos

Your photos might not back up to Google Photos if:

• There are network issues or you’re disconnected from Wi-Fi.
• The file (photo or video) is unsupported, corrupt, or too large.
• A temporary bug is causing the problem so clearing data or reinstalling (uninstalling updates) from Google Photos is a good idea.
• Permissions were revoked and/or Google Photos can’t access the SD card.

Learn in detail about these occurrences below.

1. Check the file size

Before doing anything else go for a simple restart. Once your device boots up, open Google Photos and check if the files are uploading. Tap on your profile picture and open Photos settings and then Back up & sync > Back up device folders. Once there, ensure that the folders containing photos you want to upload are toggled on.

We can’t omit to mention the file size limitations although this is quite rare. You can’t upload photos larger than 75MB and videos larger than 10GB to Google Photos. Also, make sure that the Google Photos app on your device is not outdated. Open Play Store and update it.

Last but not least, if the problematic photo/video that made Google Photos backup get stuck is on the SD card, make sure to grant permission to Google Photos to access the SD card. Here’s how to do that:

1. Open Google Photos.
2. Tap on your Profile at the top and open Photos settings.
3. Tap on SD card access.
4. Follow the instructions to grant Google Photos permission to access and modify files on the SD card.

2. Stop the upload and try again

This is a good way to kickstart the app in case the backup is stuck. Firstly, open Google Photos and check what file is causing the problem. Stop it from uploading by disconnecting from the network. Once you’ve done that, force close the Google Photos app. After that, connect to a Wi-Fi network and try uploading the problematic photo/video again.

Here’s how to force close Google Photos on your Android:

1. Open Settings.
2. Select Apps.
3. Open Google Photos from the list of available apps.
4. Tap Force close at the bottom.

If the Google Photos backup is stuck despite our best effort to fix it, check the network.

3. Check the network

If you want to use mobile data to backup files to Google Photos, you need to enable the option in Photos settings. To do so, navigate to Google Photos > Photos settings > Back up & sync > Cell data usage. You can set the daily limit for backup or just set Unlimited usage.

On the other hand, if you solely rely on Wi-Fi to back up to Google Photos, ensure that your network is not the one that’s causing upload issues. If it is, which you can confirm by using other network-dependent apps, here are some things you can do:

• Restart your router.
• Put on hold other devices that are hogging the bandwidth. We’re mainly referring to devices that are downloading/uploading large files.
• Forget the network and connect again.
• Reset Network Settings on your Android.

4. Reset Google Photos

If the previous steps didn’t help, you can try resetting Google Photos by clearing the local data. Remember that Google Photos need to resync to your device after you clear local data and that can take some time. On the other hand, it should help you address the issue.

Here’s how to clear local data from Google Photos on Android:

1. Open Settings.
2. Select Apps.
3. Open Google Photos.
4. Tap Storage.
5. Select Manage storage.
6. Delete all data.
7. Restart your device.
8. Open Google Photos, choose your preferred settings, and wait for it to sync.

5. Turn off the Battery Saver

Finally, some users suggested that the problem was, in fact, with the Battery Saving mode which heavily limits the functionality of some apps. So, navigate to Settings > Battery and make sure to disable Battery Saving. If that doesn’t help, we recommend skipping the photo/video that’s causing the halt. You can try uploading it via your PC, in Google Photos for the web client.

And, with that said, we can wrap it up. Thank you for reading and please tell us if any of these solutions fixed your problem. If you have an alternative solution that worked for you, be so kind as to share it with our readers. The comments section is just below and you can also reach us on Twitter and Facebook.