Download the Google Photos Desktop Uploader to back up your photos with ease

The new Google Photos app is a great way to keep all of your pictures and videos backed up to the cloud. Not only does the service offer up tons of new features and improvements over Google’s previous Photos application, the company is also letting you back up all of your photos and videos for free. Although there are a few caveats that come with the term ‘unlimited storage’ in this case, Google is still providing a great way for users to easily store important media in the cloud.

The mobile Photos application is convenient, but what if you have the majority of your photos saved on your computer? If you have more than a few images that need backing up, we’d suggest trying out the new Google Photos Desktop Uploader application, which is now available for download on both Mac and Windows computers.

Read more: A quick look at the new Google Photos app

To grab the application, head over to photos.google.com/apps and click ‘Desktop Uploader’ on the left-hand side. Once the app is downloaded and installed, the setup process is quite easy. Simply log in to your Google account, and you’ll be presented with this folder selection page:

From here, you can select which folders Google Photos will automatically upload to the cloud. If you don’t see your desired folder on the list, just click the Add button and navigate to the correct one. Similar to the setup process on the mobile application, you’ll also be able to choose the size in which your photos and videos are uploaded. Remember, photos have a 16MP cap, and videos have a maximum resolution of 1080p, so be sure to keep that in mind before choosing the “free unlimited storage” option. If you want your photos to keep their original quality, select the “Original” upload option.

Once you’re done with this page, all you need to do is wait for your photos to back up to the cloud. If you need to add or remove folders after completing this process, just reopen the Photos app on your desktop and alter the list, just like you did before.

If you have any questions about Google Photos or the new Desktop Uploader app, be sure to let us know in the comments below. And if you haven’t yet, check out our video walkthrough and setup of the new Google Photos mobile app! Have you tried Photos yet? If so, how are you liking it?