How to Disable Auto Backup in Google Photos and Fix Duplicates

Cloud Storage technology is on the rise these days and companies like Google are trying their best to make the most of it. Google Photos is one such example of cloud storage. It basically started off as Google Drive and was later separated into an entire app dedicated to photos. Google Photos has attracted a lot of users as it serves 2 functions. i.e. it serves as your basic gallery app for an Android device and it also serves as a cloud storage app. Nexus phones started using Google Photos as their primary gallery app and it became an instant success.

Today we are going to look at one issue that is being faced by Google Photos users across the world. The issue is of having your photos backed up needlessly. This feature comes in-built into Google Photos and many people forget to turn it off or simply don’t know how to do so.

Another issue we will be tackling in this guide is how you can fix the duplicate images on your Google Photos app. The solutions to both of these issues are very simple. Just for the sake of making things more easy, we have split the guide into 3 different portions. So without further ado, let’s jump right into the problem.

Disable Auto Backup in Google Photos

  1. Open Google Photos app
  2. Tap the 3 lined button on the top-left and choose Settings
  3. Now tap on Backup and Settings
  4. You will be taken to a Backup menu. Simply turn it off

Now that you have turned off the auto backup, we are going take a look at how you can fix and get rid of duplicate photos.

Fix Duplicates

  1. Navigate to photos.google.com
  2. Download all duplicate images by selecting them and clicking the download button on the top-right
  3. Your photos will be downloaded in zip format. Once they’ve been downloaded, extract them to a folder
  4. Download and install Clone Files Checker.
  5. Right click on the folder that contains the pictures and choose Scan With Clone Files Checker
  6. Choose Custom and then Images (as illustrated below)

    Google Photos Dupes Removal
  1. Click on Start Search
  2. Wait for the process to finish
  3. Once you get the scan results, choose Quick Fix and then specify whether you want to retain the original file or the duplicate version of it. Once you make your choice, the program will proceed to delete all the duplicate files

Although you have deleted all the duplicate files, you’ve still got to get rid of duplicate pictures from Google Photos by uploading the CLEANED folder(s). 

I am director and business manager at Sorcim Technologies. The product Clone Files Checker, this blog, and the content written for the blog are the properties of Sorcim. We are responsible for the content and we are always willing to answer your queries about our solutions. We encourage you to contact us should you have any questions!

We are into IT since 2004. We love to make software programs, web-services and mobile applications that solve various computing problems.