Disable Google Drive?

[qquake2k]

Every photo I take with my cell phone ends up in Google Drive. My Drive is full, and it takes forever to delete the photos. How do I keep photos from automatically uploading to Drive? I can't find a setting on my phone.

 

[dhbarr]

In the Photos app, Menu > Settings?

 

[dr wogz]

I find Google apps hard to figure out. Once you know how they work, it's pretty easy, but getting to that point. I'm still struggling (I did take about 10 minutes and 'explore' the Google 'my month' where it tracks your movements thru Google maps). Finding info, teachings & instructions that aren't just a one line 5 word sentence is pretty hard. I now know how my parents felt when I could program the VCR to not constantly flash 12:00..

 

[Marc_G]

Depends on Android version. Used to be: Phone settings / accounts / Google / (choose account) / then uncheck whatever you don't want to sync such as photos.

My Nougat phone I noticed has this in the Photos app instead, right at the top it has Backup and Sync if i am on the camera tab. In the photos app hamburger menu, go to settings and backup and sync will be the first option.

 

[Marc_G]

One more thing: I have three Google accounts associated with my phone, each used differently. One is shared with my wife and the Drive associated with it contains things we need to share like important documents. That account is the email we use for communicating with kid schools and the like. Another account is the one I use for my personal friends and family stuff. The third gets a lot of online exposure because it is tied to my various forum accounts, online purchasing accounts, PayPal, etc.. generally this is the one I use to sync photos.

Android is incredibly sophisticated in how you can set all this stuff up, and the great thing is that I can share the important stuff withy wife who uses an iPhone.

 

[ksaves2]

I shuttered when I read this. I apparently don't have my devices set to sync as it says I've used 0%. Kurt

 

[rstaff3]

I think the proper advice has been given. One more suggestion. Items deleted from Drive go to Trash, so they still eat up your storage totals. You should clear that too.

I personally back my photos up to Google Photos and de-select full size so the backups don't count against my totals. I refuse to pay for extra storage. I do my main photo archive on Flickr along with all the tagging and organization that goes with that. So, I move the full res photos to Drive manually, they get downloaded to my computer automatically, and then I edit them. Finally, I move them to the proper places in Flickr. This probably sounds crazy, but it works for me.

One thing I like about Photos is that it has an "Assistant' that pop up easter eggs like auto-processed photos, collages, animations, movies, etc. Not all are great, but they are fun to look at anyway.

 

[Andrew_ASC]

I think a really big rare earth magnetic or an electromagnetic with enough voltage will disable it (and the rest of any hard-drives within 5ft). What you feel like doing to your computer after it pisses you off. Look up UncleRob on Youtube and how he fixed a printer jam with gasoline if you need a laugh.

 

[qquake2k]

Uncle Rob is too much! LOL

 

[dr wogz]

I had a really bad experience with Google drive.. (I originally thought this was about the Google mapping feature..)

OK, maybe not a 'bad experience, but an eye opener. A friend & I each have M$ office. He wrote up our motor list in Excel, so that we could share, add to, modify, indicate when used, etc. I said mail it to me, meaning make it an attachment, and I'll send it back.. "Oh no no, I'll put it up on my Google drive.." Ok, I thought.. some new "thing" I gotta learn & deal with. So he does, sends me the link. After a few tries, and a phone call I get the access to the file (location, password, file name, etc..) and I download the file to use at my end. Again, another phone call to inquire why it looks soo different. And,for some reason, it wont open with Excel. Turns out it can now only be opened with Google's version of Excel. SO, I now have to download the Google version of M$ office. I do. it works the same. Almost. I make my changes and save it back to the 'google drive'. He then calls back asking what I've done to the the file.. I told him the whole half hour ordeal of trying, loading, installing and such.. he's perplexed..

We each look into what happened, and find out that: he is the originator of the file. he can open it as an M$ file. But, since its shared to the Google drive, Google turns it into a Google file, for use with Google products. "But they're free" I'm told by the Google drive help desk. I really don't care.. I want to work in Excel, it's what I have, what I know, it's what I expect. Don't commandeer a file, just because it's on "your service"..

A few days later, i asked him to just e-mail me the excel file. He did. A simple file attachment. Instead, a whole night lost to google drive set up & crap..

I then uninstalled the Google office suite, and vowed never to use Google drive again..

 

[Marc_G]

I had a really bad experience with Google drive.. (I originally thought this was about the Google mapping feature..)

OK, maybe not a 'bad experience, but an eye opener. A friend & I each have M$ office. He wrote up our motor list in Excel, so that we could share, add to, modify, indicate when used, etc. I said mail it to me, meaning make it an attachment, and I'll send it back.. "Oh no no, I'll put it up on my Google drive.." Ok, I thought.. some new "thing" I gotta learn & deal with. So he does, sends me the link. After a few tries, and a phone call I get the access to the file (location, password, file name, etc..) and I download the file to use at my end. Again, another phone call to inquire why it looks soo different. And,for some reason, it wont open with Excel. Turns out it can now only be opened with Google's version of Excel. SO, I now have to download the Google version of M$ office. I do. it works the same. Almost. I make my changes and save it back to the 'google drive'. He then calls back asking what I've done to the the file.. I told him the whole half hour ordeal of trying, loading, installing and such.. he's perplexed..

We each look into what happened, and find out that: he is the originator of the file. he can open it as an M$ file. But, since its shared to the Google drive, Google turns it into a Google file, for use with Google products. "But they're free" I'm told by the Google drive help desk. I really don't care.. I want to work in Excel, it's what I have, what I know, it's what I expect. Don't commandeer a file, just because it's on "your service"..

A few days later, i asked him to just e-mail me the excel file. He did. A simple file attachment. Instead, a whole night lost to google drive set up & crap..

I then uninstalled the Google office suite, and vowed never to use Google drive again..

That's weird.

I have often shared Excel files with other folks, using Google drive, and never encountered this issue.

I just did it now, by sharing my own motor inventory (which is an MS Excel file), sending it to another of my Google accounts (via sharing). I opened the file there and it opened in a web interface. I chose the download option from the menu and it saved it to my computer as a native MS Excel file identical to the original.

Not sure what happened in your use case, but I've never had such issues in years of using Drive.

 

[rstaff3]

That's weird.

I have often shared Excel files with other folks, using Google drive, and never encountered this issue.

I just did it now, by sharing my own motor inventory (which is an MS Excel file), sending it to another of my Google accounts (via sharing). I opened the file there and it opened in a web interface. I chose the download option from the menu and it saved it to my computer as a native MS Excel file identical to the original.

Not sure what happened in your use case, but I've never had such issues in years of using Drive.

Drive used to ask if you wanted MS files converted. I have Excel files on there.

Update: I see the conversion is now an option in settings.

 

[Dave A]

I have all my hobby and racing stuff plus ALL works stuff I've used in the last 6 months. Several hundred gig is my work files. I work all off the drive, it's synced to 4 computers and access all on my Android.
I bought a 1TB of drive space for 9.99/month. I'll never run out of space. Works great.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Rocketry Forum mobile app

 

[dr wogz]

That's weird.


Not sure what happened in your use case, but I've never had such issues in years of using Drive.

It was about 2 or 3 years ago. Either he didn't check the upload, but since I was the 2nd party accessing it, and I assume 'not in his group', it was "forcing" me to use the google stuff. As mentioned, it's not something I do on a regular basis, so all the fumbling & futzing the first time to get it right.. Mistake will be made, settigns will be missed.. all for a lousy file..

 

[qquake2k]

Depends on Android version. Used to be: Phone settings / accounts / Google / (choose account) / then uncheck whatever you don't want to sync such as photos.

My Nougat phone I noticed has this in the Photos app instead, right at the top it has Backup and Sync if i am on the camera tab. In the photos app hamburger menu, go to settings and backup and sync will be the first option.

On mine I found Settings>General>Accounts & sync>Google, but there is no photos option. There is a Drive option, though, which I turned off.
I'll see if that does it.

 

[qquake2k]

This says all of my Drive storage is going to Gmail. Then why do photos I take but don't send anywhere end up in Drive?

 

[Marc_G]

On mine I found Settings>General>Accounts & sync>Google, but there is no photos option. There is a Drive option, though, which I turned off.
I'll see if that does it.

The sync option for photos is probably now in your Google Photos app.

But looks pretty much like your email is the space hog.

 

[qquake2k]

The sync option for photos is probably now in your Google Photos app.

But looks pretty much like your email is the space hog.

Nope, no sync option in the Photos app. I turned off Gmail sync.

 

[qquake2k]

Even after turning off Gmail sync, photos are still going to Drive. This is really getting frustrating. It shouldn't be this difficult.

 

[rstaff3]

Nope, no sync option in the Photos app. I turned off Gmail sync.

I don't know what to say. My Photos app on Android has the back-up settings as the first item under settings. You set your account and whether you want "high quality" (which doesn't count against you limit) or full res (which may eat up your space). I also turn off backup via cellular data.

I also double checked Drive and there is no backup option. There is an option to show the pics in Photos as a folder in Drive, but this is a convenience and not double dipping.

 

[Marc_G]

For clarity, here are the steps to take, presuming a recent edition of Google Photos is installed:

Start in Photos... the main screen:



Choose the hamburger menu on the left of the above screen (not the three dots on the right):



Choose the settings option circled above, which takes you to the screen where you can control sync:

 

[rstaff3]

For clarity, here are the steps to take, presuming a recent edition of Google Photos is installed:

Start in Photos... the main screen:

View attachment 333830

Choose the hamburger menu on the left of the above screen (not the three dots on the right):

View attachment 333831

Choose the settings option circled above, which takes you to the screen where you can control sync:

View attachment 333832

I hate it when people do a more complete job than me

 

[Marc_G]

Oh, and as rstaff3 mentions, choose the quality for backup wisely.

I go with the "high quality" as I periodically back up my phone pictures at full native resolution directly to my PC. I use the photos on Google Drive for convenience, recognizing they loose some detail compared to original ones. It's a great stopgap in case I lose my phone between backups, and I sleep well at night.

 

[qquake2k]

I found the setting and turned it off. But now it seems the photos I delete from Drive on my PC are being deleted off my phone, too. WTH???

 

[Marc_G]

Generally speaking, the Drive cloud, your phone, and Drive-shared PC folders represent a mirrored space where if you delete it from one place it will be also deleted from the mirrored places.

I would expect turning off sync for the phone to break that link. Perhaps my understanding is incomplete, though.

when you say you are deleting them from drive on your PC, do you mean that you are deleting them from the Drive via the web interface using your PC, or are you deleting them from your PC's folders which are shared to Drive?

Either way I'm surprised that it is affecting your phone given the turning off of sync.

Maybe reboot the phone and see if the deletion continues?

 

[rstaff3]

I believe drive does sync everywhere as Marc described.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Rocketry Forum mobile app

 

[Dave A]

Google Drive creates a physical folder on EVERY pc and laptop that runs the GDrive app. When you delete a file you are deleting the one that physically resides in the GDrive folder on your PC. If the app is running it will take that file off the cloud space and every other GDrive folder. You can turn off the sync function it does with your phone Photo App.
When I need to free up space on my phone I move old photos from the Google Photo folder to another folder in GDrive.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Rocketry Forum mobile app

 

[mkadams001]

you should be using google photos and not google drive. Here is a link that may be of some help...https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/9/15762170/google-photos-how-to-master

 

[qquake2k]

Okay, new problem. I deleted all but 11 of the photos from Drive, but it still says I've used 14.87 gb of the allotted 15 gb. What. The. Hell.

 

[Reinhard]

See your post #15. Gmail is consuming all of your storage. Looks like you're sending and/or receiving lots of emails with big attachments. If you exceed your quota, you won't be able to receive any more emails.

There are different strategies to deal with that, depending on your needs. For example, you could try a service like https://www.findbigmail.com/ to identify emails that you can delete. You can also pay 2$ per month to upgrade your account to 100GB or move old emails to a different account. Google "Gmail account full" or similar terms for lots of discussion of that.

Reinhard