Back up Android photos to your PC over Wi-Fi, automatically
Android phones keep camera photos in a folder called DCIM/Camera (on some phones, only DCIM). Backing up means getting that folder onto your computer, and keeping it up to date. There are three ways.
With a USB cable
- Connect the phone to the computer with a USB cable and unlock the phone.
- On the phone, tap the USB notification and choose File transfer.
- On Windows, open File Explorer and find the phone under This PC. On Linux, the phone appears in the file manager. On a Mac, you need a separate file transfer app.
- Open DCIM, then Camera, and copy the photos to a folder on the computer.
It is free and fast. The downside: it only happens when someone remembers, you need to work out which photos are new, and each phone is a separate job.
With a cloud service
A cloud photo app uploads everything from the phone, and you can download it on the computer later. It is automatic, but the storage is not free once the library grows, and getting a full copy back onto your own computer can take a long time.
Automatically over home Wi-Fi
An app on the phone can send new photos to an app on the computer whenever both are on the home Wi-Fi. This is the easiest way to keep an up-to-date copy at home, with no cable and no cloud bill.
Things to look for:
- It runs in the background. Some Android phones stop apps in the background to save battery; a good app tells you how to allow it.
- It keeps the original file, in full quality.
- It never deletes anything from the phone.
- It does not send the same photo twice.
Where PhotoAlbumsMesh fits
PhotoAlbumsMesh works this way for the whole family: every Android phone and iPhone backs up to one computer on the home Wi-Fi, into folders by person and phone, then by year and month. It leaves screenshots and receipts on the phone, and turns trips into albums. The computer can run Windows, Mac or Linux.
PhotoAlbumsMesh is not released yet. Join early access.