1. Check Internet Connection

Since Google Photos requires a working internet connection in order to download media from the cloud, you’ll need to start by checking the internet on your phone. For that, you can try running a quick speed test on your Android or iPhone. If the internet seems fine, move on to other solutions on this list.

2. Enable Backup and Sync

Next, you’ll need to verify that you’ve allowed the Google Photos app to backup and sync data. The feature allows the app to automatically sync photos and videos with your account and make them available across all the devices.

  1. Launch the Google Photos app on your phone. Tap on your profile picture in the top right corner and select Photo settings.
  2. Go to Back up and Sync and make sure it is enabled. Once enabled, restart the app and see if you can find all your photos.

3. Check Relevant App Permission

Another reason why Google Photos might not show you all your photos is if it doesn’t have all the necessary permissions. Here’s how to allow them.

Android

  1. Open up the Settings app on your phone. Go to Apps and notifications > Photos.
  2. On the app info page, tap on Permissions. Make sure that the app is allowed with every permission it needs.

iOS

  1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone and scroll down to tap on Google Photos.
  2. Now allow all the permissions by enabling their respective toggles. After that, restart the app to see if your missing photos are back.

4. Check Other Folders

Google Photos app is designed to offer suggestion cards that let you archive or delete unimportant photos with a single tap. Apart from this, it also has a locked folder feature where you can store your private photos. So, if you can’t find your missing photos here, chances are, your missing photos are somewhere in those folders. In the Photos app, switch to the Library tab and go through the Archive and Bin folder to see if you can find your missing photos here. Likewise, to access the locked folder, Go to Library > Utilities > Locked Folder. If your missing Google Photos images aren’t here, continue with this troubleshooting guide.

5. Clear App Cache (Android)

Clearing cache is a tried and tested solution for any app on Android that struggles to function properly. And Google Photos is no exception to this rule.

  1. Launch the Settings app and navigate to Apps and notifications > Photos.
  2. Go to Storage and cache and then tap on the Clear cache button. Restart the Photos app and see if it loads your missing photos now.

6. Reinstall the App

It’s possible that the data associated with the app has become inaccessible or corrupted. So, if clearing the cache doesn’t make any difference, then you can try uninstalling the app and installing the Google Photos app again.

7. Try Web Version

If you still can’t seem to locate your missing photos despite your best efforts, then you can try checking the web version. To do so, open up your preferred web browser on your PC and navigate to Google Photos. Go through all the folders and see if you can find your missing photos here. If you still can’t find all your photos, then it’s likely that those photos aren’t backed up yet or have been deleted.

Get Them Back

Being able to seamlessly access and share your photos and videos from different devices brings a lot of comfort to the table. We hope that the above solutions have helped you fix Google Photos not showing all photos issues for good.