Do not make this error with Google Photographs deleting pics

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TL;DR

Google Photographs might not behave as you anticipate when deleting photos you’ve copied. Along with eradicating the first picture out of your digital camera gallery, Photographs may even delete native copies. The app does reference this conduct, however it’s attainable that customers might not perceive Google’s messaging.

By accident shedding information sucks, however that sting feels particularly pronounced after we’re speaking about our images. Some recollections are once-in-a-lifetime experiences, and we’ll by no means get these pics once more. Late final yr we shared some issues a number of Pixel telephones had been having with failing to avoid wasting your photographs, and we’re rounding out this week with a PSA a couple of doubtlessly devastating Google Photographs subject that customers will wish to find out about.

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<img class="e_Gh" decoding="async" loading="lazy" sizes="9.375rem" title="google preferred source badge light@2x" srcset="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/google_preferred_source_badge_light@2x.png 676w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/google_preferred_source_badge_light@2x-64w-20h.png 64w" alt="google preferred source badge light@2x" src="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/google_preferred_source_badge_light@2x.png"/><img class="e_Gh" decoding="async" loading="lazy" sizes="9.375rem" title="google preferred source badge dark@2x" srcset="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/google_preferred_source_badge_dark@2x.png 676w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/google_preferred_source_badge_dark@2x-64w-20h.png 64w" alt="google preferred source badge dark@2x" src="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/google_preferred_source_badge_dark@2x.png"/> Google Photographs is the app numerous us with Android gadgets flip to for straightforward image administration — way over simply Pixel customers. Past simply letting us view and edit our pics, Photographs gives straightforward cloud help for holding all these recollections backed up.

Not all us make the most of these backups, although, and particularly if you happen to’re extra comfy simply manually transferring information across the old style method, there’s the prospect you would possibly overlook some barely unintuitive Google Photographs conduct — and lose your pics within the course of.

Over on Reddit’s Google Pixel sub, consumer gongarher shares their harrowing expertise with a Pixel 10 Professional. After a current journey, they had been making an attempt to maneuver the images they took, however discovered Information by Google struggling to maintain up with the duty. As an alternative, they opened up Google Photographs and used the app’s sharing operate to repeat the pics to their cellphone’s Downloads folder.

Positive sufficient, when you do that you’ll see two copies of the file in your cellphone. And pulling up the main points within the Information app, you’ll see that one copy is in your digital camera listing, and one in Downloads. To this point, so good, proper?

Properly, our consumer solely wished these pics within the Downloads folder, so went again to the originals in Photographs and moved them to the trash. However what they didn’t anticipate to occur: The copies in Downloads bought deleted, too.

<img class="e_Gh" decoding="async" loading="lazy" sizes="calc(min(calc(100vw - 1.875rem), 51.25rem) / 2)" title="google photos delete copies 2" srcset="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-photos-delete-copies-2.jpg 1080w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-photos-delete-copies-2-29w-64h.jpg 29w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-photos-delete-copies-2-1000w-2222h.jpg 1000w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-photos-delete-copies-2-648w-1440h.jpg 648w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-photos-delete-copies-2-486w-1080h.jpg 486w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-photos-delete-copies-2-389w-864h.jpg 389w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-photos-delete-copies-2-171w-380h.jpg 171w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-photos-delete-copies-2-540w-1200h.jpg 540w" alt="google photos delete copies 2" src="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-photos-delete-copies-2.jpg"/><img class="e_Gh" decoding="async" loading="lazy" sizes="calc(min(calc(100vw - 1.875rem), 51.25rem) / 2)" title="google photos delete copies 1" srcset="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-photos-delete-copies-1.jpg 1080w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-photos-delete-copies-1-29w-64h.jpg 29w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-photos-delete-copies-1-1000w-2222h.jpg 1000w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-photos-delete-copies-1-648w-1440h.jpg 648w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-photos-delete-copies-1-486w-1080h.jpg 486w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-photos-delete-copies-1-389w-864h.jpg 389w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-photos-delete-copies-1-171w-380h.jpg 171w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-photos-delete-copies-1-540w-1200h.jpg 540w" alt="google photos delete copies 1" src="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-photos-delete-copies-1.jpg"/> It seems that Photographs is perhaps slightly too intelligent for its personal good, and once you use it to delete a pic, it seems to go after all of the copies in your system that it is aware of about. To Google’s credit score, once you go to maneuver a picture to the trash, you get a message that does disclose that information “can be faraway from all folders.”

If as a substitute you choose “Delete from system,” you don’t even get that heads-up. Granted, maybe Google thinks we perceive that “from system” implies “in all places,” however somebody comfy sufficient to be working with their cellphone’s file system most likely additionally treats all information as discrete entities, and would by no means in 1,000,000 years suspect that deleting one file from their system would additionally delete all native copies they ever product of the file.

For gongarher, that is lesson discovered — and for the remainder of you studying, hopefully one you now gained’t must be taught the exhausting method.