Google added a handy feature a few years ago to let you keep some things private – Locked Folder for Google Photos.
This lets you set a folder in your Google Photos library that can’t be accessed by anyone else, and is password or code-gated, so that it’s secure from prying eyes. Now, that system is finally available both on iOS and through the cloud – here’s how to access it.
How to set up cloud backup for Locked Folder
Locked Folder is a really handy tool for secrecy of whatever type, and now Google says you’ll be able to back your Locked Folder up to the cloud – still encrypted so that it’s private.
The simplest part is that you’ll now be given the option of having back-up on whenever you set up your Private Folder for the first time – it’s part of the process and you’ll be able to choose whether you want it.
For those who already have a Private Folder, though, things aren’t quite as easy. You’ll have to go through some steps to turn back-up on. While we don’t have exact steps yet, we’ll update this article as soon as we’re able to run through them ourselves. It should run as follows, though:
- Open the Google Photos app (running the latest version of the app)
- Tap your profile image at the top-right
- Tap on Back up
- Change your settings to have your Locked Folder either backed up or not
You can choose to have back-up enabled for your photos but not your Locked Folder if you’d prefer to keep your private images just on your device, so you’ve got multiple options for how to handle things.
As always, and regardless of whether you have back-up turned on or off, anything in your Locked Folder will never appear outside of it, so you won’t have to worry about it popping up in memories or image grids.
All of this is enabled by a new and much simpler Settings page for Photos that Google is rolling out, so you should hopefully be able to navigate through matters more easily.