Google Drive Vs. Google Photos, Differences and Benefits

Read time 4 minutes

Google Drive and Google Photos are two essential applications widely utilized by the majority of Google users. These applications draw from a shared free storage quota of 15 GB, which is allocated among various Google services, including Gmail, Drive, and Photos. However, Google Drive and Photos are typically the biggest consumers of this storage space. While Photos exclusively handles images and videos, Drive offers greater flexibility by accommodating a wide range of file formats, including images, audio, documents, applications, zipped files, and more. Additionally, Drive allows users to create or upload entire folders, even if they contain a substantial number of files.

From a technical standpoint, these two applications exhibit notable distinctions. To enhance your data management skills, it is imperative to familiarize yourself with the fundamental aspects of each application.

Google Photos

Google Photos stands as a versatile image storage and sharing platform, seamlessly synchronizing your photos across all your devices, including computers, Android, and iOS devices, as long as you’re logged into your Google account. This synchronization is made possible by securely storing all your images and videos in the cloud, allowing each device to access and display data directly from this central repository. Boasting a range of robust features, Google Photos emerges as the ultimate tool for effectively managing and organizing your precious images and videos.

1. The system possesses the ability to identify photos by analyzing their distinct attributes, such as beach scenes, roads, shops, or even specific events like a ‘wedding in Milan.’ Leveraging this advanced recognition capability, users can efficiently search for images using three primary criteria: People, Places, and Things. Simply inputting the name of a person or a location will promptly retrieve the relevant image(s) associated with the search criteria.
2. The Photos algorithm scans through images to identify similar faces and organizes them into the “People” category.
3. To identify the locations within photographs, our system leverages the geotagging feature, which enables it to precisely pinpoint the geographical location. For instance, should you capture an image standing in front of the Statue of Liberty and subsequently save it in your Photos library, our system will adeptly identify and associate that specific location with the image.
4. Within the Things category, it meticulously analyzes photos to identify a wide array of events, including birthdays, weddings, meetings, meals, graduations, and more.
5. To facilitate image sharing, users have the option to generate a link, granting external users seamless access to view the images without requiring them to install the Photos app.
6. The photos can easily be shared using popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and more.
7. There are three storage options available: Original Quality, High Quality, and Express Quality. Original Quality preserves images and videos in their native resolutions, maintaining their original clarity and detail. The High-Quality setting allows for image storage at resolutions of up to 16 megapixels and video storage at 1080p quality.

Google Drive offers unparalleled flexibility for cloud storage through its intuitive user interface, allowing users to effortlessly store numerous files and folders. Users have the ability to upload files and folders, as well as create new documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms, maps, drawings, and more. For those who opt for a Google One subscription, storage capacity receives a significant expansion, enabling the storage of even more data within Google Drive. In the absence of a subscription, users can safeguard their Google Drive data by backup Google Drive data to exchange hard drive

1. There is a free Drive File Stream application that synchronizes Google Drive data to user’s macOS and Windows computers. The data is not downloaded on the computer but remains present virtually.
2. It is compatible with MS Office Suite. So, you can open your Word and Excel documents in Drive also.
3. File and folders in Drive are shareable.
4. The user can share the content using a shareable link.
5. To protect files in Google Drive, it has same SSL encryption like Gmail.

Final Words

Prior to June 1, 2021, Google Photos and Drive generously offered unlimited storage for high-resolution photos and videos. However, a significant shift in Google’s storage policy occurred on that date. Consequently, all such media will now count against your complimentary 15 GB storage allotment, causing it to fill up rather swiftly. In the event that your storage capacity reaches its limit, Google will prevent you from uploading additional content.

To free up additional storage space on Google Drive, consider utilizing the Kernel Google Drive Backup software. This tool facilitates the seamless transfer of your data to offline folders on your computer, without compromising the integrity of your files. It comprehensively handles various file types while ensuring their preservation.