When it comes to backing up data like photos and enabling their access on various devices, many options are available, from Dropbox to OneDrive. However, one of the fastest-growing and widely used tools since its initial inception back in 2015 is Google Photos. At a monthly fee of just $1.99 for sizable storage of 100GB, it gives its users incredible value for money, after all.

While Google Photos is relatively simple to use, it still takes a fair amount of knowledge to maximize it. And in this guide, we’ll show you a few ways how you can master the tool so that you can fully take advantage of what it has to offer its users.

1. Create a Google Photo book

Having all photos, videos, and other multimedia files stored on a cloud is efficient and versatile. It offers you a great way to easily access years’ worth of memories and work. However, there’s nothing quite like holding a physical print of a photo in your hand and tilting it, bringing it close to your eyes, so you can get a good look at it, reminding yourself of who, when, where, and what.

As such, you can utilize a third-party service to print them into a Google photo book, which can be filled with images of your choosing, with customizable covers and layouts. So, whether it’s to keep your most precious memories, offer them as a gift, or even use it as a portfolio, having a physical copy of selected pictures is something that every user should do to get the best out of it.

This is a great option to keep up your sleeve whenever you feel like you’re losing track of your photos – or whenever you need a thoughtful gift for a loved one.

2. Play around with the search option

Try to search around using both obscure and common terms. You’ll find out that Google Photos auto-tagging of pictures is remarkable beyond the face-recognition feature, which can ID individuals even when they’re only in the background. For instance, if you search using the word “dog,” it’ll pull up all of the images you have that have the animal in the picture.

They don’t need to be tagged with the phrases and terms either – Google just understands it, which is both impressive and creepy at the same time. Geo-tagging can also make location searches much easier than they otherwise would have, so you’ll want to keep it in mind so you can find any vacation pictures that you’re looking for.

3. Share your photo library

One of the hallmarks of uploading digital pictures is sharing, and the tool isn’t an exception to the rule. And you can share your library with family and friends easily through Google Photos. If you’re on a desktop or laptop computer, you can use the feature by selecting the sharing option at the left side of the navigation and clicking on partner sharing. After you do, you’ll be greeted with the option of choosing which contacts you want to share all or specific pictures with.

If you’re on mobile, you can get to the page by going to your avatar, selecting the photo settings, and then partner sharing. From there, the process of sharing is the same when done on a computer.

Conclusion

These are just a few of the many features that you can benefit from when using Google Photos. The tool also allows users to make movies, edit shots, create slideshows, and so much more. So don’t be afraid to explore and tinker around with it. Doing so will help you become intimately familiar with it and help you fully utilize it.