How to backup photos and files for free 

Here are five of the best free services to store your files online

 Backing up files to the cloud means if you lose your tablet, phone or computer, you won’t lose your photos

Several services let you store your digital photos (and videos) online simply, for free. It’s not just to keep a safe copy: it’s a way to share them with others – you decide which are shared and which are private.

As part of the service you’ll typically get a free app that lets you automatically back up photos “to the cloud” (stored on the internet) so if your smartphone, tablet or computer gets stolen or breaks you won’t lose your photos.

Worried because there’s no such thing as a free lunch? Don’t be. Think of it more as a free appetiser. Free versions offer a finite amount of storage space, then charge if you’d like to store more. But that’s aimed at power users – if you’re not David Bailey you’ll probably find the free version is enough.

Here are five of the best. They’re all free, so you can even try more than one before settling on the one that works for you. But once you commit to one service then moving photos to another service is a pain, so it’s best to stick with one that offers enough free storage for your needs.

Amazon Drive

If you’re already an Amazon Prime member (£79 a year for free unlimited movies, TV shows, music, Kindles and free shipping on Amazon purchases) then it’s free to use Amazon Drive. This gives you unlimited photo storage and you can upload photos straight from your phone, tablet or computer anywhere.

Flickr

This photo service from Yahoo gives you an incredible 1,000GB storage, which you’re unlikely to ever exceed – it’s enough for 200,000 typical digital photos. You can automatically upload phone pics too.

Google Photos

Google Photos, part of Google Drive, offers an impressive 15GB of storage for free. That’s enough for 3,000 typical digital photos. What’s more, if you tell it to store them in “high quality” mode – recommended for pictures of 16 megapixels or less, which is perfectly good quality – you can store as many photos as you like without being charged.

iCloud Photos

The easiest option if you take photos on an iPhone or store them on a Mac is to use iCloud. It automatically backs them up and also synchronises them across all your devices, so you can access them anywhere. Your first 5GB of storage is free. That’s enough for more than 1,000 typical digital photos.

If you need any help setting up backups for any of your devices in the doncaster area please get in touch.