Google Photos Keep Crashing in Android and PCs

Vikas Solutions

Google Photos is an AI-powered cloud photo storage and sharing platform. The app offers automatic photo backups for both Android and iOS devices. Users can store their photos, photo albums, videos, mobile screenshots and collages. If your Google Photos keeps crashing on Android and PC browser, follow the steps given below:

For Android

Clear App Cache

Just like any other app, Google Photos stores files, scripts, multimedia objects like images and animations on your device. Cache contents enable the app to load your data faster and quicker.

  1. Go to your Android phone’s Settings.
  2. Scroll down the resulting screen and tap the Storage option.
  3. Tap Other Apps.
  4. This will take you to a new page that lists out all the apps installed on your smartphone.
  5. You can also use the 3-dots Menu icon on the top right corner and sort the apps by Name.
  6. Look for the Google Photos app, and tap Clear Cache.
  7. Wait for a while till the cache contents are cleared. This may take some time.
  8. Delete the app stored data by tapping on Clear Data.

Restart Your Device

Restarting your phone might help if the problem is caused due to temporary glitches.

  1. Press and hold the Power button of your phone.
  2. This brings Power options on your screen.
  3. Tap the Restart option and your phone will switch off and restart automatically.

Disable Cellular Data Backup

A slow and unstable cellular Internet connection can cause Google Photos crashes. Change your Google Photos app settings to disable uploading your photos when you are connected to a mobile data connection. Backup your photos and videos only when you’re connected to a high-speed Wifi.

  1. Open Google Photos.
  2. Tap the Menu icon on the upper left corner.
  3. Tap Settings.
  4. Select Backup & Sync.
  5. Disable Photos and Videos under Cellular Data Backup.

Restart Android In Safe Mode

Just like Windows, the Android operating system also provides a safe mode option. Using safe mode, you can get rid of third-party apps that might be causing Google Photos crashes.

  1. Press and hold the Power button of your device.
  2. In the Power Options, tap and hold the Power off option for some time.
  3. A confirmation prompt will appear on your screen. Tap OK.
  4. Your phone will restart into safe mode.

Uninstall Third Party Faulty Apps

If restarting Android in safe mode fixed your issue, you might want to check out recently installed third-party apps and uninstall them. One or more third-party apps could be the culprit. You can uninstall them as follows:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Tap Apps & Notifications.
  3. Tap See all apps.
  4. Tap the three-dots Menu icon on top right.
  5. Select the Sort option, followed by Alphabetical Order.
  6. Uninstall any recently installed apps.

Running Out Of Low Storage?

The Google account you’re using to store your photos online might be full or nearing its storage quota. This is possible if you’ve chosen to store your photos in the Original Quality which counts your storage quota.

You have three options- First, switch over to the High Quality mode to compress your photos and get unlimited storage space for free. Second, sign off the current Google account and sign-in using a different Google account. Or, third, pay to upgrade your account and increase the storage quota for your account.

Follow the steps given below to switch over to High Quality mode:

  1. Open Google Photos app.
  2. Tap the Menu, followed by Settings.
  3. Tap Backup Mode.
  4. Select the High Quality mode.

Alternatively, you can sign-out of the current Google account and sign-in from another Google account that has sufficient cloud storage space.

  1. Open your phone’s Settings.
  2. Tap Users and Accounts.
  3. Tap your Gmail account into the subsequent screen.
  4. Tap the button Remove Account and wait for some time.
  5. After successfully removing your existing Google account, use the Add Account option to add another account.

For PC Browsers

Close Unwanted Tabs

If you’ve too many tabs open in your browser, close them all. Make sure that your computer has enough free RAM to process uploading of your large photo collection. Similarly, exit any applications that are running in the background. Click the upward arrow in the Notification Area of your Taskbar, right-click an application you want to close and select Exit or Quit.

Clear Browser and System Junk

Remove junk files and clear browser data using the ST Cleaner software and notice a significant improvement in browsing speed. 

Switch To Google Chrome

Google Photos is a proprietary product of search-engine giant Google which is also the author of Chromium-based Chrome browser. If you’re trying to use Google Photos on a third-party incompatible browser, switch to Chrome to avoid any compatibility issues.

Disable Third-Party Extensions

Third-party extensions and browser themes are often culprits. Bugs and unresponsive scripts in these tiny applications can cause Google Photos to crash unexpectedly. Disable all extensions and themes, if any.

Disabling Extensions In Google Chrome:

  1. Click the Menu icon on top right.
  2. Select More Details, followed by Extensions.
  3. In the new page that appears, use the switches to disable any extensions.

Disabling Themes In Google Chrome

  1. Click on Menu, select Settings.
  2. Type Themes in the Search box.
  3. The Themes option will be automatically highlighted. Click it.
  4. Disable any third-party theme that you’re using.

Fix Unstable Internet

Poor Internet connection can cause problems uploading your large photos and videos. Make sure that you’ve a stable Wifi Internet connection. Switch to a high-speed Wifi or use the following steps to diagnose network issues in Windows:

  1. Click on Start.
  2. Type Fix Network into the Search Box.
  3. Open Find and Fix Network Problems from the results page.
  4. Click on Advance, and make sure that you’re running the wizard as an Administrator.
  5. Click Next, and follow the on-screen instructions.

Check File Access Rights/ Permissions

A computer may have different User Groups. You must have access rights to parent folders that contain the photos and videos you’re trying to upload on Google Photos. Sign-out of your local/ guest account and sign-in as an Administrator.

To check if you have access rights to a specific folder, follow the steps given below:

  1. Right click your folder.
  2. Select Properties.
  3. Click on the Security tab.
  4. Determine if you have the read, write and access permissions. If not, contact the Administrator.

Update Your Browser

Updating your browser might help if the problem is caused due to bugs. Here’s how you can update your Chrome:

Updating Chrome:

  1. Click on Menu.
  2. Select Help, followed by About Google Chrome.
  3. Chrome will automatically check for any updates. If any updates are found, they will be automatically downloaded.
  4. Install new updates, if any, found.

Reinstall Chrome

If the problem continues to persist, uninstall and reinstall Google Chrome.

  1. Exit Chrome.
  2. Right-click the Start button, and select Apps & Features.
  3. Select Google Chrome, and click Uninstall.
  4. Follow the wizard and restart your PC after completion.
  5. Download Chrome again and install it on your computer.