Whether you got it two weeks ago or two years ago, your phone likely holds hundreds if not thousands of photos from before its time. After all, around 85 percent of all photos are now taken on our phones, according to InfoTrends. From pictures of summer vacations with friends to portraits of past holidays with loved ones, your photos are probably some of your most treasured possessions. But if you're someone who leaves these precious memories stored solely on your phone, you could soon be in trouble. One of the biggest phone companies out there is changing the way its data is stored and that could mean your photos will be permanently deleted at the end of next month. Read on to find out if you need to back up your pictures now or risk losing them.
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Samsung is getting rid of photo storage on the Samsung Cloud.
ShutterstockSamsung will no longer allow its smartphone users to back up their photo gallery to the Samsung Cloud soon, Forbes reported. The company is encouraging customers to back up their photos using Microsoft's OneDrive service instead.
As Samsung says on its website regarding the change, "Gallery Sync and Drive storage for My Files will no longer be supported by Samsung Cloud and your data will be deleted" by one of two upcoming cut-off dates. Samsung users in Group 1 must download and move any photos backed up on the Samsung Cloud by Sept. 30, while customers in Group 2 have until Nov. 30.
The groups are determined by which country you selected when you first signed up for your Samsung account. If you chose the U.S., you're likely in Group 1, but Forbes points out that it may be safest to download your photos before the September deadline since Samsung says, "These features may end and your data may be deleted prematurely even before the official end date."
If you don't back up your photos and videos, they will be permanently deleted.
ShutterstockWhether or not you move your photos, all images and videos stored on the Samsung Cloud will be deleted eventually, "presumably in a bid to cut storage costs," Forbes says. Samsung says a user's photos will be permanently deleted from the cloud 60 days after they download their data or on their cut-off date, whichever comes first.
Samsung is also warning customers not to wait until the last minute to download their photos, either. "When it gets close to the final deprecation date, you might not be able to download your data smoothly due to the increased number of users," the company warns, according to Forbes.
Despite the deletion of photos and videos, the Samsung Cloud will still back up other data, like contacts, calendar entries, and notes.
Your photos and videos will also not be deleted if they are currently being stored directly on your phone; it's only media saved on the cloud that will be affected.
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You can download your photos on your computer if you don't have enough phone storage space.
GaudiLab / ShutterstockIf you have photos that are on the Samsung Cloud, you can download them to your phone or computer. On your phone, you will need to go to your main Settings menu, select "Accounts and backup" and scroll down until you see "Looking for something else," and click the Samsung Cloud link, which will prompt you to download your photos.
But if you don't have enough storage on your phone, you can also download your photos online through the Samsung Cloud website.
Or, you can have Samsung do it for you.
ShutterstockAlternatively, Samsung says, you can opt in to OneDrive integration, which will "safely transfer" your data from the Samsung Cloud to OneDrive.
To select that option, Samsung says you should see notifications about it displayed on the Samsung Cloud app and on any devices that can integrate with OneDrive. "If you have deleted the notifications or cannot see the notices, you can integrate with OneDrive by selecting ‘Link with OneDrive’ in the Gallery Settings menu," they say.
Still, once the transfer is complete, "all the Samsung Cloud synced/stored Gallery and Drive data will be deleted."
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