Digital storage has gotten fairly pricy in latest months. And even for those who splurge for terabytes of onboard storage on your cellphone or pc, in some unspecified time in the future you may in all probability run out of cupboard space. When that occurs, you could be tempted to simply add every thing to the cloud — however are iCloud or Google One actually definitely worth the value?
Cloud storage hasn’t all the time been costly. When Google Images debuted in 2015, it promised free, limitless storage. I fortunately uploaded all my images and movies, realizing they had been protected within the cloud and accessible from wherever.
Then, in 2021, Google pulled the rug out from below us. The free trip was over. All these 1000’s of images had been protected, however each new image began chipping away at that measly 15GB of free storage. Abruptly, my photograph behavior got here with a price ticket, forcing me to pay for a Google One subscription if I wished to maintain importing.
All these images and movies had been taking over loads of area, as a result of what’s saved within the cloud does not truly vanish into the sky. These recordsdata exist on bodily servers right here on Earth. Basically, they’re saved on another person’s pc.
And now I used to be being charged to make use of that cupboard space. I’ve all the time disliked the thought of paying for month-to-month subscriptions: $10 a month turns into $120 a 12 months, which turns into $1,200 after 10 years.
And Google One wasn’t a subscription that I might simply cancel, like Netflix or Spotify. If I ended paying, I might now not be capable of add new images and movies, and I might probably lose entry to all my recordsdata after two years.
How might I again up all my reminiscences with out the cloud?
Over time, I developed a system for managing my recordsdata and maintaining copies saved on an exterior laborious drive. Whereas it takes somewhat extra work to switch every thing manually, it is a greater long-term answer for me, and it does not depend on paying for a subscription service.
Why I exploit an exterior laborious drive for storing images and movies
Should you do not wish to pay for cloud storage, you could be tempted to get a cellphone with a better storage capability. After Google Images stopped letting me add recordsdata free of charge, my first thought was that I would quite pay extra up-front for a tool with a terabyte of storage as an alternative of paying indefinitely for a Google One subscription.
However even probably the most future-proofed 1TB cellphone will finally should be changed. And if I wish to carry over all my outdated recordsdata, my subsequent cellphone might want to have at the very least as a lot storage as my present one, plus extra capability for my future images and movies.
To complicate this situation, picture file sizes proceed to develop. As cellphone cameras enhance, the footage they seize leads to higher-megapixel recordsdata.
My iPhone estimates that every 12-megapixel picture is roughly 2MB and every 24-megapixel picture is 3MB. Video takes up much more area: a minute of 4K footage can simply exceed 1GB. At these charges, even a cellphone with 256GB of storage (the brand new minimal for the iPhone 17 collection) can refill quick.
Digital storage on an exterior drive does not must be costly. You possibly can simply get a 1TB solid-state drive for lower than $100. (For context, Apple prices $1,399 for the 1TB iPhone Air, a $400 premium over the $999 256GB mannequin.)
The perfect a part of utilizing an exterior drive is you can save recordsdata throughout a number of gadgets. It’s also possible to preserve utilizing it lengthy after you’ve got upgraded to a brand new cellphone. Typically, HDDs final three to 5 years, whereas SSDs final a minimal of 5 years.
Utilizing an exterior drive requires extra effort than backing up every thing to the cloud. You must wait on your recordsdata to switch out of your gadget to the drive, after which kind every thing into folders. Then, after the file switch is full, it’s essential to delete these recordsdata out of your cellphone or pc.
Happily, as soon as you’ve got discovered the method and achieved it just a few instances, it turns into fairly easy. Here is how I do it.
My course of for backing up images
After I’m attributable to again up my images and movies (or my cellphone is working low on storage), I wish to make two copies of every file: one for my laptop computer, and one for my exterior SSD.
My MacBook runs fewer apps and has extra storage than my iPhone, so it receives a replica of all my cellphone’s images and movies. The Images app on my Mac additionally has a useful “Delete objects after add” checkbox, which I like to recommend choosing.
As soon as all of the recordsdata have been transferred, I plug my exterior drive into my pc and choose all of the images I wish to again up. The Images app helpfully kinds every thing by add date. I can choose all the pictures from the latest batch by clicking on the primary photograph, holding the Shift key, after which clicking on the final photograph. I then drag and drop them into the exterior drive. If I’ve loads of images (over 500), I have a tendency to separate up this step and choose 200 to 300 at a time, or there will be some interruptions to the switch course of.
I attempt to again up my images at the very least as soon as a month, or after a special day, comparable to a trip. Typically, to be on the protected aspect, I am going to additionally make a backup earlier than a serious software program replace (like iOS 26). The method has change into a manner for me to mark the top of 1 interval and the start of one other.
I used to battle with organizing the recordsdata on my exterior drive. Nevertheless, I now merely create a folder for every batch of uploaded images and movies. I am going to label these folders both by the date (e.g. July 2025), or the event (Journey to London, Summer season 2024).
It’s possible you’ll discover {that a} related system works for you. Maybe you may go for kind of frequent backups. Both manner, I extremely suggest this closing step: Make a backup of the backup on a separate exterior drive. That manner, if one in all your drives fails, you may nonetheless have the opposite.
I am extra intentional concerning the photographs I seize
One situation with maintaining all my recordsdata on exterior drives is that I do not all the time have entry to them. However I feel that is an inexpensive trade-off. I needn’t carry each single picture I’ve ever captured in my pocket. I can normally discover the images I want on my Instagram web page or in my electronic mail inbox.
I do go away sure images and movies on my cellphone indefinitely, however solely ones that I have to refer again to typically (a screenshot of my insurance coverage info, for instance). I additionally preserve some images that I get pleasure from seeing infrequently: a picture from a household reunion, a time out with mates. It is a curated assortment, very similar to the one or two photographs that folks used to maintain of their wallets.
Sure, it may be a problem to handle all these recordsdata on an exterior drive nevertheless it’s properly value the additional effort. Not solely do I spend much less cash in the long term, however I additionally really feel reassured: My reminiscences are saved on a bodily object that I personal, quite than being dumped onto another person’s pc.
Even when I did pay for Google One or one other cloud storage choice, I might really feel as if another person owned my recordsdata. What if Google Images makes one other change to its storage coverage or raises costs once more? I might haven’t any alternative however to associate with it. My reminiscences could be on the mercy of a company. And what if Google shuts down sometime? Certainly, it is one of many largest corporations on the planet at current. However that was additionally true of Kodak, not too way back.
There’s yet one more surprising profit: By being answerable for creating these handbook backups, I’ve change into extra intentional about capturing photographs within the first place. I’ve realized that I haven’t got to take an image of each single factor I see. More often than not, I can simply bear in mind it.
