How to Upload Old Home Videos to Google Photos

What You Need Before You Start

To upload videos to Google Photos, you need:

• A Google account. If you use Gmail, you already have one. If not, you can create a free account at accounts.google.com.
• Your video files. These should be saved on your computer or phone. Common formats like MP4, MOV, and MKV all work fine.
• An internet connection. Video files can be large, so a Wi-Fi connection is best (uploading over cellular data can be slow and use up your data plan).

If you still need to get your old tapes converted to digital files first, check out our guide on how to digitize VHS tapes or how to digitize 8mm and Hi8 tapes.

How to Upload Videos from Your Computer

This is the easiest way to upload videos, especially if you have the files saved on your computer from a transfer service or DVD rip.

1. Open your web browser (Chrome, Safari, Edge, or Firefox all work)
2. Go to photos.google.com
3. Sign in with your Google account if you aren't already signed in
4. Click the Upload button in the top-right area of the page (it looks like an upward arrow)
5. Select Computer from the dropdown menu
6. A file browser window will open — navigate to where your video files are saved
7. Select the files you want to upload (you can hold Ctrl or Command to select multiple files)
8. Click Open
9. Wait for the upload to finish — you'll see a progress bar at the bottom of the screen

That's it. Your videos are now in Google Photos. You can also drag and drop video files directly onto the Google Photos webpage if you prefer.

How to Upload Videos from Your Phone

If your video files are on your phone (for example, if you downloaded them from an email or transfer service), you can upload them directly from the Google Photos app.

On an Android phone

1. Open the Google Photos app (it's usually pre-installed on Android phones)
2. The app will automatically detect videos in your phone's storage
3. If "Backup & sync" is turned on, your videos will upload automatically
4. To check: tap your profile picture in the top-right corner, then Photos settings > Backup, and make sure backup is turned on

On an iPhone

1. Download the Google Photos app from the App Store if you don't have it
2. Open the app and sign in with your Google account
3. The app will ask for permission to access your photos and videos — tap Allow Access to All Photos
4. Turn on "Backup & sync" when prompted
5. Any videos saved to your phone's camera roll will start uploading

Tip: Make sure you're on Wi-Fi before uploading large video files to avoid using your mobile data.

Understanding Google Photos Storage Limits

Every Google account comes with 15 GB of free storage. This storage is shared between Google Photos, Gmail, and Google Drive. For reference, 15 GB is enough for roughly 2 to 5 hours of video, depending on the quality.

If you have a lot of videos and need more space, Google offers paid storage plans called Google One:

• 100 GB — $1.99 per month (enough for most families' home video collections)
• 200 GB — $2.99 per month
• 2 TB — $9.99 per month (plenty for even large collections)

You can check how much storage you're using at one.google.com/storage. If you're uploading short clips (rather than full-length tapes), you'll fit a lot more into your free storage.

How Google Photos Organizes Your Videos

One of the best things about Google Photos is how it organizes your videos automatically:

• Date sorting. Google Photos arranges everything by date. If a video file has a date embedded in its metadata (the hidden information inside the file), Google Photos will use that date to place the video in your timeline. A clip from 1995 will appear in 1995, right alongside photos from that same year.
• Face recognition. Google Photos can recognize faces in your videos and group them together. This means you can search for a family member's name and find all the videos they appear in.
• Search. You can search your library using simple words like "birthday," "beach," or "Christmas." Google's AI analyzes what's in each video and makes it searchable.
• Memories. Google Photos creates "Memories" — automatic highlight collections that pop up based on dates and events. When your old home videos are in Google Photos, they can show up in these Memories alongside your newer photos.

The key to getting all of this to work well is having your videos as individual clips with the correct dates — not as one long, hours-long file with no date information.

Sharing Videos with Family

Google Photos makes it easy to share your old home videos with family members:

Share individual videos

1. Open the video in Google Photos
2. Click the Share button (it looks like a "less than" symbol with dots)
3. Enter the email addresses of the family members you want to share with
4. Click Send

Create a shared album

For sharing a whole collection — like all the clips from your family's old tapes — a shared album works best:

1. Go to Albums in Google Photos (in the left sidebar on a computer, or the Library tab on a phone)
2. Click Create album
3. Give the album a name (like "Smith Family Home Videos")
4. Add your video clips to the album
5. Click the Share button and add family members by email

Everyone you invite can view the videos, and you can even let them add their own clips to the album. It's a wonderful way to bring the whole family's memories together in one place.

Why TapeSave Clips Work Perfectly with Google Photos

When you use TapeSave to organize your digitized home videos, the clips you download are specifically prepared to work beautifully in Google Photos:

• Correct dates embedded. TapeSave reads the on-screen dates from your original recordings and embeds them into each clip's metadata. When you upload these clips to Google Photos, they automatically sort into the right place on your timeline — a clip from July 1993 shows up in July 1993.
• Individual clips, not long files. Instead of uploading one 3-hour file, you're uploading dozens of short, meaningful clips. Each one shows up as its own moment in your Google Photos library.
• Smaller file sizes. Because TapeSave splits your tape into individual clips and removes dead space, the total storage used is often much less than uploading the original full-length file.
• Better search results. Google Photos' AI can analyze short clips much more effectively than hours-long files, so your videos become more searchable.

The result: your old home videos from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s appear in your Google Photos timeline right alongside your modern photos and videos. Birthdays, holidays, and everyday moments from decades ago suddenly show up in your Memories. For more on how this works, see our VHS to Google Photos guide.