How to Create a Shared Album in Google Photos

Google Photos makes it surprisingly straightforward to share collections of images and videos with specific people — without sending individual files or granting access to your entire photo library. Shared albums are one of the most practical features in the app, and understanding how they actually work helps you get the most out of them.

What Is a Shared Album in Google Photos?

A shared album is a curated collection of photos and videos that you create and then invite specific people to view — or contribute to. Unlike sharing a single photo, a shared album gives recipients ongoing access to everything inside it. You can keep adding content over time, and invited collaborators can do the same if you enable that option.

Shared albums are separate from your main library. Photos you add to a shared album don't get removed from your personal library — they're essentially linked there. Equally, photos that collaborators add to the album don't automatically appear in your library unless you choose to save them.

How to Create a Shared Album on Android or iPhone 📱

The process is nearly identical across both platforms:

1. Open the Google Photos app
2. Tap Library at the bottom of the screen
3. Tap New album (you may see a "+" icon depending on your app version)
4. Give your album a name
5. Select the photos or videos you want to include
6. Tap the checkmark or Done to create the album
7. Once the album is created, tap the share icon (a person with a "+" symbol)
8. Choose Share album and invite people via their Google account, a shareable link, or directly through contacts

You can also start from the Photos tab by long-pressing images to select them, then tapping the share icon and choosing Create shared album.

How to Create a Shared Album on Desktop (Google Photos Web)

Using Google Photos in a browser at photos.google.com:

1. Click the Albums section in the left sidebar
2. Click Create album
3. Name the album and add photos from your library
4. Once created, open the album and click the share icon in the top-right corner
5. Invite people by email or generate a shareable link

The web interface gives you slightly more screen real estate when selecting large batches of photos, which can make the initial setup easier if you're adding dozens of images at once.

Sharing Options and Collaboration Settings

When you share an album, you have control over what recipients can do:

The collaboration toggle is worth thinking through before you send invitations. Once enabled, anyone you've shared the album with can add content — which is ideal for group trips or events, but may not suit every use case.

You can change these settings at any time by opening the album, tapping the three-dot menu, and selecting Options or Edit sharing settings depending on your app version.

Who Needs a Google Account?

Invited collaborators and viewers need a Google account to interact with a shared album in full — adding photos, saving images to their own library, or leaving comments. However, if you share via a link, people without Google accounts can view the album in a browser, though their interaction options are limited.

This is a meaningful distinction depending on who you're sharing with. Family members or colleagues likely have Google accounts. More casual recipients — or older relatives who don't — may only have read-access through a link.

Storage and Ownership Considerations 🗂️

Photos you add to a shared album count toward your Google account storage, not your collaborators'. When collaborators add their own photos to the album, those photos count toward their storage.

Google Photos no longer offers unlimited free storage (that ended in June 2021), so if you're adding high-resolution images to shared albums frequently, your storage usage is worth keeping an eye on. The 15 GB free tier is shared across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos combined.

If a collaborator adds photos you want to keep permanently, you'll need to manually save them to your library — they don't sync automatically.

What Happens When You Leave or Delete a Shared Album

• If you delete a shared album you created, it disappears for all participants — photos return to individual libraries but the album is gone
• If a collaborator leaves the album, their added photos remain unless they delete them
• Photos saved to your personal library before an album is deleted are unaffected

The Variables That Affect Your Experience

How well shared albums work in practice depends on a few factors that vary from person to person:

• Whether your recipients use Google accounts — this determines how much they can interact versus just view
• Your available Google storage — affects how many high-resolution images you can add without hitting limits
• How many contributors you invite — larger groups with editing access can get messy without some coordination
• Your app version — Google frequently updates the Photos UI, so menu labels and navigation paths can shift slightly between updates
• Network conditions when uploading — large batches of photos sync in the background and depend on a stable connection

For some people, a shared album with view-only access works perfectly. For others — planning a wedding, documenting a group holiday, or collaborating on a project — the collaborative version with multiple contributors is the right fit. The features themselves are consistent, but how you configure them, who you invite, and how much storage you have available are entirely specific to your situation.