How to Sync Samsung Gallery With Google Photos Before OneDrive Ends

Samsung is retiring Gallery’s built-in OneDrive sync on September 30, 2026. In its place, Gallery Cloud Sync can send camera shots and selected folders into a personal Google Account, where they show up in Google Photos at original quality.

The option is rolling out with Gallery 15.9.01.7 (and a matching Gallery Cloud Sync update). Availability still varies by device, region, and account type. This guide follows Google Photos Help and Samsung’s OneDrive end-of-support pages — not rumor screenshots.

What you need

Google documents these requirements for Gallery Cloud Sync with Google:

• A compatible Samsung phone or tablet
• Android 13 or higher
• A personal Google Account (not Google Workspace)
• An account that is not supervised by a parent Family Link profile
• Permission for Google to share account details such as Google One storage quota with Samsung

If the toggle is missing after an update, you are likely outside the current rollout. Galaxy Store updates for Gallery and Gallery Cloud Sync are the usual gate.

Why the switch matters this month

Samsung’s U.S. support article for Gallery + OneDrive states the feature ends on September 30, 2026. Files already stored in OneDrive stay in OneDrive. They will no longer appear inside Samsung Gallery after the link is removed unless you download originals first.

Practical implication: if Gallery is how you browse years of vacation photos that only exist as OneDrive placeholders, download those originals before the cutoff. OneDrive’s own camera backup in the OneDrive app can continue separately; only the Gallery integration is going away.

Turn on Sync photos and videos

Google’s steps, in order:

1. Open Samsung Gallery.
2. Tap Menu (bottom right).
3. Open Settings.
4. Tap Sync photos and videos (wording may appear as Sync Photos and videos).
5. Choose the personal Google Account you want to use.
6. Grant Samsung permission to sync media with Google.

If you still have OneDrive linked, Gallery may ask you to Unlink first. Do that only after you have downloaded any OneDrive-only originals you still need on the phone.

After the link is live, check Google One storage. Backups use original quality and count against the same 15 GB (or paid) quota as Gmail and Drive.

Choose folders instead of dumping the whole roll

You do not have to upload every Camera shot.

Google’s help page allows:

• Sync specific local folders such as Screenshots or Downloads
• Leave the main camera roll off while those folders stay on
• Keep the master Gallery Cloud Sync switch on with no local folders uploading — Gallery then behaves as a view-only window onto media that other Samsung devices already synced

That last mode is useful on a tablet you never shoot with, but still want to flip through photos from your phone.

What actually syncs

Uploaded items include:

• Photos and videos from the camera roll and folders you selected
• Metadata such as timestamp, location, and favorites

Samsung can see only items that arrived through Gallery Cloud Sync. Pictures you uploaded years ago with the Google Photos app stay in Google Photos; they do not appear as a full library inside Samsung Gallery.

Edits made in either app are saved and backed up. Depending on the editor, you may see both the original and the edited copy.

Deletion, trash, and Free up space

Treat the two apps as one library for anything this feature uploaded.

• Delete a synced item in Gallery or Google Photos and it leaves both apps and cloud storage.
• Restores follow the same two-way path.
• Google Photos Free up space on this device can delete local copies that are already safely in the cloud. Those files may disappear from on-device Gallery albums. With Cloud Sync still on, you should still see them in the folders that had backup enabled, and always at photos.google.com.

Do not run Free up space the same week you are migrating off OneDrive unless you have confirmed the files exist in Google Photos first.

Features Google Photos will not run on Gallery-synced files

Google is explicit: unless you also back the same items up through the Google Photos app, Gallery Cloud Sync uploads are limited to viewing and sharing. They are not included in:

• Memories and highlights
• Live albums
• Search

If you rely on search across people and places, keep Google Photos backup on for the Camera folder as well, or accept that search and Memories will ignore the Gallery-only copies.

Locked folders and private albums

Moving a backed-up photo into a device private album or locked folder changes the cloud copy. Read the in-app warning before you hide a set you still want on photos.google.com. Do not assume a Secure Folder move is local-only.

Turn the link off later

You can stop new uploads without wiping the cloud:

• New shots stop backing up.
• Items already uploaded stay in the Google Account and remain in the Google Photos app.

To cut data sharing entirely, revoke Samsung Gallery / Gallery Cloud Sync in your Google Account third-party connections. Google notes that removing that permission signs Gallery Cloud Sync out of Google. You would have to re-authorize on the phone to start again.

If the setting is not there yet

Work through this list:

1. Update Gallery and Gallery Cloud Sync from Galaxy Store (look for Gallery 15.9.01.7 or newer).
2. Confirm Android 13+ and a personal, unsupervised Google Account.
3. Sign into the same Samsung account you use on other Galaxy devices if you want cross-device viewing.
4. Wait out the staged rollout if the row is still missing.

Do not sideload random APKs for a cloud backup feature. A bad build is a good way to lose a library.

A simple migration plan before September 30

1. In Gallery, download OneDrive originals you still want on the phone.
2. Confirm those files exist as local albums, not cloud placeholders.
3. Turn on Sync photos and videos with the Google Account that has spare storage.
4. Start with Screenshots or one Camera year, not the entire archive, and watch quota.
5. Open Google Photos on the web and spot-check a few files.
6. Only then unlink OneDrive from Gallery.

Keep the standalone OneDrive or Google Photos apps if you want a second copy. Gallery Cloud Sync is a convenience layer, not a substitute for an export you control.

Conclusion

Gallery Cloud Sync is the supported path once Samsung drops OneDrive from Gallery. It stores originals in your Google Account, respects folder-level choices, and mirrors deletes. It does not import your old Google Photos library into Gallery, and it does not feed Memories or Photos search unless you also use Google Photos backup.

Turn it on after you have rescued OneDrive-only files — not the other way around.

Sources

• Sync your Samsung Gallery with your Google Account — Google Photos Help
• Sync your Gallery photos with OneDrive — Samsung Support (feature ends September 30, 2026)
• Back up photos & videos (Android) — Google Photos Help