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HandoutHandout 1: Supply & Shopping List
Handout 1: Supply & Shopping List ## Backing Up Your Phone Photos
Before we meet, here's what to have ready. Sooo the good news first: this class doesn't need much. Most of this is stuff you already own. I'll flag the couple things worth spending real money on and where I'd get them around here.
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The Only Two Things You Actually Need (Budget Tier)
1. Your phone, charged, with your passwords memorized (not just saved in autofill) You'll need to log into your Apple ID or Google account during class, and I promise half the room forgets their password every single time. Write it down and bring the paper if you have to. No shame in it.
2. A cloud storage account you already have - iPhone people: you already have iCloud. Free tier gives you 5GB, which sounds like plenty until you realize it's not. - Android people: you already have Google Photos/Google One. Same deal, small free amount.
That's it. That's the minimum. If you show up with just these two things, we can get you backed up.
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Nice-to-Have Tier
A little bit of paid cloud storage. I feel like people avoid this for months to save two bucks a month and then lose photos anyway. 200GB on either iCloud or Google One runs somewhere around $2.99/month, and that covers most families for years. You don't need to buy this before class, we'll set it up together, but bring a credit card or have one saved in your phone's account already if you want to upgrade that day.
A cheap notebook or a notes app for writing down the folder names and settings we go over. I talk fast when I get into the menu stuff (my husband Travis says this constantly) and you'll want your own cheat sheet.
A USB cable that actually plugs into your computer, if you want to also copy photos onto a laptop or an external hard drive as a second backup. Not required for this class, but if you're the belt-and-suspenders type like my mom Inez, it's worth having.
An external hard drive, only if you're serious about a second backup outside the cloud. A basic 1TB drive is enough for most people's whole camera roll history. You can grab one at Costco or Best Buy for well under fifty dollars, nothing fancy needed. This is a "someday" purchase, not a "before Tuesday" purchase.
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What NOT to Buy
Please don't go out and buy a new phone, a new plan, or some photo-organizing app you saw an ad for. None of that is necessary. I've had people show up having spent forty dollars on an app that does exactly what the free settings on their phone already do. We're using what's built in.
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A Quick Note on Timing
Come with your phone already plugged in or with a full battery. If your photo library is big (mine was over 22,000 photos when I finally checked, so no judgment), the first backup can take a while and you don't want a dead phone forty minutes in.
Also, if your storage is genuinely full right now and your phone's already complaining at you, that's fine, that's actually most of why people take this class. We'll deal with it together.
See you there. Bring your mess. That's the whole point.
HandoutBacking Up Your Phone Photos — Cheat Sheet
Backing Up Your Phone Photos — Cheat Sheet
Print this, stick it on the fridge, whatever works. This is just the buttons and settings, not the whole class. If you need the "why," that's what I'm there for.
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Step 1: Turn On Auto-Backup (do this first, before anything else)
iPhone: Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos > turn on "Sync this iPhone"
Android: Google Photos app > tap your profile picture, top right > Photos settings > Backup > turn it on
Sooo the big thing here is this has to happen before you organize a single folder. I don't care how messy your camera roll is. Get the safety net on, then worry about tidying up. A dead phone doesn't wait for you to feel ready.
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Step 2: Check It's Actually Working
- Look for a little upload icon or progress bar in your photos app
- Give it time if you have a lot of photos. Mine climbed past 22,000 and took over a day on wifi
- Do this on wifi, not cell data, or you'll eat your whole data plan in an afternoon
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Step 3: Storage — Know the Numbers
Service Free amount When to pay iCloud 5 GB Fills up fast, honestly. $0.99/mo gets you 50 GB Google Photos 15 GB shared with email Usually fine for a while, but check I feel like people spend hours trying to avoid a two dollar a month charge. Your time is worth more than that. Just pay it.
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Step 4: Screenshots Are Not Photos
This is a hill I will die on. Screenshots, memes, receipts you photographed for a return, that stuff should NOT live in the same bucket as your actual photos.
iPhone: Photos app automatically makes a "Screenshots" album. Leave your screenshots there, don't drag them into your main library.
Android: Same idea, Google Photos usually separates them into a Screenshots folder automatically. Double check yours is doing that.
If you skip this step your whole system falls apart later because you can't find anything under a pile of receipts.
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Step 5: Folders (once backup is running)
Naming convention I use: YYYY-MM-Event Example:
2025-06-Skylar-RecitalDoesn't have to be fancy. Just consistent. I do mine by month and event and it's saved me more than once when Inez wanted specific photos and I actually knew where to look.
(Fair warning, I organized all of 2019 by month and got bored halfway through August. It sat like that for two weeks. That's just how my energy works with this. Don't feel bad if yours does too.)
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Step 6: Shared Albums (for family stuff)
iPhone: Photos app > Albums > tap "+" > New Shared Album > add people by phone number or email
Android: Google Photos > Sharing tab > New shared album
My daughter Audrey figured this out faster than I did and set one up for the cousins. If someone in your family is quicker at this than you, let them run with it. No shame in it.
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Step 7: Print the Ones That Matter
Phones die, apps change, passwords get forgotten. A print on the wall doesn't need a login. I'm a little old fashioned about this but I stand by it. Pick your favorites once a year, even just a handful, and print them somewhere.
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Quick Troubleshooting
- "Storage full" on your phone? That's your phone's storage, not the cloud's. Check Settings > General > iPhone Storage (or Android equivalent) and see what's actually taking up space.
- Backup stuck or slow? Check you're on wifi, and check you're actually signed into the right account (I've done this wrong before, it happens).
- Not sure if something backed up? Delete it from your phone only after you've confirmed it's in the cloud. Don't trust it blind the first few times.
If you're on Android and stuck, ask around the room. I'm shakier on Android menus than iPhone ones and I'll say so straight up. Somebody in class usually knows.
WorksheetHandout 3: Your Backup Checklist
Handout 3: Your Backup Checklist
Okay. Bring your phone, bring this sheet, and let's actually do the thing instead of just talking about it. Fill this in as we go, not after. I mean it, don't wait til you get home, that's how nothing gets done.
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Part 1: Before You Touch Anything
What phone do you have? ☐ iPhone ☐ Android
How many photos are on it right now? Go to your Photos app and check the count. Write it here, no judgement: _______________
(I had over 22,000 when I checked mine. I felt a little sick. You're fine.)
Is auto-backup currently ON or OFF? ☐ On ☐ Off ☐ I have no idea, that's why I'm here
If you don't know, that's normal. That's step one, we're finding out.
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Part 2: Turn On Auto-Backup
Do this part before anything else. Organizing can wait. A dead phone can't.
iPhone (Settings > your name at top > iCloud > Photos): ☐ Toggled "Sync this iPhone" or "iCloud Photos" to on ☐ Checked I have enough iCloud storage (Settings > iCloud > Manage Storage) ☐ If storage is full, decided: pay the $0.99 or $2.99 a month, or clean out first
Android (Google Photos app > profile icon > Photos settings > Backup): ☐ Turned Backup on ☐ Checked which Google account it's backing up to ☐ Android folks, if you're stuck, ask your neighbor. Sooo many of you know this phone better than I do.
Write down which system you picked. Just one. _______________________________________
One system done okay beats three systems you don't trust. Don't set up Google and iCloud and an external drive and then feel nervous about all three. Pick one and let it work.
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Part 3: Watch It Actually Work
☐ Found the upload/progress indicator in your photo app ☐ Watched it climb for at least a minute (this is oddly satisfying, don't rush it) ☐ Confirmed a recent photo shows the little "backed up" checkmark or cloud icon
If it's stuck or spinning forever, it's probably your wifi, not you. Don't panic on this part.
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Part 4: The Screenshot Problem
Screenshots are not photos and they should not live in the same pile. This is a hill I'll die on.
☐ Checked whether my backup includes screenshots (it probably does by default) ☐ Found the setting to exclude the Screenshots folder from backup, if I want to ☐ Or, decided I don't care and I'm leaving it. That's allowed too, it's your camera roll.
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Part 5: One Small Cleanup, Right Now
Don't do your whole camera roll today. Just pick one thing.
☐ Found one folder or album that's obviously repeats (sunsets, the dog, whatever) ☐ Deleted at least 10 duplicates ☐ Did NOT try to organize the entire thing in one sitting (I got through 2019 as far as August and quit, it's fine, leave the rest for another day)
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Part 6: Before You Leave Today
☐ Auto-backup is on ☐ I know which cloud service I'm using and I trust it ☐ I know where the "backed up" indicator lives so I can check it myself later ☐ I picked one photo that actually matters to me and confirmed it's backed up
One thing I'm going to do this week: _______________________________________
Bring your phone charged next time too. We'll get into shared albums and maybe printing a few, if Inez has taught me anything it's that some pictures need to be on a wall, not just in a cloud somewhere.
HandoutHandout 4: Troubleshooting Guide — Common Backup Problems
Handout 4: Troubleshooting Guide — Common Backup Problems
Okay. If something's not working, it's probably on this list. I've hit every single one of these myself, so don't feel bad, just find your problem and fix it.
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1. "It says backup is on but my photo count hasn't changed." Give it time. Backup runs in the background and it's slow, especially the first time when it's got years of photos to churn through (mine took almost two full days on wifi). Check that you're actually connected to wifi, not using cell data, since most settings default to wifi-only.
2. "It's stuck on wifi-only and I need it done now." There's usually a setting to allow backup over cell data. I'd only turn that on temporarily, unless you've got an unlimited data plan, because photos and video eat data fast.
3. "My storage says full but I turned backup on." Backing up doesn't automatically free up space on your phone. You have to go in after and turn on the "free up space" or "remove originals" option, wherever your phone buries it. Two separate steps. I missed this the first time too.
4. "I'm getting a storage-full notice from the cloud now instead." Sooo, this is the one everybody hits eventually. Free tiers fill up fast once you're backing up everything. You've got two honest choices: delete stuff you don't need (see handout 2, the 396 sunsets story), or pay the couple bucks a month for more space. I feel like your time arguing with yourself about two dollars is worth more than the two dollars.
5. "It backed up ALL my screenshots and receipt photos too." Yep, that happened to me. Your phone doesn't know the difference between a photo of your kid and a screenshot of a Costco receipt, they're all just "images" to it. Go into your settings and look for an option to exclude screenshots, or move them to a separate album before backup runs again.
6. "I set it up on my phone but my spouse's phone isn't backing up." Each phone needs its own setup. Backup isn't tied to your family or your wifi, it's tied to the device and the account signed into it. Walk through the same steps on their phone.
7. "I can't find the photos I backed up." Check you're logged into the same account on whatever computer or app you're searching from. This trips people up constantly, you back up under one email and then go looking under another.
8. "It says 'backup paused.'" Usually means low battery, low storage, or you left wifi. Phones pause backup to protect battery life, it's not broken, it's just waiting for better conditions. Plug in, connect to wifi, give it a minute.
9. "My Android phone does this completely different from what you showed us." Probably. I'm an iPhone person and I'll say that flat out. If you're on Android, lean on your neighbor in class, I promise somebody in the room has your exact phone and can talk you through it faster than I can.
10. "I did all of this and I'm still nervous." That's normal, honestly. I still get a little pit in my stomach thinking about that piano recital. But if you've got auto-backup running and you've confirmed a photo actually shows up in the cloud, you are in better shape than probably 90 percent of people walking around with a phone in their pocket. That's the win. The folders can wait.
podcast_scriptClass podcast — episode 1
Audio coming soon — show notes below.
JESS: —okay wait, say that part again, because I don't think I've ever seen a number that high.
KRISTEN: Twenty-two thousand. I watched the little upload counter climb past twenty-two thousand photos and I genuinely felt sick. Like physically. I had eight years of camera roll just sitting there with no backup and I didn't even know it.
JESS: This is Kristen Olsen, by the way, hi, welcome. I'm Jess, I do the podcasts for all the Utah Community Learning classes, and Kristen teaches Backing Up Your Phone Photos, which starts next week over in Pleasant Grove, but she agreed to come talk to me first so people know what they're walking into.
KRISTEN: Which is a room full of messy camera rolls. Including mine.
JESS: You said your actual turning point was a recital.
KRISTEN: Skylar's piano recital, yeah. I'm standing there trying to get video of her playing and my phone just throws up "storage full" and quits recording. Mid-song. I got the last thirty seconds off Travis's phone instead, which, fine, but I was so mad. I spent that whole weekend figuring out cloud backup out of pure spite, honestly, and then I realized basically everyone I know is sitting on the same mess I was.
JESS: So now you back up before every event.
KRISTEN: Out of spite. Still. I feel like that's just going to be my personality forever now.
JESS: Okay, so, for someone listening who isn't going to make it to the class — what's one thing they could actually go do right now, today, that would help?
KRISTEN: Sooo, turn on auto-backup before you touch anything else. Don't organize first. People want to jump straight to making folders and deleting stuff and I get it, but the folders can wait and a dead phone can't. On an iPhone that's Settings, tap your name at the top, iCloud, Photos, and you turn on "Sync this iPhone." On Android it's a little different depending on the phone, which, I'll be honest, I'm shakier on Android, I'm an iPhone person, so in class I actually make the Android folks help each other on that part. But the idea's the same everywhere. Get the safety net on first.
JESS: That's it? That's the tip?
KRISTEN: That's the tip. It's not glamorous. But that's the thing that would've saved my kindergarten pictures.
JESS: Oh, tell that one.
KRISTEN: Jackson's kindergarten pictures, this was years ago. Phone died, no backup, gone. I still bring it up. I say it out loud in the first class every single time because I want people to actually take the auto-backup part seriously and not just nod at me.
JESS: What about organizing though, once the backup's on. Because I know some people, that's the part they actually want.
KRISTEN: I feel like people overthink this part too, honestly, but once you've got the safety net, then yeah, we get into it. Screenshots are not photos. That's a hill I will die on. If your screenshots are mixed in with your actual photos your whole system falls apart, you can't find anything. And you don't need to keep every photo either. I had a folder of like four hundred nearly identical sunset pictures over the point of the mountain. Deleted three ninety six of them. Kept four. I stand by that number.
JESS: (laughing) You counted.
KRISTEN: I counted. It bothered me how many there were.
JESS: What's session two going to cover, for people trying to decide if they should sign up?
KRISTEN: Session two's the organizing session, so we actually go through my camera roll live, mess and all, and I show exactly how I separate things into folders, by month usually, sometimes by event if it's a big one. I'll be honest up front, I get bored halfway through projects like this — my 2019 folder trails off after August and I never finished it — but that's kind of the point of showing you my real one instead of some perfect fake example. And we talk about the free storage versus paying the two bucks a month conversation, because I think people waste way more time and stress dodging a cheap fee than the fee is even worth.
JESS: You're pretty firm on that.
KRISTEN: I feel like your time's worth more than that, yeah. Bring your phone, bring it charged, that's the only homework.
JESS: Anything else people should know before next week?
KRISTEN: Just that if your camera roll's a disaster right now, mine is too. Twenty-two thousand photos, remember. We're gonna fix it together, it just takes actually sitting down and doing it, one tap at a time.
JESS: Kristen Olsen, thanks for doing this.
KRISTEN: Thanks for having me. Go turn on your backup, seriously, right now, before you forget.
podcast_scriptClass podcast — episode 2
Audio coming soon — show notes below.
JESS: —okay wait, say that again, because I don't think I wrote it down fast enough.
KRISTEN: Which part.
JESS: The 22,000.
KRISTEN: Oh yeah. So when I finally turned auto-backup on, I just watched the little counter climb. It goes photo by photo, like "uploading 1 of 22,347." And I felt sick. Like physically. Eight years of camera roll, just sitting there, one copy, on a phone I carry into the bathroom.
JESS: That's the whole class in one sentence honestly.
KRISTEN: Kind of, yeah.
JESS: For anyone just joining us, this is episode two of Backing Up Your Phone Photos, Kristen Olsen's class through Utah Community Learning. Last week was intro, this week we're getting into it. Kristen, remind people what we actually covered session one.
KRISTEN: Sooo, session one was just, get the safety net on. That's it. I don't care about folders yet, I don't care if your screenshots are mixed in with your photos, none of that. First thing is auto-backup, turned on, actually running. Because the folders can wait. A dead phone can't.
JESS: And that's opinion number one, if people have the voice bible memorized like I do.
KRISTEN: (laughs) I don't know what that means but sure.
JESS: Never mind. Okay, so give us one practical thing. Something a listener could go do right now, phone in hand, no class required.
KRISTEN: Okay. Go check if your backup is actually running. Not just turned on, actually running. On iPhone it's Settings, your name at the top, iCloud, Photos, and there's a little status line, it'll say "Photos and Videos in Progress" or it'll say a size, like it's done. On Android it's usually Google Photos app, tap your profile picture top right, Photos Settings, Backup. Same idea.
JESS: And what if it says paused, or it's stuck.
KRISTEN: Usually storage. Free accounts fill up fast now, everybody's phone shoots huge files. If it's stuck, I feel like just pay the two dollars for more storage. People fight this so hard and I don't get it. Your time looking for a lost photo is worth more than two bucks a month.
JESS: That's opinion three.
KRISTEN: (laughs) Are you keeping a list?
JESS: I might be. Okay, tell the pickle jar story, I love that one.
KRISTEN: Oh, that's not really a phone disaster story though.
JESS: That's fine, tell it anyway.
KRISTEN: Okay so, this is unrelated to backup but it's the one photo thing I've actually stuck with. I make bread-and-butter pickles, like every two weeks, it's just a thing I do. And I photograph every batch. Just to track what I changed, more sugar, less vinegar, whatever. And it's the one project I've never let slide. Whereas — I'll be honest about this — I tried to organize my whole 2019 camera roll into monthly folders one night, got through about half of August, and just stopped. Left it. Picked it back up two weeks later.
JESS: Was that embarrassing to admit in class?
KRISTEN: No, why would it be. That's just how my energy works some nights. I'm not going to pretend I finish everything I start. The pickles I finish because I actually eat the pickles. The folders don't feed me anything, so.
JESS: I love that logic.
KRISTEN: It's not logic, it's just true.
JESS: Fair. Okay, so backup's on, that's the safety net. What's actually happening next session, because I know people are wondering if we're finally getting to the fun part.
KRISTEN: Next time we're doing organizing. Real folders, real naming, and also — this is the one I get the most questions about — separating screenshots from photos. Because if your backup's running but it's backing up four thousand memes and grocery receipts along with your kid's birthday party, you've just made a bigger mess, faster.
JESS: Small hill you'll die on.
KRISTEN: Genuinely small hill. I will die on it happily.
JESS: Bring your phone charged, I assume.
KRISTEN: Always bring it charged. And bring your actual camera roll, mess and all. I show mine every time, screenshots and blurry kid pictures and everything, because I think it helps people relax about their own disaster.
JESS: Love that. Okay, that's episode two. Next session, folders, screenshots, naming things so you can actually find them again.
KRISTEN: And if you're on Android and something's different from what I said, ask the room. Somebody in there always knows the Android side better than me.
podcast_scriptClass podcast — episode 3
Audio coming soon — show notes below.
JESS: —so she just let Audrey take over the whole thing?
KRISTEN: Completely. I'm standing there feeling proud and also a little useless, because my thirteen-year-old figured out shared albums faster than I did.
JESS: Okay wait, back up for people just joining us. This is episode three, we're talking backup today, right?
KRISTEN: Right, backup and just a little bit of organizing. But mostly backup. That's the important part.
JESS: You keep saying that. "That's the important part."
KRISTEN: Because it is. I feel like people want to jump straight to making folders and naming things nice, and I get it, that's the fun part. But if your phone dies tonight, folders don't save you. Backup does.
JESS: So tell the story. The recital one.
KRISTEN: Skylar's piano recital. She's up there playing, I've got my phone out to get video, and it just — stops. "Storage full." Mid-song. I'm standing in the back of a stake center basically panicking, tapping the screen like that's going to fix it.
JESS: And it didn't.
KRISTEN: No. I ended up getting the last thirty seconds off my husband Travis's phone instead. Which, fine, we got it. But I was so mad. Not at the phone, really, at myself, because I'd known for months it was getting full and I just kept ignoring the message.
JESS: And that's the origin story.
KRISTEN: That's the origin story. I went home that weekend and figured out cloud backup out of pure spite, honestly. And now I back up before every single event. Recitals, baptisms, doesn't matter. It's like a little ritual now.
JESS: So what's the actual tip. Like the thing someone listening right now could go do on their phone without taking your class.
KRISTEN: Sooo, here's the one thing. Go into your phone settings — on iPhone it's your name at the top, then iCloud, then Photos. On Android it's usually Google Photos app, your profile picture, then Photos settings, Backup. Just go look at it. You're checking one thing: is it turned on, and is it actually running, not just sitting there saying "paused."
JESS: Because it can say it's on but not actually be doing anything.
KRISTEN: Right, that's the trap. Mine paused itself once because I was out of storage on the free plan and I didn't notice for like two months. So check that it says "backup complete" or shows a recent date, not just a toggle that's green.
JESS: That's it? That's the whole tip?
KRISTEN: That's the whole tip. Takes ninety seconds. I'd rather people do that one thing today than wait for a whole class.
JESS: I feel like people are scared to turn it on because they think it's going to cost money right away.
KRISTEN: It usually doesn't, not at first. You get some free storage, and honestly for a lot of people that's fine for a while. But I'll say the unpopular thing — when it fills up and asks you to pay two dollars a month, just pay it. I've watched people spend actual hours deleting photos to dodge that fee, and I feel like your time is worth more than two dollars.
JESS: You're very firm about that.
KRISTEN: I am. It's a hill.
JESS: Okay, last thing before we let people go — what happens next session?
KRISTEN: Next time we're doing the folders and the organizing, the part people actually want to do. I'm going to walk through how I set up mine by month and year, and I'm going to be honest that I got through 2019 up to August and then just stopped for two weeks. That's real. That's how it went.
JESS: You never finished the rest of the year?
KRISTEN: I did, eventually. Two weeks later. It's fine. The point is the backup was already running the whole time, so it didn't matter that I got bored halfway through.
JESS: Which loops right back to today's lesson.
KRISTEN: Exactly. Backup first, sort whenever. Bring your phone charged, bring your charger too honestly, because we sit there a while.
JESS: Alright, that's episode three. Go check your backup settings, everybody. Ninety seconds.
KRISTEN: Ninety seconds. Go do it right now, don't wait.
Videos worth your time
Hand-picked by your instructor, with notes on what to watch for.
- How to back up your iPhone to iCloud | Apple SupportApple Support
This is Apple's own walkthrough for turning on iCloud backup, so follow along on your own iPhone settings screen as they show it.
- How To Backup Gallery Photos To Google Photos On AndroidTrevor Nace
Watch how the instructor finds the backup toggle inside the Google Photos app on Android and pause the video to check the same setting on your own phone.
- How to Transfer Photos & Videos from Android Phone to Computer / PC with USB (Easy Tutorial)YourSixStudios
Pay attention to the USB cable settings step, since choosing the wrong connection mode is the most common reason a phone will not show up on the computer.
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