If you use Google Photos, you’re probably familiar with the Memories feature, which reintroduces photos from the same date in previous years. While it can be fun to look back and remember some events, not all memories are ones you necessarily want to relive like a traumatic breakup, the loss of a loved one or the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, Google added a new tool that lets you delete photos from Memories. Giving more control over whether or not they want to revisit memories creates a more inclusive experience for transgender users, Google said in a blog post:
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“We’ve heard especially from the transgender community that it’s painful to revisit some photos, so we’re working with our partners at GLAAD and listening to feedback to make memories more inclusive.”
The move comes along with other updated photo features Google announced at its 2021 I/O Developers Conference, including AI-based Cinematic Photos and a more accurate camera, for more inclusive skin tones of natural brown skin tones. Auto adjusts white balance for a better representation of Tone dataset (which the company improved in 2022 for its AI).
Google Photos uses AI to generate “cinematic moments” that create a moving image from two related shots.
Here’s how to customize your Google Photos to hide potentially painful or unwanted memories:
1. open google photos, Above visual see In the app, you should see story-style creations like headlines, Recent Highlights, one year ago even more.
2. If you tap on one of the creations, you’ll see options in the bottom right to favorite an image, share it, or interact further with Settings. tap Adjustment Mark.
3. choosing Memories Settings in the menu.
From there, you can get very specific information about what images you do or don’t want to see.
hide people and pets
If you select Hide People & Pets, Google Photos will show the People & Pets grid. Any that you no longer want to see in Memories or Creations, just tap on the image and a small hidden eye icon will appear above it.
Unfortunately (for now), this will simply hide the subject as they appear in Memories or Compositions. Even if you scroll through the photo view, there’s a chance you might come across an unwanted image. But deleting an image is still an option.
Just tap on a person’s photo to keep it away from your memories and creations.
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hide dates
If you don’t want to miss a specific period time, you can also hide dates, Tap Add dates, and Google Photos won’t show any more memories or creations in that time frame. You can choose dates as far back as 1970.
more options
In addition, under advanced settingsYou can specify the types of compositions that appear in Memories, such as animations, cinematic photos and collages, by toggling it on or off.
You can further customize the creations that appear above the Photos view — or turn them off entirely — by Tap Select Memories, From there you can adjust whether you see Last year, recent highlights either themed memories When you open Google Photos. Tapping Notifications also gives you control over what Google Photos informs you about — like when new creations or memories are available, as well as printing promotions and suggestions.
Google Photos now also offers a passcode-protected Locked Folder where you can save photos separately, so they won’t show up when you scroll through Google Photos or other apps, but you don’t have to delete them.
Another note: Google Photos ended its unlimited free storage tier in 2021. You’ll need to sign up for a Google One subscription to get more space.
For more information, see How to transfer photos from iCloud to Google Photos and How to back up your photos in an emergency.
