Is Google Photos backup taking a long time on your iPhone or getting stuck? Well, you aren’t the only one facing this issue. Several iPhone users often complain about Google Photos taking an unexpectedly long time to back up photos and videos. On the bright side, we’ve already figured out the possible solutions to troubleshoot this annoying issue.

It is important to note that the time Google Photos takes to back up your entire photo library depends on two things: the total file size of the photos and your Internet connection’s speed. So, if you are backing up many images and your Wi-Fi/cellular connection is sluggish, you might have to wait for a long time. However, if the photo-storage app seems to be struggling to get through the task even on a lightning-fast internet connection, there could be a hidden underlying problem.

1. Turn Off/On Airplane Mode 

To fix sluggish cellular or Wi-Fi connections, Airplane Mode is quite efficient. So, give this nifty solution a try. On iPhone without a Home button, swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen to bring up the Control Center. On iPhone with a Home button, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to access it. Now, tap the Airplane mode icon to turn it on. Please wait for a few moments and tap the icon again to turn it off.

2. Reset Network Settings 

If the Airplane Mode trick didn’t fix the Google Photos backup issue, try resetting the network setting. If your network connection is weak or facing any problem, this should resolve it. Go to the Settings app on your iPhone > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings > enter your device passcode and confirm.

3. Restart Your iPhone

Haven’t got the solution as yet? We still have multiple reliable tips to resolve the issue with Google Photos. On an iPhone without the home button, press and hold the side button and volume up/down button. Then, drag the power off slider to shut down your device. After waiting for a few moments, press the side button again to turn on your device.

On iPhones with a home button, press and hold the side/top button and then drag the power off slider to turn off your iPhone. After that, press and hold the side/top button again to reboot the device. Now, open the Google Photos app and try to back up your photos to see if a reboot fixed the issue.

4. Enable Background App Refresh 

Background app refresh plays a vital role in helping an app remain updated with the latest information. Moreover, it also allows apps to run smoothly. If Google Photos takes forever to back up the photos on your iPhone or iPad, enable the app to refresh in the background. Head over to the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad > General > Background App Refresh to change this setting. Then, find Google Photos and turn on the toggle next to it.

5. Restart Back Up and Sync 

Turning off the backup and sync feature in Google Photos and turning it on again has done the trick for some users. Thus, it makes sense to give it a shot as well. Open Google Photos on your iPhone > tap your profile at the top right > Google Photos settings.

Now, tap Backup & sync, and then turn off the toggle. After that, restart your iPhone. Once your device has rebooted, return to the same setting and turn on the toggle next to Backup & sync. Now, check out if the Photos app has started to back up your images faster.

6. Update Google Photos

If you haven’t updated the Google Photos app for a while, there is a good chance that the unexpectedly slow backup is due to the outdated version. The best way to tackle this issue is to update the app. To fix miscellaneous bugs and also improve performance, Google frequently releases updates. Therefore, it’s recommended to keep the photo-storage app updated so that it can run smoothly. 

Launch the App Store on your iPhone > select your profile at the top right > scroll down to find Google Photos and then hit Update located beside the app.

7. Sign Out of Google Photos 

Another efficient solution that you should try to troubleshoot Google Photos’ backup issue is to sign out of your Google Account and sign back in. Launch Google Photos on your iPhone and tap on your profile located at the top right corner of the screen. After that, sign out of your Google account and force quit the app.

If your iPhone doesn’t have a home button, swipe up from the home bar to bring up App Switcher and then swipe up on the Google Photos app card to force kill the app. If it has a Home button, double-press the button to access the App Switcher and then swipe up on the app card to force quit it. Now, wait for some time and then open the Google Photos app again and sign in to your account.

8. Check Google Photos Server 

If Google Photos is facing an outage, it won’t work correctly. So, make sure that the app isn’t down. Thanks to a site called Downdetector, it’s pretty easy to figure out whether or not the app is facing an outage. 

Head over to Downdetector website > search for Google Photos and hit the enter key to check the server status of the app. 

9. Delete and Reinstall Google Photos

If Google Photos hasn’t backed up your images, try deleting and reinstalling the app. When it comes to troubleshooting major app-related issues, this radical solution is quite reliable. Therefore, make sure to try out this one as well. 

Touch and hold the Google Photos app icon on the home screen, select Remove App in the popup menu followed by Delete App. Finally, tap Delete in the popup to confirm the deletion of Google Photos along with all the associated app data. 

Next, launch App Store on your device, search for Google Photos and reinstall. Once the app has been reinstalled, launch it, sign in to your account, and try to back up your photos to verify if the problem is gone. 

10. Update Software on Your iPhone 

If Google Photos still seems to be stuck while backing up photos on your iPhone, try updating to the latest version of iOS. There might be a hidden software bug causing the issue. 

Open the Settings app on your iPhone and head over to General > Software Update. Now, allow iOS to check for updates. If there is an update available, go ahead and install it as usual. 

So, that’s how you can speed up Google Photos backup on your iPhone to troubleshoot the sluggish backup problem. More often than not, this issue is caused by the poor internet connection. Hence, you can resolve the issue by fixing the slow Wi-Fi/cellular connection in most cases. Besides, rebooting the device and turning off the Backup & sync feature is also quite effective. That said, share your thoughts and the tricks that have helped you overcome the problem in the comments.