How to stop Google Photos from backing up screenshots
A screenshot of a booking code, another of a meme, another of a chat you wanted to show someone. None of them were meant to be kept, but if Google Photos backs up your screenshots folder, they all end up in your account, eating the same 15 GB as the photos you care about.
Turn off backup for the screenshots folder
On Android, Google Photos decides what to upload by folder. The camera folder is backed up whenever backup is on; other folders only if you switch them on.
- Open Google Photos and tap your profile picture, top right.
- Go to Photos settings → Backup.
- Find the device folders option (the exact name changes a little between versions).
- Switch off Screenshots.
From then on, new screenshots stay on your phone only. If that same screen has an option to back up all device folders, turn it off as well — otherwise any new folder an app creates will start uploading on its own.
Delete the screenshots that already uploaded
Turning off backup doesn't delete anything already in the cloud. To find them, search for "screenshots" in Google Photos: it groups them all. Select them, delete them, then empty the trash — while they sit there, they still count against your storage.
Careful: deleting a screenshot in the Google Photos app can remove it from your phone too. If you want to keep the phone copy, delete from photos.google.com after turning off backup for that folder.
What about the screenshot you do want to keep?
That's the limit of deciding by folder: all screenshots or none. You can back up a single one by hand (long-press it in Google Photos and choose Back up), but you have to remember to do it.
If you'd rather your phone asked you at the moment you take it, that's what Snapgate does: after each photo or screenshot you get a notification with two buttons, Upload or Discard, and you decide without opening anything. What you discard stays on your phone and never takes space in your account. You can also set a rule so screenshots never upload and only camera photos ask.
Snapgate is an Android app: 14-day trial, then a one-time purchase, no subscription.