The Google Photos app is now automatically backing up all RAW images, a type of image file containing the unprocessed and uncompressed data captured by a digital camera or scanner.
The report emerged 9to5Google noticed a banner on a Pixel 8 saying, “New RAW photos will appear in the Photos view and will now be backed up.”
Google Photos automatically uploads a JPEG copy of your RAW photos, which can be problematic if you take many RAW images. RAW files are bigger than JPEG files and can use up your Google One storage and data quickly, so users might want to avoid uploading RAW photos to Google Photos if they’re not needed.
According to the report, the uploaded photo is located in the main “Photos” tab in the Google Photos app with the “RAW” classification in its top-right corner.
A JPEG version is also created and stored in the “Burst” section when you take a RAW photo. You can switch between the RAW and JPEG versions by tapping on the button at the bottom of the screen when you open a RAW photo.
The RAW version has options to “Set as main photo” or “Keep this photo only”, while the JPEG version has options to “Export this photo” or “Keep this photo only”.
If you don’t want to use up your Google One storage and data, you might want to shoot only in JPEG because Google Photos will upload both versions automatically, and there is no way to stop that.
