How to use Group Photo Albums

We go to a lot of RV Rallies. At some of them, we helped coordinate a shared photo album so that anyone in the group could post their photos to the album and all could see the combined group of photos. We do it with a Google Photos shared album.

How to view a shared album

All you need is the link. Whoever made the album can click the share button and get a link to that album. They send that link to the people who want to see it, either with an email, or by posting the link in a place where they can see it. So, for example, here is a link to my photo album from our travels in July 2018. Anyone can view the photos just by clicking the link, you don’t need to be using Google Photos, you don’t even need to have a Google account. Just click the link and you see the photos.

If you do have a Google Account, you should see a message to “join” the album. Joining means that you are signing up to receive notifications when new photos are added to the album. You may also be able to write comments about photos, and click the like button (a heart) on your favorites.

How to add your photos to a shared album

The owner of the album must turn on “Collaboration” for the album before anyone else can add photos. If collaboration is on, and if you have “Joined” the album, then you can add your photos to the album.

Adding a single photo to a shared album:

  1. Open Google Photos
  2. Open the photo you want to add
  3. Click the 3-dot menu and choose Add to Shared Album
  4. Find the Shared Album name in the list and click on it

Adding multiple photos to a shared album:

  1. Open Google Photos
  2. Select the photos you want to add
    -on a mobile device, longpress on the first one, tap the others.
    -on computer click the checkmark in upper left of each photo
  3. Click the + in upper right and choose Shared album
  4. Find the shared album name in the list and click on it

What if undesirable photos get added?

The owner of the album has the ability to remove any inappropriate photos and to block a person from adding any more. Also, at some point, when all the photos have been collected, the owner can simply turn off collaboration. This will stop anyone from adding any more photos. The owner can always add more photos, and s/he can turn collaboration back on at any time.

If you have the book, Mrs. Geek’s Guide to Google Photos, sharing and collaborating is covered in Chapter 9.