Google Photos Service Ending

Google Photo Service Ends on June 30, 2026

Brookline Public Schools will be turning off access to Google Photos for all staff Workspace accounts, effective June 30, 2026.

Google Photos is not included as a Google Workspace for Education Core Service. Instead, it is classified by Google as an "Additional Service." This means it is governed by consumer terms and may be subject to different data privacy and usage policies than our core academic apps (like Google Docs, Drive, and Gmail).

Disconnect your Phone from Google Photos

The Google Photos app on your iPhone or Android phone may be backing up photos to your psbma.org without your knowledge. Check to see if you inadvertently set the backup.

On an iPhone:

Open your iPhone Settings app (the gear icon).
Scroll to “Apps”
Find Google Photos in your list of apps.
Tap Photos.
Change the setting to None. This prevents the app from accessing your camera roll entirely, but keeps you signed into Gmail/Drive.

On an Android phone:

Open the Google Photos app.
Tap your Profile Icon in the top right corner
Tap the down arrow next to your @psbma.org email address.
Select "Use without an account." This "unlinks" the app from your school cloud storage. It does not sign you out of your school email or Drive.
Double Check: Tap the Profile Icon again. It should now show a generic silhouette instead of your school account picture. You are now safe to delete photos from the web without them being removed from your phone.

Download your photos

On a computer, login to your psbma.org account, and launch Google Photos.

Review the photos. Decide if you need to keep any of the photos. Keep in mind that photos in your psbma.org Google Photos app may be backups of photos you have on your Phone’s Apple or Android Photo app. You likely have photos in both places. Deleting photos from the Google Photo backup will not delete them from your Apple or Android Phone app.

Keep in mind that you may be limited by storage space on your computer, you may need to download the files to an external drive. A 1 TB external drive is a good investment.

To Download:

Select photos or videos that you wish to download by clicking on the upper left of each photo. When selected, the photo will display a blue check mark.
You can select large groups of photos by selecting one photo and while holding the shift key down, move as far as you can and select another photo. All the photos in between will be selected. The video below demonstated the process.
Once the images are selected, click on the three dots at the upper right to reveal the Download option.
Select a folder or external drive.

After downloading the photos, you’ll need to delete them from your Google Photos. The photos remain in your Google Photos after you download them.

Delete your photos

Deleting Google Photos media frees up individual drive space and keeps the district storage pool under Google's limits

Delete the photos from your psbma.org Google Photos. This is best done on a computer. Follow the steps in this short video to quickly select the files to be deleted.

Some staff have found this extension to be helpful: Bulk Delete Google Photos Tool.

Share Photos from Google Drive

Teachers can safely configure Google Drive to mimic a secure photo album using the following steps:

Create a Dedicated Folder: Open Google Drive (drive.google.com), click New > New Folder, and name it appropriately (e.g., “Class of 2026 Field Trip Photos”).
Upload the Media: Open the newly created folder and drag and drop the photos from the computer into the browser window.
Adjust the Visual Layout: Click the Grid view icon (four squares) in the top right corner of Google Drive. This switches the folder's interface to display clear visual thumbnails, transforming the folder into a functional photo album.
Open Sharing Properties: Right-click on the parent folder in the directory path and select Share (or click the Share button at the top of the screen).
Configure Access Settings: Under the "General access" section, adjust the dropdown menu:
- Option A (Most Secure): Manually input the parents' specific email addresses into the "Add people and groups" box.
- Option B (Most Convenient): If allowed by your admin console policy, change the setting to "Anyone with the link".
Enforce Read-Only Access: Ensure that the permission level next to the parents/link is set strictly to Viewer. Leaving it as "Editor" will allow external users to delete, download, or add unauthorized images to the school directory.
Prevent users from downloading or printing all photos.
- Open the shared folder and highlight the individual photo files inside.
- Right-click the selected files and choose Share > Share.
- Click the Settings (gear icon) in the top-right corner of the sharing dialog box.
- Uncheck the option that permits viewers and commenters to download, print, and copy.
- Click the back arrow and select Done
Generate and Send the Link: Click Copy link, and then paste it into your approved secure home-school communication platform (such as Google Classroom or an official class newsletter).

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