Would you like to create a private backup of your photos on the cloud but don’t know which service, program or app to rely on? Are you looking for a service that allows you to upload images online and be able to easily share them on blogs, forums or websites? Maybe I can help you out.

Below, you will find a brief – but I hope comprehensive – review of software, apps and online services that allow you to upload photos to the Internet, store them and / or share them publicly in an extremely easy and fast way. They are all free (at least in their basic versions) but each of them has pros and cons that must be evaluated very carefully.

So let’s try to find out which solution best suits your needs and see how to make the most of it: I bet you will be impressed by the amount of services available and their flexibility! Having said that, there is nothing left for me to do, except wish you good reading and have fun!

Index

• How to upload images to the Internet from a PC
  • Upload photos online from Windows
  • Upload photos online from macOS
• How to upload photos to the Internet from smartphones and tablets
• Sites to upload images online

How to upload images to the Internet from a PC

As you will discover shortly, there are some computer programs that allow you to upload images online , to be precise on a cloud space intended for data storage, in a very simple way: below I show you some of them.

Upload photos online from Windows

If you use a computer with  Windows , I recommend that you consider using  OneDrive : if you have never heard of it, it is a software made available by Microsoft, integrated in Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 (and downloadable as “external” program on different versions of the operating system, such as Windows 8 and Windows 7) that allows you to archive your data, including photos, on the cloud space of the same name.

Basically, OneDrive provides  5 GB of free online space, which can be expanded by purchasing additional packages: 50 GB for € 2 / month, 1 TB for the price of € 7 / month (for 1 user only) or € 10 / month (for 6 users). The latter two options, however, are tied to an Office 365 subscription . Furthermore, in order to use the service, it is mandatory to have a Microsoft account: if you don’t have one, you can create one completely free of charge, following the instructions I have given you in this guide .

As I mentioned earlier, if you have Windows 10 or Windows 8.1, the program is already included “as standard” in the operating system: to run it, all you have to do is open the  Start menu (by clicking on the flag- shaped icon  in the bottom left corner of the screen) and, after typing the word  OneDrive in the appropriate text field, click on the first result returned.

On the previous versions of the operating system, however, you must download the client: therefore connected to the Microsoft website , click on the Download button  corresponding to the OneDrive item  and, when the download is complete, start the file obtained (eg  OneDrive.exe ) . Now, click on the Yes button  and wait for the files necessary for the program to work to be downloaded from the Internet: the operation should not take long. Once the download is complete, the client should open automatically.

Now, if you are using Windows 10 or Windows 8.1 and you are logged into the system with a Microsoft account , OneDrive should ask you whether to use the same account for file storage; if, on the other hand, you have not associated the profile to the PC, enter your  Microsoft email address in the appropriate field, click on the Login button  and, when prompted, enter the account password .

If everything went well, you should see the program’s initial configuration screen: by default, the OneDrive folder (the one from which you can view files on the web, or send new ones) will be created inside the folder user; if you want to change this behavior, click on  Change location and enter the path to store the files.

When done, click the Next button  , select the system folders to sync with OneDrive (eg.  Pictures ) and click the Next button again  . At this point, click on the Not now button  to continue using the basic version of the service, click on  Next three consecutive times, in order to skip the initial tutorial and, to conclude the initial configuration phase of the service, press the buttons  Later and  Open my OneDrive folder .

From now on, you can easily transfer your favorite photos to the cloud, simply by “dragging” them to the OneDrive folder , which you can access using the appropriate item located in the sidebar of the Windows File Explorer (the yellow folder icon located in the lower bar).

If you see fit, you can have OneDrive automatically upload photos and videos in the memory of devices connected to your computer (cameras, phones, disks, USB sticks, etc.) to the cloud: to do this, locate the OneDrive icon on the Windows taskbar (the cloud placed near the clock), right-click on it and choose the Settings item  from the menu that is proposed to you.

Now, go to the Backup tab  and put the check mark next to  Automatically save photos and videos to OneDrive every time I connect a camera, phone or other device to my PC ; if you wish, you can perform the same operation for  screen captures (screenshots), by clicking on the appropriate box. When you are done, click on the OK button  , to apply the changes.

Photos (and, in general, all data stored on OneDrive) can be viewed from computers and devices linked to the same Microsoft account, as well as from the web . To learn more about OneDrive, please read the specific guide I created on the Microsoft platform.

If, on the other hand, you feel that OneDrive is not for you, you can rely on one of the alternative services that I propose below, which are also well integrated with Windows.

• Google backup and synchronization– this is the service made available by Google which, after appropriate configuration, allows you to send photos from your PC to Google Drive, automatically, with unlimited storage space. Requires a Google account to work. More info here .
• Dropbox– the well-known cloud storage service has a Windows-compatible program that, among other things, allows you to automatically upload images on your computer. In its free version, the service offers 2 GB of cloud space. More info here .
• MEGA– born from the ashes of Mega Upload, it is a cloud storage service that offers 50 GB of free storage (which can be increased by purchasing a paid plan), together with a client for Windows through which to quickly upload of files. More info here .

Upload photos online from macOS

Without a shadow of a doubt, the simplest method to  upload photos online from macOS involves using the iCloud Photo Library : for your information, iCloud is Apple’s online storage service, which allows you to store photos, documents and any other type of file, synchronizing all the items stored between the devices paired with the same Apple ID (to be able to use the service, you must have one).

Basically, iCloud provides 5 GB of free space which, if used for photo and video backups, can quickly become saturated (iCloud Photo Library, in fact, “affects” the available storage). If needed, the space can be increased by purchasing one of the available subscriptions: additional 50 GB for € 0.99 / month, additional 200 GB for € 2.99 / month or additional 2 TB for € 9.99 / month. For more information on iCloud pricing, I invite you to read the specific guide I have dedicated to the topic.

Archiving Mac photos using iCloud Photos is extremely simple, as the service is integrated “as standard” in macOS: to use it, click on the gear wheel attached to the Dock bar, in order to access  System Preferences , then click on the Apple ID icon  located in the box containing  your name . If you have not yet logged in with your Apple ID, press the Login button instead  and log in using the fields displayed on the screen.

If everything went well, you should now see the summary screen of your Apple ID: click on the iCloud icon  visible on the left and, to activate the automatic upload of images, put the check mark next to Photo icon (right) and that’s it!

From now on, all images belonging to the macOS Photos program will be uploaded to the cloud and will be visible on all devices paired with the same Apple ID. To see what’s on iCloud and buy more space if needed , click the Manage button  .

If you want to archive images stored in different folders on the Mac, you can instead rely on iCloud Drive: to activate it, go to the Apple ID management screen, as I have indicated above, and put the check mark next to the icon of iCloud Drive . Once this is done, you can transfer photos from Mac folders to cloud space, simply by “dragging” them to the iCloud Drive folder, which you can access through the left sidebar of the  Finder .

Remember that all data stored on iCloud can be viewed by all devices paired with the same Apple ID, by the iCloud client for Windows , and by the service’s web platform . If you want to know more, I refer you to reading my guide on how to store photos on iCloud .

If you feel that iCloud is not for you, you can consider using an alternative solution, such as the ones I propose below.

• Google backup and synchronization– the Google service that I also told you about in the chapter dedicated to Windows. Its client for macOS allows you to send photos and other data hosted on the Mac to the Google Drive cloud. Requires a Google account to work. More info here .
• OneDrive– Microsoft’s cloud storage solution, which I told you about earlier, is also available as a client for macOS.
• MEGA– the cloud service born from a rib of MegaUpload allows you to automatically upload photos and other types of files, through a practical client for Mac. It provides 50 GB of free space, which can be expanded through different plans to payment. More info here .
• Box– it is a cloud storage service that provides the user with 10 GB of free space (with an upload limit of 250 MB) and a paid plan of 100 GB, at a price of 8 € / month, which raises the upload limit to 5 GB. More info here .

How to upload photos to the Internet from smartphones and tablets

Do you need a system that allows you to upload, in a fully automatic way, the images acquired by the camera of your smartphone or tablet ? In this case, the solutions that I will propose in the following paragraphs may be useful.

Android

If you have an Android animated device  , you will be pleased that the Google Photos app , already available “standard” on the most recent versions of the operating system, allows you to automatically upload all the photos taken with the camera (but also present in other system folders), taking advantage, through appropriate settings, of unlimited storage space.

Keep in mind that, in order for everything to work correctly, it is essential that at least one Gmail account is configured on the device in use (which, in fact, will contain the saved photos): if you have not yet done so, you can remedy the problem by following the instructions I gave you in my guide on how to pair an Android phone with Google .

To configure the automatic backup of photos and videos, therefore, start the aforementioned app, confirm, if necessary, the Google account to be used for storage, tap the ☰ button located at the top left and tap the Settings item resident in the menu that is proposed to you.

Once this is done, touch the  Backup and synchronization item and move the lever of the same name to ON ; Now, to prevent consume photos available space on Google Drive, set the  backup mode of  high quality , bearing in mind that, by doing so, your uploaded photos will have a resolution of 16 MP (and videos a maximum resolution 1080p ).

If you want to automatically backup other folders containing images, tap on the item  Backed up device folders and move the levers corresponding to the directories of your interest to  ON . Easy, right?

Once the automatic upload of images to Google Photos has been configured, they will be visible on all versions of the app associated with the same Google account (including the one for iPhone / iPad ), in the Google Backup & Synchronization program (which I told you about previously ) and online . To learn more about Google Photos and how to use the app, I invite you to take a look at my in-depth analysis dedicated to the functioning of the service .

If you believe that Google Photos is not for you, you can evaluate the use of alternative solutions that provide for the automatic upload of images in the Gallery, such as Microsoft OneDrive , Dropbox and Mega (the conditions and prices of the related services are themselves already mentioned several times in this guide).

iOS / iPadOS

If, on the other hand, you have an  iPhone or an  iPad , you can easily store your photos online using iCloud Photos , the same service I told you about in the section dedicated to Macs of this guide.

To activate the automatic upload of the iOS / iPadOS Camera Roll to iCloud, do this: tap the gear icon located on the Home screen of the device, in order to access  the operating system Settings , tap on  your name (it is at the top) and touch the iCloud entry  located on the screen that opens later.

Now, just tap on the item  Photos and move the lever  Photo iCloud on  ON in order to activate the automatic loading of images captured through the camera. Furthermore, by placing the check mark next to the item Optimize iPhone space , you can ensure that, after uploading to iCloud, a less “heavy” version of the uploaded photos and videos is stored in the device’s memory, all in a way automatic.

If you wish, you can also take advantage of the Upload to My Photo Stream feature which, unlike the iCloud Photo Library, does not affect the storage space available on iCloud Drive; However, this feature does not sync videos and, more importantly, only keeps photos from the last 30 days . For more information, I refer you to reading my guide on how to store photos on iCloud .

If the iCloud Photo Library isn’t for you, you can consider uploading your images to the Internet using a number of equally good apps, such as the aforementioned Google Photos , Dropbox or OneDrive .

Sites to upload images online

How do you say? The solutions I have indicated to you so far are not of your interest because, in reality, are you looking for a service that allows you to  upload images online to be shared quickly on the web? If this is the case, I invite you to consider a hosting platform completely dedicated to images, like the ones that I point out to you below.

• Imgur– is a popular service focused on sharing entire photo galleries, consisting of static images and / or animated GIFs. It does not require registration and has an upload limit of 20MB for photos and 200MB for animated GIFs. However, keep in mind that photos larger than 5MB and GIFs larger than 1MB are automatically compressed, with potential loss of quality compared to the original formats.
• Flickr– is a platform that allows you to store up to 1000 photos on the cloud completely free of charge (a limitation that can be eliminated by making a paid subscription to Flickr Pro ). The service, which can only be used upon registration, supports photos in JPEG, GIF (non-animated) and PNG format. Each photo must have a maximum weight of 200MB. Flickr is also available as an app for Android , iOS and iPadOS .
• Pasteboard– another platform dedicated to sharing images which, among other things, allows you to upload files from the memory of PCs, smartphones and tablets, from the webcam / camera or from the operating system clipboard. It also includes a small editor that allows you to crop the image before uploading it online. The service is free and does not require registration in order to be used.