How to Fix Low Quality Content in Google Photos Shared Albums

Sharing memories through Google Photos albums is a popular and convenient way to keep friends and family in the loop. However, some users experience issues with low-quality content, where media in shared albums appear grainy or lower in quality than expected. If you’re having this issue, don’t worry — it’s a common problem, and there are easy fixes. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to fix low content quality in Google Photos shared albums and offer an alternative way to share photos with high quality using the Cozy app.

1. Enable “Share Photo Location” in Google Photos

One of the first steps to improve the quality of shared media in Google Photos is to ensure that the “Share Photo Location” setting is enabled for both you and anyone you’re sharing the album with. This setting helps Google Photos optimize the way the photos are shared and displayed.

How to Enable “Share Photo Location”

1. Open your album in Google Photos.
2. Tap on the … icon and then Options at the top-right corner.
3. Scroll down to Sharing and turn on Share Photo Location.

2. Remove Edits from Shared Photos and Videos

Edits can sometimes affect how photos and videos are shared and displayed in albums. If you’ve made any adjustments — cropping, filters, etc. — to photos or videos, consider reverting them to their original versions. Here’s how to do that:

How to Remove Edits

1. Open the Google Photos app.
2. Go to the album where you’re experiencing issues.
3. Select a photo or video that has been edited.
4. Tap the Edit icon (a pencil).
5. Tap Revert at the bottom of the screen to restore the original version.

Make sure everyone sharing the album follows these steps if their media has been edited.

3. Set Upload Quality to “Original Quality”

By default, Google Photos offers two different upload quality settings: High quality and Original quality. If your photos are being uploaded in “High quality,” this may compress them, resulting in lower quality media. To fix this, change the upload settings to Original quality.

How to Change Upload Quality

1. Visit photos.google.com/settings.
2. Under Upload size, select Original quality.
3. Ask everyone contributing to the shared album to update this setting as well.

Note that Original quality media will take up more storage space, but it preserves the full resolution and quality of your photos and videos.

4. Use Cozy to Share Your Photos Without Quality Loss

If you’re still encountering issues with Google Photos, you might want to consider using an alternative service like Cozy. Cozy is a free app and website that allows you to share high-quality photos and videos easily. Unlike Google Photos, Cozy doesn’t resize your media, ensuring your photos and videos stay in their original high resolution when shared.

How to Use Cozy to Share Your Photos

1. Visit https://cozy.photos.
2. Sign up by using your phone number.
3. Upload the photos and videos you want to share.
4. Generate a shareable link and send it via text to your friends or family.

Cozy is a great alternative if you’re tired of Google Photos compression issues, and it’s an easy way to ensure your photos and videos maintain their original quality when shared.

Conclusion

Low-quality content in Google Photos shared albums can be frustrating, but by enabling “Share Photo Location,” removing edits, and adjusting the upload quality to “Original quality,” you can often resolve these issues. If you still encounter problems, consider using Cozy for sharing your media without resizing. Cozy makes it simple to share high-resolution photos and videos with just a phone number and a link.