You just subscribed to Amazon Prime and discovered that a photo storage service is included in your offer. Amazon Photos allows you to back up your images and videos in the cloud, directly from your phone or computer. However, you need to know how to activate the service, set up automatic backup, and organize your files without wasting time.
Amazon Drive is gone: what this means for your Amazon Photos account
Before creating anything, one point deserves your attention. Amazon Drive, Amazon’s former general storage service, was permanently shut down on December 31, 2023. The app was removed from stores as early as October 2022, and the addition of new files was blocked starting January 2023.
The photos and videos stored on Amazon Drive were automatically transferred to Amazon Photos. However, other types of files (PDFs, documents, ZIP archives) did not follow. If you had an old Amazon Drive account, your photos are already in Amazon Photos, but your documents are gone if you did not download them before the deadline.
Today, Amazon Photos is the only public cloud storage service offered by Amazon. This is what you use, whether you access it through the web browser, mobile app, or Windows software. For those who want to learn more on Wiki Dark, the account functionality is detailed with screenshots.
Create an Amazon Photos account and install the app
You do not need to create a separate account. Amazon Photos uses your existing Amazon account. If you already have an account for your purchases, just log in with the same credentials.
On Android or iPhone
Search for “Amazon Photos” in the Play Store or App Store. Download the app, then log in with your Amazon email address and password. The app will immediately prompt you to activate automatic backup for your camera roll.
On Windows or Mac computer
Go to the site amazon.fr/photos from your browser. Log in, then go to the download tab to install the desktop application. This software allows you to sync a folder on your computer with the Amazon cloud.
You can also use Amazon Photos solely through the browser, without installing anything. The web interface provides access to all functions: import, sort, share, delete.
Set up automatic backup on your devices
Automatic backup is the most useful feature of the service. Once activated, every photo or video taken with your phone is sent to the cloud without any action from you.
Here are the settings to check to ensure everything works correctly:
- Enable automatic backup in the mobile app settings, section “Back up your photos.” The slider must be set to “On” for photos and, if desired, for videos
- Choose whether the backup occurs only over Wi-Fi or also using mobile data. The first option prevents consuming your plan, but delays the sending of files
- On Windows, select the folders to sync in the preferences of the desktop application. By default, only the “Pictures” folder is offered, but you can add others
A detail often overlooked: Prime members benefit from unlimited storage for photos in full resolution. Videos, on the other hand, are limited to a quota of a few gigabytes (variable depending on the plan). If you are not a Prime member, total storage is capped for both photos and videos.
Sort and find your photos with AI search
Amazon Photos underwent a redesign in May 2026, integrating sorting and search functions assisted by artificial intelligence. The new design makes it easier to navigate a large library.
Specifically, you can type a word in the search bar (“beach,” “dog,” “birthday”) and the app identifies the corresponding images without you having added a manual tag. Face recognition also allows for automatic grouping of photos of the same person.
Organize your files into albums
AI search does not replace personal organization. Creating albums remains the most reliable way to find a specific group of photos. To do this, select multiple images, then choose “Add to an album.” You can name the album freely.
An album does not move the files, it simply creates a visual shortcut. Deleting an album does not delete the photos it contains. This functionality prevents accidental loss, but can create confusion if you think you have “sorted” your images while they also remain in the general library.
Share photos from Amazon Photos without losing quality
Sharing is a common use, especially for family photos. Amazon Photos offers two methods:
- The share link: select one or more photos, generate a link, and then send it via email or messaging. The recipient does not need an Amazon account to view the images
- The family vault: this feature allows you to invite up to five people (members of your household) to share a common space. The photos added by each member are visible to all, and the unlimited Prime storage applies to the entire group
- Direct download: you can retrieve any file in original resolution from the browser or the app, without compression
Shared images retain their original resolution, unlike some competing services that compress files when sending. This aspect makes Amazon Photos a relevant option for photographers who want to transmit large files without going through a third-party transfer service.
The unlimited storage reserved for Prime subscribers, multi-device automatic backup, and AI search constitute the three pillars of the service. If your priority is to never lose a phone photo, activating automatic backup right at installation remains the most useful gesture. The rest of the organization can be built gradually, album by album.