Finding Your Auto Backup and Awesome Photos on Google+

Google+ automated photo backup

Google+ is a great way to backup all your pictures to the cloud (and do so free if you are okay with Google limiting their size somewhat). Despite limited storage space on your device, you can always have your full portfolio of pictures with you thanks to the Auto Backup feature.

Another plus of using Google+ as your photo storage is that they do some fun stuff with your pictures, e.g. by turning them into animated gifs or enhance the colors, without destroying the original picture.

But, as so often when using Google software, how to use the service leaves many people perplexed. Search is the only really user friendly software Google has.

Still, here are some simple tricks to make the most of Google's photo backup.

First, you'll need to download the correct software to your computer or mobile device (Android or Apple IOS).

To find all your backed up pictures, go to photos in your Google+ profile and type #autobackup in the search bar. This will show you all your backed up photos in chronological order. You can then select any picture you want and copy them to a folder of your choosing.

To find your Auto Awesome pictures, simply type in the following in the search bar:

MOTION -- short animations created from a sequence of photos
SMILE -- group photos where everyone looks their best
PANO -- panoramas created from a series of landscape photos
MIX -- photobooth-style pictures created from multiple portraits
HDR -- HDR photos created from a set of bracketed exposures

In order to attempt to have an Auto Awesome photo created, all you need to do is upload new images to Google+. They will automatically create Auto Awesome photos where possible. Be patient, it may take them a few minutes.