Google Photos is one of the leading cloud photo and video storage services by Google. The Google Photos service lets you backup your photos and videos to the cloud so that you can keep your digital memories safe and accessible across devices.
Google has been offering a dedicated Google Photos app for both Android and iOS operating systems so that users can automatically back up all their photos and videos to Google Photos. Although Google Photos offers only 15 GB of free space (15 GB storage is free with every Gmail/Google account for your emails, photos, and documents), many users subscribe to Google One for additional storage space.
Google Photos is easy to use and offers plenty of features and options. Sharing your photos and videos is also very easy. Because of the vast number of features and options, many iPhone users use Google Photos instead of the default iCloud storage.
The problem with Google Photos is that Google does not offer an official app for Windows and macOS (Mac) operating systems. Windows and Mac users who need to back up photos or access photos have no option but to use a web browser. Sure, there is a Google Drive app for Windows, but it cannot be used to access Google Photos anymore.
If you also use Google Photos to back up your photos and videos and often need to access your photos and videos from your Windows 11/10 PC, you will be happy to know that you can now install Google Photos as an app.
Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers allow you to install websites as apps. Once installed, the Google Photos app will open in its own window, just like an app, and allow you to access or upload photos to your Google Photos account. The app basically offers a Google Photos website in an app.
If the idea of installing Google Photos as an app sounds interesting, here is how to do that.
Install Google Photos on Windows using Chrome
Step 1: Open the Chrome web browser, visit the official Google Photos webpage, and sign in to your Google/Gmail account.
Step 2: Once you are on the homepage of Google Photos, click the three dots in the Chrome toolbar, click Cast, save, and share, and then click the Install Google Photos option.
Step 3: When you get the following pop-up, click the Install button to install Google Photos as an app in Windows 11.
You may now launch Google Photos using the Start/taskbar search. The app will open instantly and should work without any issues. The only downside is that it does not work offline.
Uninstall the Google Photos app from Windows 11/10 PC
Step 1: Type chome:\\apps and press Enter to see all installed apps.
Step 2: Right-click the Google Photos entry and click the Uninstall option.
Step 3: When asked for confirmation, click the Remove button. That’s it!
You can also use this method to install Google Calendar as an app on a Windows 11/10 PC.
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