Using Google Drive for event photos: what works and what does not
Drive is where you want the photos to end up. The question is how to get them there without asking a hundred guests to deal with folder permissions.
3 min readUpdated October 13, 2026
Google Drive is a natural home for event photos. You already have an account, the files stay in original quality, you can download everything at once, and nobody can shut the service down on you next year. As a destination, it is excellent.
As a collection method, it is clumsy. Sharing a folder means deciding who can edit, sending invites, and hoping guests understand the upload button in the Drive app. Let’s look at the options.
Option 1: share a folder with "anyone with the link can edit"
It works, and it is risky. Anyone with the link can also delete or rename what others uploaded, and the link spreads beyond the guest list once it is printed. Guests without a Google account face a confusing experience, and on many phones the upload flow sends them to install the Drive app.
Option 2: a form that uploads to Drive
Forms with a file upload question require respondents to sign in to a Google account and have file size and count limits. Videos from modern phones quickly hit those limits. It is fine for a handful of photos, not for a party.
Option 3: an upload page that writes to your Drive
This is the model Fotografou uses. You connect your Google account once; guests scan a QR code and upload from a web page. The files go from the guest’s browser straight to a folder in your Drive — they never pass through our servers — and guests cannot see, edit or delete anything in your Drive.
| Shared folder | Form | Upload page | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guest needs a Google account | Often | Yes | No |
| Guests can delete files | Yes | No | No |
| Large videos | Depends on the app | Limited | Up to 2 GB per file |
| Original quality | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Files stay in your Drive | Yes | Yes | Yes |
What permission does the app need?
Fotografou asks Google for the narrowest permission available, which only covers files and folders the app itself created. It can see the event folder it made, and nothing else in your Drive. Our privacy policy explains exactly what is stored and what is not.
Storage: how much space will you need?
A typical phone photo is 2–5 MB; a minute of video can be 100 MB or more. A wedding with a hundred guests can easily produce several gigabytes, mostly from video. Check your free space before the event; if the Drive fills up, Fotografou pauses uploads, tells guests honestly and alerts you — it never pretends a file was saved.
When the album closes or the publication expires, the files stay in your Drive. They were always yours.