Stop sharing an album, and manage settings

You can change who can find photos, videos or albums that you’ve shared in Google Photos. You can do this if you own the album.

Stop sharing an album

If you stop sharing an album:

• Other people won’t be able to see your album.
• Comments and photos that other people added will be removed.

To stop sharing an album, remove all album members and turn off link sharing. Learn how shared album controls give your photos more privacy.

Important: If someone has already downloaded or copied photos or videos that you've shared, turning off sharing will not delete those downloads or copies.

Turn link sharing on and off

1. Open the desired album and click More   Options.
2. Click the toggle next to Link sharing to turn it on or off.

You must be the owner of the album to remove someone.

1. Open the desired album.
2. Click More   Options.
3. Scroll to find the contact that you'd like to have removed.
4. Click More   Remove person.

Important: If you share an album by link, you will need to turn link sharing off so that people that you remove can't rejoin.

Stop people from adding photos to an album

If 'Collaborate' is turned on, anyone who has the link to your shared album can add photos. 

To stop people from adding photos:

1. On your Android device, open the Google Photos app .
2. At the bottom, tap Collections Albums.
   • To find the albums you want, switch between 'All', 'Shared with me' and 'My albums'.
3. Open an album.
4. In the top right, tap More Options.
5. Turn off Collaborate.

Notes

• You can't stop individual people from adding items, but you can stop everyone from adding items.
• You’ll still see photos that other people added, unless you remove them.

Leave an album

When you leave an album, your photos and comments will be removed.

1. On your Android device, open the Google Photos app .
2. At the bottom, tap Collections Albums.
   • To find the albums you want, switch between 'All', 'Shared with me' and 'My albums'.
3. Open an album.
4. Tap More Options Leave album.

Important: You can't leave the album if you are the album owner. If you don't want to access the album anymore, you can delete the album for everyone.

Manage your likes and comments

Stop people from adding comments and likes

If you turn off commenting, people won't be able to like your photos. You’ll still see existing likes and comments unless you delete them.

1. On your Android device, open the Google Photos app .
2. At the bottom, tap Collections Albums.
   • To find the albums you want, switch between 'All', 'Shared with me' and 'My albums'.
3. Open an album that you've created.
4. In the top right, tap More Options.
5. Turn off Comments and likes.

See all comments

To see or delete all of the comments and likes that you've made, go to the activity log.

Related resources

• Block and report someone in Google Photos
• Share photos and videos
• Set up Partner Sharing
• Get suggestions to share with your contacts
• Label your face group
• How shared album controls give your photos more privacy
• Get updates when people share with you