PSA: Users are experiencing corrupted photos on Google Photos, but Google says the original files are safe

Google Photos users are reporting that photos stored in Google Photos are appearing corrupted.

Twitter user Artem Russakovskii says, ‘Google Photos corrupting old photos would be my nightmare. As it happens, it’s exactly what’s happening to some people right now.’ The good news is that according to 9to5Google, the issue isn’t affecting the original files. Google’s statement states, ‘We’re aware of the issue and are rolling out a fix. The original photos are not impacted. ‘

However, even if there’s a fix in the works and original files aren’t damaged, it’s easy to understand why Google Photos users affected by the issue were upset. It’s scary to be scrolling through your precious photos and memories and see them appear damaged. What’s especially strange is that some photos showed what looks like water damage to physical prints. Images showed blurry and distorted areas, lines, and cracks.

The issue has popped up across numerous platforms, including Google Photos on desktop, Android and iOS. It’s widespread, with many reports appearing on Google Support and Reddit.

Per affected users, the corrupted images remain corrupted even when downloading the original file, so it’s not just a display issue when looking at the files in the cloud. As of Sunday, some users had noticed an improvement in their photo collections, while others still had the issue. And Google’s statement acknowledging the issue and promising a solution was released yesterday, so hopefully, more users have had their photo libraries returned to normal.

If you’ve been affected by the issue, please let us know in the comments below. Further, if the issue has impacted you on Google Photos, has it been resolved?