Samsung Gallery without OneDrive: your photos on your own PC

From September 30, 2026, Samsung Gallery no longer syncs with OneDrive. Samsung suggests Google Photos instead. If you would rather keep your photos at home on your own PC, with no account and no cloud: PicHaven.

What changes on September 30

Microsoft puts it plainly: “After September 30, 2026, Samsung Gallery will no longer sync photos to OneDrive” (Microsoft Support). Since mid September the Gallery app offers a Google Photos sync instead, switched on from a banner in the Gallery; OneDrive gets disconnected in the process (9to5Google, Sep 18, 2026, SamMobile, Sep 18, 2026). One cloud is simply replaced by the next.

Doesn't Samsung back up to the PC already?

Samsung ships a lot. An automatic backup to your own PC is not part of it. As of September 27, 2026:

• Smart Switch for PC backs up only over a USB cable, at the press of a button: “A USB cable is required to connect a device” (Smart Switch store listing).
• Samsung's Quick Share for Windows runs only on Samsung Galaxy Books and sends files one at a time (Quick Share store listing).
• Galaxy Connect shows your phone's files in File Explorer on a Windows 11 PC, but backs nothing up and needs the same Samsung account on every device (Galaxy Connect store listing).
• The Gallery itself syncs automatically, but to the cloud: OneDrive until now, Google Photos from now on.

What PicHaven does differently

• New photos and videos go to your Windows PC on their own over your home Wi-Fi, as original files.
• No account, no cloud. The connection is encrypted and stays inside your network.
• On the PC everything is sorted by device and month, WhatsApp pictures and screenshots too if you like.
• PicHaven never deletes anything on the phone, and no photo is ever lost on the PC.
• Your first backup is free, however large, plus the next 250 files. After that, a one-time 4.99 EUR unlocks unlimited backups. No subscription.

You need an Android phone with Android 10 or newer and a Windows PC (10 or 11) on the same Wi-Fi. PicHaven makes a copy. It does not replace a second backup, for example on an external drive.

Set up your Samsung phone

Samsung phones are strict with apps in the background. So that PicHaven also backs up while the app is closed:

1. In PicHaven tap ⋮ → Allow in background and confirm. If the entry is missing, it is already allowed.
2. Settings → Apps → PicHaven → Battery: choose Unrestricted.
3. Settings → Battery → Background usage limits → Never sleeping apps and add PicHaven.
4. Settings → Apps → PicHaven: turn off “Remove permissions if app is unused”.

Labels can differ slightly between One UI versions. More in the help.

Google Photos and PicHaven together?

Works. PicHaven backs up what is on the phone. One thing to know first: if Google Photos used “Free up space” to remove originals from the phone, they only exist in the cloud now and PicHaven cannot bring them to the PC. Everything you shoot from now on arrives.

Samsung, Galaxy, OneDrive and Google Photos are trademarks of their respective owners. PicHaven is an independent product and not affiliated with these companies. All statements about other products are as of September 27, 2026 and based on the linked sources.