How to use OneDrive Gallery Sync

Last Update date : Sep 28. 2022

OneDrive Gallery Sync allows you to sync your photos to OneDrive, download them, and more, to make storing and organising photos a breeze. To learn how this useful feature works, look below.

View of two screens displaying connect function and OneDrive gallery.

How to set up OneDrive sync on mobile devices:

Tap the OneDrive sync menu in the settings section of the Gallery app and Samsung Cloud app.

  • In Samsung Cloud: Go to Gallery and tap “To Sync”.
  • In Gallery: Tap “More”, select “Settings” and click “Sync with OneDrive”.

To use Gallery Sync with OneDrive you need both a Samsung account and a Microsoft account. Once the two accounts are linked and you agree to use the service, OneDrive Gallery Sync will start automatically.

  • Auto Sync: Photos from the Samsung Gallery app and OneDrive are both displayed and managed in the same way. When photos are added or deleted on Samsung Gallery, they are also added or deleted on OneDrive. Adding or deleting a photo in the Samsung Gallery folder on OneDrive will also add or delete the same photo in Samsung Gallery.
  • Changes in the OneDrive settings: OneDrive’s Camera Auto Upload menu will become Samsung Gallery Sync.
  • In the OneDrive app go to the “File” tab. Tap “Photos” and select “Samsung Gallery”: A “Samsung Gallery” folder will be created. The Samsung Gallery folder on the OneDrive app and the Gallery app on your phone/tablet is now synced with each other. 

First, you must disconnect your Microsoft account. Then you may sync again with a different Microsoft account.

To disconnect your Microsoft account:

1 Go to device settings and tap “Unlink” > “Logged-in Samsung account” (at the top of Settings) > “Linked accounts” > “Unlink” at the bottom of Microsoft.

To connect to another Microsoft account:

1 In Samsung Cloud: Go to Gallery and tap “To Sync”.
2 In Gallery: Tap “More”, select “Settings” and click “Sync with OneDrive”.

To disable your Gallery Sync settings:

Go to device settings > “Logged-in Samsung account” (at the top of Settings) > “Linked accounts” > “Unlink” your Microsoft account by tapping the “Unlink” button at the bottom of Microsoft.

Please note: The account unlinking process may vary depending on your software version.

If you delete the “Samsung Gallery” folder on the OneDrive app, Gallery Sync will not work properly. Please restore the Samsung Gallery folder from the OneDrive recycle bin.

This notification may appear in the following two cases:

1 Your Microsoft and Samsung accounts have been unlinked.
Gallery Sync is not working and cannot sync to OneDrive because your Microsoft account password has been changed or verification has not been completed in accordance with Microsoft policy.
 
Try the following solution:
  • You will see a message about unlinking in the Samsung Cloud app > “OneDrive” > “Gallery Sync settings”. Tap this message to go to your Microsoft account page. Log in to your Microsoft account and agree to service syncing once more.
2 OneDrive is frozen:
Because you exceeded your storage space, or due to the OneDrive policy, you cannot use the OneDrive service with your Microsoft account and Gallery cannot sync anymore.
 
Try the following solution:
  • Open the OneDrive app and unfreeze the service.

Photos and video files under the “Samsung Gallery” folder on the OneDrive app are synced with the Gallery app. When you delete a photo from OneDrive, the photo file is also deleted from all synced devices and moved to the recycle bin.

  • Go to OneDrive app > “Me” > “Recycle bin”. Deleted data can be restored within 30 days from the OneDrive app’s recycle bin.

If photos synced to OneDrive are not saved on your phone/tablet, they appear as thumbnail previews on the Gallery app. As they are displayed as thumbnails rather than as the originals on your phone, you can save them on the storage space of your device. Thumbnail previews may not be supported for some photos. If you would like to see the original photos, please download them.

  • Go to Gallery, tap the “Photos” tab, then click “Select file”, tap “More” and finally click “Download” to download your synced photos.

Please note: The process may vary depending on the device/app version.

Go to Gallery, tap the “Photos” tab, then click “Select file”, tap “More” and finally click “Download” to download your synced photos.

Please note: The download process may vary depending on the device/app version.

Try deleting files you do not need from OneDrive. When you do this, be cautious: if you delete photos in the “Samsung Gallery” folder of the OneDrive app, they will also be deleted from your Samsung device and the Gallery app.


Alternatively, you can purchase additional storage space through OneDrive by purchasing the Premium version of the app.

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