Start with the audience and choose the smallest sharing arrangement that fits. Each person has a private library; sharing decides which parts another person receives or can view.
Choose the right tool
| Goal | Use |
|---|---|
| Let family view one event | A shared album with Viewer access |
| Let several people add their own event photos | A shared album with Editor access, or a shared space |
| Give a partner their own ongoing copy of your library | Partner sharing |
| Send selected photos to someone without an account | A shared link |
| Collect guest photos from an event | A shared link with upload enabled |
For a first test, use a small album of non-private sample photos and two ordinary accounts. That makes the result easier to understand than testing everything as an administrator.
Shared albums and spaces
In an album, choose Share, select people, choose Viewer or Editor, then Invite. Viewers can view; Editors can also add their own photos. Review Who has access to change roles or remove someone later.
A shared space suits a group building a library together while each contributor keeps ownership. Recipient groups are an invitation shortcut: review the actual people being invited. Editing or deleting a recipient group does not remove access already granted.
Partner sharing is a copy relationship
Open Settings → People & sharing → Partners & recipient groups → Add a partner. Read what the recipient will receive before confirming. The relationship is one-way; your partner shares back separately if you want their library too.
Partner copies arrive in the recipient’s own library. Details continue following the source until the recipient changes that detail themselves. Deletion is separate: deleting your original does not remove their copy. Stopping sharing stops future copies and updates; they keep copies already received. Copies can also flow onward to people your partner shares with.
Use partner sharing when that ongoing ownership is what you intend. For one holiday album, a shared album gives a narrower audience and scope. External-library photos are not included in partner copies.
Review every public link as a recipient
Create the link from an album or a selection, then choose its password, expiry, photo-details, download and upload settings. A link works like a secret: anyone who receives it can use the access you enabled.
Open it in a separate recipient session and check:
- Only the intended items appear.
- Photo details reveal the dates and locations you intended to share.
- Downloads are enabled only when you want originals to leave the library.
- Upload permission is appropriate for the recipient.
- The public server address works outside your home network.
A downloaded original can contain embedded location and camera metadata. Changing a link later cannot take back files someone already downloaded.
Know the difference between Archive, Locked and a Locked rule
Archive removes items from the timeline but leaves them available through archive and search. Use Locked for content that should require your PIN within the application.
An actually Locked item does not appear to album members, shared spaces or shared-link viewers. A partner receives their own copy already Locked, opened with their own PIN. Your PIN is never shared. Background server jobs and backups still process Locked items; it is an application privacy control rather than a replacement for securing the server and backups.
Locked rules hide matching people, pets or tags from your own sessions. They also affect individual sharing, but content deliberately placed in a shared album, space or link stays shared there. To stop that sharing, remove it from the shared collection or lock the item itself. Tag names on shared items can remain visible, including a tag used by a Locked rule.
A five-minute household check
Create a test album, invite a Viewer and confirm access. Promote that account to Editor and test adding a photo. Review a shared link from another session. Finally test a non-sensitive sample marked Locked and confirm it disappears from the shared views.
Keep account passwords and PINs separate, and use HTTPS on shared browsers so sign-in/sign-out can clear cached thumbnails correctly.
References: Sharing · Locked and private content · Albums and shared spaces
Describe the audience you want to share with if you need help choosing an arrangement. You do not need to post the private photos themselves.