Google Photos is one of the best ways to manage your images on a mobile device and it provides a multitude of useful features. One of these is Memories, a way for Google Photos to resurface old photos of people or places from your image collection.
To accomplish this, Google uses machine learning to cull through your photos and place these Memories at the top of the app when you open it. In a lot of ways, this is a fantastic feature that helps you look back through some of the best times in your life, all without requiring you to browse through hundreds or thousands of images to find them.
Unfortunately, as well-meaning as the Google Photos Memories feature is, it’s not always a good thing. Look, we’ve all been there, a messy break-up or a loss of a loved one. It’s not something we want to be reminded of until or unless we’ve had time to process it. In some cases that time may never come.
To help from dredging up those painful memories, Google Photos has a way to hide people and even pets from showing up in these auto-generated Memories. Follow the steps below to learn how.
How to hide people or pets in Google Photos
1. Open Google Photos
2. Tap on your user icon in the top right-hand corner
3. Select Photos settings
4. Locate Memories in the list
5. Choose Hide people & pets
6. Tap on the faces you’d like hidden.
In this case, we’ll use Scarlett Johansson as an example of an ex.
After completing these steps, Google Photos Memories will no longer show photos of the person or pet you’ve chosen. Additionally, you won’t be able to view them via the People menu any longer; searches for the person won’t return any photos of them.
For something a little broader, Google Photos also allows you to black out certain dates or a range of time from showing up in your auto-generated Memories. To do this, follow the steps below.
How to hide dates in Google Photos
1. Open Google Photos
2. Tap on your user icon in the top right-hand corner
3. Select Photos settings
4. Locate Memories in the list
5. Choose Hide dates
6. Using the calendar view, select the day or range of days you’d like to be hidden. This can include weeks, months, or even years.
There you have it — peace of mind!
