How to store images

[SharonEllis]

Im totally useless when it comes to tech. I have loads of images I need to download. Everything is full (I think). Whats the best/safest place to store images and the cheapest solution? I have an android phone & have an ordinary laptop (not a mac). I post a lot on socials so want access to my images. Sorry to be so dim.

Download from where?
I'd get an external hard drive and store everything on there. They're about the size of a smartphone and just plug into your phone or laptop.

You can pay for cloud storage (Google etc) but I prefer to have a "hard copy"

@InvalidCrumb thanks. at this particular point from a phone that Im giving up. But there will be more images from my current phone when it fills up. I have wondered about an external hard drive. Os that straightforward? Do you get what you pay for basically?

Honestly, don't really know, I have only ever bought one and I expect you just pay for the space! Just check it has the right connector to connect to your phone (or buy one separately).

@InvalidCrumb thanks. I will look into it.

All my photos upload to Amazon photos

Yes, that's cloud-based storage. If you haven't got them backed up you're potentially vulnerable to them being taken down, held to ransom, cyber attack, hiked storage charges etc. All pretty unlikely for a massive company like Amazon, but for me I like to know they're stored somewhere else as well.

Obviously hard drives degrade, can get lost etc so nothing is perfect on its own.

@InvalidCrumb I back up really important stuff on cd but its the itermediary stage I need to sort. As you say nothing is perfect!