Google is developing a dedicated RAW images section in Google Photos' Collections tab. The unreleased shortcut gathers backed-up RAW photos in one place, making them easier to locate for editing or to delete to free up Google account storage.
Finding and managing RAW photos in Google Photos could soon become easier. Code in the latest Google Photos app update (v8.0) indicates that Google is working on a dedicated “RAW images” section for the Collections tab. The addition would display backed-up RAW photos in a single location. Most Android phones can shoot RAW photos right out of the box, but the large files quickly consume Google account storage and can be difficult to locate in the app for editing. Google appears to be working to address both issues.
Shooting in RAW improves image quality and provides greater control during editing, but the files require substantial space. As a result, RAW images quickly eat into Google account storage limits. Finding specific RAW pictures in the app is also difficult. Google Photos currently displays RAW photos in the main photo grid with a small “RAW” badge in the corner. This makes them hard to distinguish from regular JPEGs, complicating efforts to find them for editing or to delete them to free up storage space.
Code found in the Google Photos version 8.0 update indicates that Google could add a dedicated “RAW images” section to the Collections tab in a future release. While Android Authority could not make the option appear directly in Collections, they surfaced it through Ask Photos after some tinkering. The user interface remains a work in progress. When opened, the section displays all backed-up RAW images in one place. If an account has no backed-up RAW files, the screen simply reads: “No RAW images.”
The shortcut serves multiple purposes. It allows users to delete unwanted files to recover storage space, and it helps them quickly locate RAW shots to jump straight into editing without hunting through the main grid first. The feature is not currently live, and Google is still refining it, though the underlying filter already works as expected.
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Luiza Mosneagu is Reviews Editor at Droid Tools. A psychologist by training and tech writer by passion, she has tested over 60 Android devices since 2020 - always for a minimum of two weeks before writing a word. Her focus is camera quality, everyday usability, and cutting through marketing claims to tell you what a device is actually like to live with.
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