keeping photos private on Google+... a pictorial

Although many people have no qualms about sharing personal photos online, I prefer to keep many private; especially pictures of my little one. Yet I still want to share pictures with friends and family. I have migrated over to G+ and use it more and more each day. I love that there is a great way to keep photos pretty private on G+, even if it is not 100%. I am not sure other social networks have these same features.

This pictorial was originally just for my sister-in-law, but then I thought many people might benefit from it. Especially those G+ newbies.


Step 1:
Under your account settings  → Google + → Photos
Make sure the box that says "Allow viewers to download my photos." is UNCHECKED

Step 2:
From the Home page

Step 3:
You can choose to drag your photo, upload from your computer, or upload from your Google+ photos.

Step 4:
Choose the circle that you would like to share this photo with. Make sure that the name of the circle is the only thing in the "to" field.

I actually created a specific circle for sharing personal photos. It includes family and friends (although hardly any of them are on G+). The nice thing is that you can put one person in multiple circles.

Step 5:
This step is key to keeping them private. There is a teeny tiny arrow on the right side of the "to" field. Hover over that arrow so that a drop down menu appears.

Step 6:
Highlight where it says disable reshares. This way, no one can reshare a photo you wanted to keep private. The other nice thing is that people can't mention anyone new in comments.

There you have it. Let me know if you have any questions or if something is not clear.  I think this is a great way to share photos that seems more secure than other social media. Now more people just need to get on G+!