I have some .svg files created in Inkscape.
I don't want or need them to be converted/compressed for storage on Google Photos; just to be backed up.
How can I stop the Can't add <x> files to Google Photos message from appearing each time I sync?
Google-photos – How to stop Google Photos from trying to process .svg files as images
google-photossynchronization
Best Answer
In your Backup and Sync Preferences, you have this option checked: "Upload newly added photos and videos to Google Photos".
The official Google Photos help documentation for this says that the file types may only be .jpg, .gif, .webp, .tiff or .raw. That is the reason why you are getting the error message from Backup and Sync saying that you can't add .svg files to Google Photos.
With regards to the wording of your question, note that Google Drive (a web application) does not compress files. This question is about Backup and Sync, which is a computer application, hence why this question should be on superuser.com rather than webapps.stackexchange.com. Also, note that the old name for Backup and Sync was not Google Drive, but rather Drive for PC. For these reasons, this question is not about Google Drive.