Facebook Set To Delete Users Back-Up Photos If You Don't Install Its New App.

Social network attempts to convince users to install its new photo-sharing app by threatening to remove all photos synced from the Facebook app.

Facebook users could lose a slew of photos taken with their smartphone or tablet under new rules announced by the social network.

Users who fail to download Facebook's Moments photo management app will see any photos backed-up via the Facebook app deleted for good, it warned.

The warning is part of an ongoing push towards the Moments app, which Facebook says offers an easier way for users to upload and backup photographs from their phone or tablet in one album linked to their account.

Previously, Facebook allowed the automatic back-up of photos taken on a phone into a separate album on a user's Facebook account, with photos being automatically uploaded as a way to ensure that nothing important was ever lost.

However this function was stopped back in January as Facebook looked to push the use of the Moments app, which was first launched in June 2015.

Facebook will now delete any snaps stored using this back-up functionality, unless users install Moments by July 7 2016.

Both iOS and Android devices are affected by the move, with some users having already received emails from Facebook warning them about the change.

Facebook confirmed the move in an official blog post: "Photos you privately synced from your phone to Facebook will be deleted soon.

"Earlier this year, they were moved to Moments, a new app from Facebook.

"If you want to keep these photos, download and log into Moments before 7 July. If you don’t want Moments, download these photos directly to your computer from your Facebook profile before 7 July.”

The site was keen to point out that even if photos are deleted, this will not affect any other photos or videos shared on Facebook separately from the specially synced album.

Users are also able to download all the pictures stored in the synced album to their PC before the July 7 deadline.

The news comes as Facebook previewed a major change to how it handles your Timeline.

The US social network pushed-out a new option to some users that offered a new News Feed-only option for users looking to share on the social network.