Optical and visible upconversion properties of erbium (Er3+)-doped oxyfluoro-titania-phosphate glasses (PCfBfTiEr) with the chemical composition of P2O5–CaF2–BaF2–TiO2–Er2O3 have been explored. An intense emission at 1.53 µm of Er3+-doped PCfBfTiEr1.0 glass was obtained upon excitation of 980 nm diode laser. In addition, green and red visible upconversion emissions were obtained upon the optical excitation of Er3+ ions doped PCfBfTiEr glasses at 980 nm diode laser. Upconversion emission intensities and population densities of respective levels were tuned with the variation of Er3+ ion concentration. Fluorescence decay curves of the 4I13/2 level of PCfBfTiEr glasses were obtained upon 980 nm laser excitation in the pulsed mode and revealed a mono-exponential behavior. The stimulated emission cross-section (σem), full width at half maximum (FWHM) and gain bandwidth product (σem × FWHM) were found to be 9.3 × 10−21 cm2, 95.61 nm and 889.2 cm−2 nm for PCfBfTiEr2.0 glass, respectively. These results recommend that the Er3+ ions doped PCfBfTiEr glasses may possibly be worthy for the laser and optical amplification applications at 1.53 µm.