Every
Google Account
comes with 15GB of free storage. This 15GB free storage is shared across
Gmail
,
Google Drive
and
Google
Photos. When you upgrade to a paid
Google One
monthly subscription, your total storage increases to 100 GB or more, depending on the plan you choose. Also note that when your promotion expires, your personal storage totals go back to what they were before the promotion.
So what happens when your free storage quota shared across Gmail, Google Drive and
Google Photos
gets consumed? If you go over your storage quota, here are the things you will not be able to do as well as those that will be impacted:
* You can’t upload new files or images to Google Drive.
* You can't back up any photos and videos to Google Photos.
* Your ability to send and receive email in Gmail can be impacted.
* You can’t create new files in collaborative content creation apps like
Google Docs
, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, and
Jamboard
. Until you reduce your storage usage, nobody can edit or copy your affected files.
* You can’t back up new Recorder files.
Note: You can still sign into and access your Google Account.
* If you’re over your quota for 2 years or longer: If you don't free up or purchase more space to get back under quota, all of your content may be removed from Gmail, Google Photos, and Google Drive (this includes Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, and Jamboard files).
Before your content is removed, Google
* Give you notice using email and notifications within the Google products. The company will contact you at least three months before content is eligible for deletion.
* Give you the opportunity to avoid deletion (by paying for additional storage or removing files)
* Give you the opportunity to download your content from its services.
FAQs
When you're over quota, it means you use more storage space than you have available. If you go over your storage quota: You can't upload new files or images to Google Drive. You can't back up any photos and videos to Google Photos.
What happens when your Google account storage is full? ›
When your account reaches its storage limit: You can't sync or upload new files. You can't create new files in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, or Jamboard.
What happens to my Google Drive files when my free storage expires? ›
If you're over your storage limit for 2 years or longer or if you don't free up or purchase more space to get back under your storage limit, all of your content may be removed from Gmail, Google Photos, and Google Drive (this includes Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, and Jamboard files).
What happens when Google free up space? ›
When you free up space on the Google Photos app on Android or iPhone, it removes locally stored copies of photos and videos from your device while keeping them safely backed up in your Google Photos cloud storage. This action reclaims storage space on your phone without permanently deleting your media.
What happens if you run out of Google storage? ›
When your account reaches its storage limit, you can't: Send or receive emails through Gmail. Upload photos or videos through Google Photos. Upload files to Drive or create new files in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, or Jamboard.
What happens if you go over the Google storage limit? ›
When you're over quota, it means you use more storage space than you have available. If you go over your storage quota: You can't upload new files or images to Google Drive. You can't back up any photos and videos to Google Photos.
Will Google delete my photos if I don't pay? ›
You're also exempted from the deletion of your photos and videos if you have an active Google One membership with no outstanding payment or quota issues. If you're inactive in Google Photos for 2 years or more, your content may be deleted from Google Photos. Before that happens, we will: Give you notice using email.
Will Google Drive delete my files if I stop paying? ›
If you cancel your Google One plan or it expires, the files will remain in your account for a limited time and then Google may delete them. Your storage quota would return to the standard 15GB of free storage. If you exceed the 15GB storage, your Gmail, Docs Editors apps, and Photos will no longer work.
What happens when you no longer pay for your Google storage? ›
If your storage plan is canceled or expires
If you cancel your storage plan, you'll lose all additional storage for your account. At the end of your billing cycle, you may be over quota. If you're over your storage quota for 2 years, all the content that counts toward your storage quota may be deleted.
Can you receive emails if Gmail storage is full? ›
Discovering that your Gmail account has reached its storage limit can be alarming. Especially because you can no longer receive or send emails. However, there is no need to panic because a full storage does not mean you are stuck. It simply means that you are long overdue for a cleanup.
What happens when you remove photos & videos from your phone. If you remove copies of photos and videos on your Android device, they're now deleted but, you still can: See your photos and videos, including the ones you just removed, in the Google Photos app and photos.google.com.
Does free up space delete photos? ›
Using a tool called “Free up space” in Google Photos, you can let the app automatically remove any local file that has a safely backed-up copy in the cloud.
How to delete Google Photos without deleting from phone? ›
There is no "official" way to delete photos (and videos) from Google Photos without deleting them from the device (you can do it the other way around), there are "tricks" such as moving your photos to a folder not synchronized with the app and then delete them from the app.
What should I delete when Google storage is full? ›
With the Google One Storage Management Tool, you can review and free up storage space by deleting emails in your trash, spam emails, or emails with large attachments. info Features are subject to availability. The steps may look different depending on your device.
Will I lose my photos if I stop paying for Google storage? ›
The short answer is that if you don't instantly pay for additional storage, Google Photos won't remove your previously taken pictures and videos. You can no longer add new content, but your existing content is still safe.
Do I have to keep paying for Google storage? ›
If you do run out of storage, you'll see a message asking you to upgrade to a Google One plan, but you don't have to buy digital storage.
Can I still get emails if my Gmail storage is full? ›
Discovering that your Gmail account has reached its storage limit can be alarming. Especially because you can no longer receive or send emails. However, there is no need to panic because a full storage does not mean you are stuck. It simply means that you are long overdue for a cleanup.
What happens if you don't renew Google storage? ›
If your storage plan is canceled or expires
If you cancel your storage plan, you'll lose all additional storage for your account. At the end of your billing cycle, you may be over quota. If you're over your storage quota for 2 years, all the content that counts toward your storage quota may be deleted.
Why is Google storage full after deleting everything? ›
The reason for this is simpler than you might think: “deleted” files are actually just moved to Trash, where they continue to take up storage space.