Upcoming changes to Google account storage (1 June 2021)

Backing up your phone is always a good idea if you don’t want to lose your pictures, videos, documents or data.

In a separate article: How to create a backup of your Xperia device using Google's cloud services? , we explain how to create a backup using a Google account and your computer.

Here, we inform you about the upcoming changes affecting Google storage, starting 1 June 2021.

Google account changes

Each Google Account comes with 15 GB of free storage. After 1 June 2021, the following items will start to count towards your Google account storage quota:

• High quality and express quality photos and videos backed up to Google Photos
• Files created or edited in apps like Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms etc.

For more information, visit Google’s support page explaining the upcoming changes.

My Google storage is full (> 15GB). What can I do?

If your Google storage has almost reached the 15 GB limit, you’ve most likely seen the following pop-up appear when using Gmail: “Your storage is almost full”.

It’s important to free up your storage when you’re over the quota. If you're over quota for two years or longer, and you don't clear or purchase more space to get back under quota, your content can be removed from your Google account.

Learn how to free up your account storage

Your storage (i.e. free 15 GB) is shared across Google Drive, Gmail and Google Photos.

Follow the steps below to clear space and make room for new items:

1. On a computer, log in to your Google account.
2. Open the link: google.com/settings/storage to see how much space you have left.
3. To open Storage Manager, scroll down, then click Free up account storage, as shown in the screenshot below:

4. Manage your account storage.

Permanently delete files

NOTE: The files in the bin or spam folder take up space. Keep in mind that clearing the bin permanently removes the deleted files from your account’s storage.

You can do the following to free up space:

• Review and permanently remove deleted files, emails or spam stored in the bin.
• Review and permanently remove emails with large attachments (e.g. videos, images, documents).
• Review and permanently remove large videos or photos stored in Google Drive or Photos.

You can also free up space from your Google account or any other cloud service by downloading your files to a personal device (e.g. hard drive). You can then delete your files from cloud storage.

For more detailed information, visit Google’s article: Manage files in your Google Drive storage. 

You can also search for alternative cloud back-up services on the Internet.