For more than five years, Google Photos has offered unlimited storage, as long as you agree to compress your images to 16 megapixels. With automatic backups, it’s a great way to free up storage space on your phone and ensure that all your smartphone pics are safely in the cloud.
But all good things must come to an end, and Google last year announced that it would no longer offer unlimited storage for Google Photos and Google Docs as of June 1, 2021.
The change “allows us to keep pace with the growing demand for storage,” Google Photos VP Shimrit Ben-Yair said in November. At the time, people were adding more than 4.3 million GB across Gmail, Drive, and Photos every day.
Instead, photos added to Google Photos and new Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, or Jamboard files will now count toward the free 15GB of storage you get with every Google account, or any additional storage you purchase via Google One.
To further confuse things, Google is changing the name of that 16MP, compressed tier of photos from High quality to Storage saver, because why not? If you want to store you photos at their original quality, you can, but that will eat into your storage real quick.
Upload All the Things Right Now!
The good news is that your existing library, and everything you add to your accounts from now until June 1, will not count toward that 15GB, so you have one more week to scan and upload all those old photos you have in a box to Google Photos, or go crazy with the selfies over the long holiday weekend.
One tip: if you have an iPhone, turn off Live PhotosLive Photos, the function that captures 1.5 seconds of video before and after you take a picture. It’s fun, but Live Photos create huge files. In the Camera app, tap the yellow bull’s-eye icon on the top right to turn off Live Photos.
How Much Free Storage Do I Have Left?
Once the limit goes into effect, Google will give you an estimate of how much longer your storage will last based on your typical usage. It says “more than 80%” of people should have about three more years of free storage available.
“As your storage nears 15GB, we will notify you in the app and follow up by email,” Andy Abramson, director of product management, said in a blog post. “If you don’t see an estimate, you may not have uploaded many photos and videos to Google Photos, you may be close to your storage limit (making it difficult to predict how many months your remaining storage will last) or your account is provided through work, school, family or another group.
Starting today, Google is also rolling out a storage-management tool in the Photos app that will suggest photos you might want to delete—”like blurry photos, screenshots and large videos,” said Abramson.
Could I Interest You in Some Google One?
Naturally, Google is hoping you’ll buy more storage via Google One. Plans start at $1.99 per month (or $19.99 per year) for 100GB of storage and go up to 2TB for $9.99 per month ($99.99 per year). Another option: check out our top photo-storage alternatives, or just keep creating new Google accounts for another free 15GB.
