Google revealed last month that its cloud storage is undergoing some changes, and you’ll need to find additional storage space for your high-resolution images and videos, crucial papers, and other items when the changes go into force next year.
Google will no longer offer “unlimited” storage starting June 1 next year, as new photographs or movies uploaded to Google Photos or Google Drive will be counted toward the free 15GB of cloud storage included with every Google Account. Photos and videos (in original quality) backed up before June 1, 2021, on the other hand, will remain free and unaffected by the storage restriction.
“Any new photographs and videos you upload starting June 1, 2021, will count against the free 15 GB of storage that comes with every Google Account or the additional storage you’ve paid as a Google One member,” the firm said in a blog post. “Storage from your Google Account is shared across Drive, Gmail, and Photos. This modification also allows us to keep up with the rising storage demand. And, as usual, we honor our promise not to use information from Google Photos for commercial purposes. We recognize that this is a significant change that may come as a surprise, so we wanted to inform you ahead of time and provide you with resources to make it easier.”
This practically means that freshly created Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and other similar files will be included in the new storage changes, but it does not apply to existing files.
Why is Google’s storage policy changing?
These adjustments are necessary, according to Google, in order to give users with “a terrific experience” and to keep up with “increasing demand.” It claimed that users upload 28 billion photographs and videos per week, with 4 trillion photos currently stored on Google’s servers.
“People are uploading more content than ever before—in fact, more than 4.3 million GB is contributed every day across Gmail, Drive, and Photos,” Google stated in a statement announcing the changes. However, Google has stated that beginning June 1st, Pixel customers will be able to upload high-quality photos for free without them counting against their storage limit.
Google offers all customers 15 GB of free storage space, which includes Gmail, Google Photos, and Google Drive. While Google claims that over 80% of its Photo app users will not reach their 15 GB storage limit for three years after the changes take effect, many people are wondering what happens if they do.
Well, Google has a solution for you: you can join the Google One program and subscribe to a plan that allows you to keep uploading high-quality content to your account. These modifications have no impact on Google One account users.
In India, Google One plans start at Rs 210 per month with 200 GB, Rs 650 per month or Rs 6,500 per year for 2 TB, Rs 3,250 per month for 10 TB, and Rs 6,500 per month for 20 TB. So, how can one tell how much space their Google accounts have left?
Soon after the announcement of the storage policy change was released, David Lieb, Director of Google Photos, took to Twitter to offer customers a tool that “estimates the time before you surpass your storage capacity, based on your personal upload rates.”
Oh, and bad news for individuals who haven’t logged into their Google accounts in at least two years: Google will begin erasing data and material from these accounts.
It’s also a win-win situation for Google One users. “This new inactive policy will not affect Google One members who are within their storage allotment and in good standing,” the internet giant stated. In any case, it’s likely that Google will notify you before deleting content from your account, giving you the opportunity to save or download it before it’s gone.
