Note: This article is about your Google Account storage. If you use Drive for desktop and your computer shows a different amount of space, learn why your computer's storage differs from your Google storage.
What affects your Google Account storage
What counts towards your storage quota
- Original-quality photos and videos backed up to Google Photos.
- High quality (now named Storage saver) and express quality photos and videos backed up to Google Photos after 1 June 2021. Any photos or videos that you've backed up in High quality or Express quality before 1 June 2021 will not count towards your Google Account storage. Learn more about this change.
- Note: Older, inactive photo libraries still occupy active space if they were backed up in Original quality.
- Gmail messages and attachments, which includes your spam and bin folders.
- Files in Google Drive, which include PDFs, images and videos. Files in shared folders only consume the cloud storage quota of the original file owner, never the recipient.
- Meet call recordings.
- Files created or edited in collaborative content creation apps like Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, Recorder, Vids and Pics.
- Files created or edited after 1 June 2021 count towards your quota.
- Files uploaded or last edited before 1 June 2021 don't count towards your quota.
- WhatsApp backups on Android.
- All data managed through the Android backup settings.
- SMS and MMS messages
- Call logs and history
- Device settings
- App data
What happens when you're over quota
When you're over quota, it means that you use more storage space than you have available. If you go over your storage quota:
- You can still sign in to and access your Google Account.
- 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, Vids and Pics. Until you reduce your storage usage, nobody can edit or copy your affected files.
- You can't back up new Recorder files.
If you're over your quota for two years or longer
If you don't free up or purchase more space to get back under quota, all of your content in your Google Account may be removed, including in Gmail, Google Photos, Google Drive (this includes Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, Vids and Pics) and your Android device's backup.
Before your content is removed, we will:
- Give you notice via email or notifications within the Google products. We 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 our services. Learn how to download your Google data.
How to go back under quota
We provide access to storage management tools that help you identify ways to free up storage space. Another option to free up space is to download your files to your personal device and then delete them from your cloud storage.
After you delete a large number of files, it normally takes up to 48–72 hours for Google's systems to accurately update the storage space.
If you want more storage space for Gmail, Drive and Photos, you can upgrade to a larger storage plan with Google One.
Frequently asked questions
How these policies apply to Google WorkspaceThe over-quota policy doesn't apply to:
- Google Sites
- Google Keep
- Blogger
- YouTube
The inactivity policy applies to all content in your Google Account and the account itself.
Supervised accounts can access the Google One storage manager. They can navigate to the Google One storage manager page for Photos, Gmail and Drive on the web.
However, supervised child accounts can't purchase Google One memberships.
If your account is subject to this policy change, we'll give you at least three months notice before your content may be deleted.
- We'll try to reach you through your email address and notifications.
- Manage your Google Account email.
We recognise that many people pass away without leaving clear instructions about how to manage their online accounts. Google can work with immediate family members and representatives (in certain circumstances) to provide content from a deceased user's account. Learn more about our process for requesting a deceased user's data.
To let us know in advance what to do with your data in the event of death or prolonged inactivity, learn more about Inactive Account Manager.
Tip: The Inactive Account Manager settings don't override our inactive and over-quota policies.
Resolve common issues
Why didn't my storage update after I deleted a lot of files?It can take up to 24 hours for a storage plan upgrade to become active. Try signing out of your Google Account and signing in again. If it's been more than 24 hours, you can contact Google One support for help.
No, but they count towards the file owner's storage. However, if you make a copy of a shared file or add your own files to a folder that someone shares with you, those new files use your storage.
Drive for desktop uses small placeholder files on your computer instead of downloading the full files from the cloud. Because they are only placeholders, these Drive for desktop files don't reflect how much space you actually use in the cloud.
Your total cloud storage also counts hidden app data, background system files and items left in your Drive bin. These are not counted on Drive for desktop.
You can easily clean up your storage on the web with the storage manager.
Photos and videos backed up in 'Storage saver', formerly 'high quality', before 1 June 2021 didn't count towards your storage. So, if you deleted 'Storage saver' photos backed up before this date, it doesn't free up any space from your storage limit.