How your Google storage works

Each Google Account includes 15 GB of storage, which is shared across Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos. To add to your storage quota, you can purchase a Google One membership, where available. Occasionally, you may receive more storage from a special promotion or related purchase. To learn more about your quota, refer to What items count towards your 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.
• Gmail messages and attachments, which includes your Spam and Bin folders.
• Files in Google Drive, which includes PDFs, images and videos.
• Meet call recordings.
• Files created or edited in collaborative content creation apps such as Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, Recorder and Jamboard. 
  • 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. 

What happens when you're over quota

When you're over the quota, it means that you are using 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.
• 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 in to and access your Google Account.

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 the 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, we:

• Give you notice using email and 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 more about 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.

Frequently asked questions

Do these policies apply to G Suite/Workspace accounts as well as consumer accounts?

Some changes regarding quota will apply to some Google Workspace, G Suite for Education and G Suite for Nonprofits plans. Please refer to our Google Workspace Updates post to understand how these changes may impact them. 

Does this apply to Google Sites, Google Keep and other creation apps not listed here? What about Blogger and YouTube content?

No, this does not apply to Google Sites or Google Keep. It also does not apply to Blogger or YouTube content. 

I’m over my quota. How long do I have until my content gets deleted? 

If your account is subject to this policy change, we’ll attempt to give you ample notice (at least three months) before your content may be deleted. Your content will be eligible for deletion when you have been over your storage quota for 2 years. To make sure that your content is not deleted, either reduce how much storage you’re using or upgrade to a larger storage plan with Google One.

Are you going to tell me before my data is deleted? 

If your account is subject to this policy change, we’ll give you ample notice (at least three months) before your content may be deleted. We’ll attempt to reach you via your email address and notifications. Learn more about managing email addresses for your Google Account.

I don’t know if I can stay active once every 2 years. What should I do?

We understand that some life events can keep you away from your phone or computer for an extended period of time. That’s why we set a 2-year period before you’re considered inactive. 

For another way to manage your data should you become inactive, consider using the Inactive Account Manager. Besides sending you reminders about the account, this tool allows you to manage what happens to your account when you can no longer use it. You can also set up a trusted contact to download your data if you stop using your account, even before it would be eligible for deletion. 

Additionally, you can proactively download your data to back it up at any time.

How do I preserve content from a loved one if they pass away?

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.  

• Note: Inactive Account Manager settings don’t override our inactive and over quota policies.