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Files, photos, and videos will start to count towards users’ 15GB Google account free storage from June 1, 2021, and files that exceed the limit are at risk of being deleted.
“data-credit =” Image: CNET “rel =” noopener noreferrer nofollow “> Files, photos and videos will start to count toward free 15GB storage for Google account owners starting in June 2021. Image: CNET
Google is making big changes to its cloud storage policy, and yesterday announced that free online storage for files, photos and videos will be limited to 15GB starting next summer.
Starting June 1, 2021, any new files created in Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, and Jamboard files will count toward the 15GB of free storage included with every Google account. Customers who exceed that limit run the risk of excess content stored in Gmail, Drive and Photos being deleted.
Those who want to extend their storage beyond 15GB can get a Google One account, which starts at $ 1.99 per month for 100GB of storage. This seems to be the main motivator behind the changes: according to Google, more than 4.3 million GB is added to Gmail, Drive and Photos every day, so it seems that Google wants to monetize this huge dependence on its services on the cloud.
“To continue to provide everyone with a great storage experience and to keep pace with growing demand, we are announcing major storage changes to your Google account,” Google said in a blog post announcing the changes.
SEE: Cloud data storage policy (TechRepublic Premium)
“These changes will apply to Photos and Drive and will allow us to continue to invest in these products in the future. We are also introducing new policies for consumer Google accounts that are inactive or exceed their storage limit in Gmail, Drive and Photos. For make our policies more in line with industry standards. ”
Google Photos has offered unlimited storage since 2015. Historically, users have been able to upload ‘high quality’ resolution images to Google Photos not counting towards the 15GB limit.
By the looks of it, consumers have been keeping up with that offer: According to Google, there are more than four trillion photos stored in its cloud-based photo gallery today, with 28 billion photos and videos uploaded to Google Photos each week. .
“This change also allows us to keep pace with the growing demand for storage,” Google said in a separate post.
“We know this is a big change and it may come as a surprise, so we wanted to let you know well in advance and provide you with the resources to facilitate it.”
SEE: Top Cloud Providers in 2020: AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, Hybrids, SaaS Players (TechRepublic)
For now, users should not take any action. Photos and videos that have already been uploaded to Google Photos in high quality, as well as those that have been uploaded before June 1 of next year, will be free and will be exempt from the storage limit and will not count towards the limit of 15 GB.
Similarly, existing Google documents, spreadsheets, and other files will not count towards storage, unless they are modified as of June 1, 2021.
According to Google estimates, 80 percent of users will take at least three years to reach the 15 GB limit. The company says it will notify users when they approach their storage limit, and also offers each user a custom estimate of how quickly they are expected to reach the 15GB limit, based on how often they make copies. Security of your things in your Google account.
Beyond this, users risk having photos, files and videos if they exceed their limit or remain inactive for more than two years.
Owners of Google’s Pixel smartphones, from
the latest Pixel 5
to the original 2016 model – you don’t have to worry about changes to Photos as free and unlimited storage comes as part of the package.
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