Google Photos is ending its free unlimited storage benefit starting today, June 1. Google announced this news back in 2020. The company will now start charging for the storage space your photos and videos take over the 15GB quota. It is planned to assist Google with persuading users to get a paid Google One membership that brings distributed storage for Google Photos, alongside Google Drive and Gmail, of up to 30TB space. Google is furthermore carrying an approach to delete data from dormant accounts that have not been signed in for at least two years.
Google, however, in a previous blog post has confirmed that any photos or videos you’ve uploaded in ‘high quality’ and not the ‘original quality’ before June 1, 2021, will not count against the 15GB cap. Thus, the change will be effective for the uploads taking place after June 1.
Google Pixel users are somewhat lucky as they will be exempted from the latest change and can keep on uploading their photographs and video recordings in ‘high quality’ from their Pixel devices even after June 1. But unlike before, they will also not be able to access unlimited storage for their content in its original file size.
Many Users will think to use the cloud storage subscriptions provided by Google itself. Their plans start from $1.99 for 100GB, 200GB for $2.99, and 2TB for $9.99 per month. Google Photos has been a great medium for backup photos and videos in high quality for many smartphone users up till now.
Google has now provided several tools to clear unwanted photos and videos in Google Photos that may help the user to keep the data within 15GB or as per their cloud storage plan. Google said, “the storage management tool surfaces photos or videos you might want to delete like blurry photos, screenshots, and large videos so you can get the most out of your storage.”
In addition to Google Photos, Google is also including Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, and Jamboard files to the 15GB storage cap. “We will notify you multiple times before we attempt to remove any content so you have ample opportunities to take action,” the company said in an announcement.
