Google Photos unlimited free storage policy for photos and videos expired on June 1. Any new photographs and videos you upload will now count toward the 15GB of free storage that comes with every Google account. But don’t worry, your previous photographs or videos will not be counted toward the quota. In addition, Google has released a new free tool to assist you in managing your storage allowance.
It feels like Google Photos has been around for far longer than the five years it has. By 2019, the service had over 1 billion users, implying that Google’s recent decision to discontinue offering free unlimited storage is a major blow to, well, more than a billion people.
Google One, a subscription service, costs $2 per month in the United States for 100GB of storage and other benefits such as Google Store discounts. You may also look at the recently released Pixel Pass bundle package, which combines Google services like YouTube Premium, YouTube Music, Google Play Pass, and Google One Storage. Plans begin at $45 per month for two years when used to purchase a Pixel 6, or $55 per month for the same duration when used to purchase a Pixel 6 Pro.
Here’s everything you need to know about the shift, including how to manage your Google Photos storage, sign up for Google One, and more.
What will you see here?
Google Photos won’t delete your photos
Technically, you don’t need to change anything because images and videos you take on your phone will continue to upload to Google Photos as usual, even after June 1st. However, when your Google storage is full, uploads will cease.
This implies that the photos and videos will remain on your phone and will not be saved to the cloud. That may be OK with you, but it doesn’t mean you can’t see those photos in the Google Photos app on your phone and make use of all the excellent features like automated tagging, subject-based search, and automatic creations like animations and films.
Aside from the fact that your images and videos are no longer backed up online, you will be unable to view them in Google Photos from any other device.
Users like being able to quickly find a photo on Google Photos’ web browser version. However, once your storage is filled, the web version will no longer update with new photos and videos.
How to subscribe to Google One?
If you upload a lot of photographs and videos to Google Photos and fear you’ll run out of free space shortly, it could be worth it to subscribe to Google One. There are numerous options available:
- 100GB: $2 a month or $20 annually
- 200GB: $3 a month or $30 annually
- 2TB: $10 a month or $100 annually
You may join up for Google One on their website. Simply ensure that you are login into the Google account you wish to use.
You may also look at other photo storage services.
What’s a Storage saver?
Google has renamed ‘High-quality uploads to ‘Storage saver.’
This is an implicit acknowledgment that this option, which compresses photos and movies but does not store the original-quality files, isn’t very good quality. So you might want to reconsider your selections and begin uploading in Original quality.
How can you free up Google Photos storage space?
You may delete huge files that are using up space in your Google storage. However, this is simply a temporary solution because that area will be filled up with photos and movies again sooner or later.
Google is also releasing a tool that detects fuzzy, dark photos and huge films, allowing users to select which ones to remove to save up space.
However, keep in mind that Gmail uses your 15GB of free storage, Google Drive, and Google Photos, so you’ll need to maintain some storage open if you want to continue receiving emails, creating new Google Docs, and uploading files.
You should have gotten an email informing you of the change, which includes a link to a personalized estimate of when your free storage will be depleted, which may be months or years depending on how many photographs and videos you capture.
To get the same estimate, launch the Google Photos app and check under the Manage storage area.
Get more Google Photos storage with Google One
If you want to keep backing up to Google Photos, you’ll have to pay. This isn’t as costly as you may think. The service is known as Google One, and it functions as a storage and VPN service in one.
Upgrading to 100GB costs less than £2/$2 per month, with the option of up to 2TB if necessary. For more information about the costs and benefits of Google One, see our complete guide.
If you increase your Google Photos storage, this is a fantastic opportunity to ensure that all of your photos and videos are backed up there, so be sure to learn how to upload every photo and video you own.
Will Google Photos ever be free again?
Google Photos began as a totally free and limitless service. However, that is currently changing. Beginning June 1, customers will have to pay for storage over the 15 gigabytes that Google provides for free.
Conclusion
There are alternatives to Google Photos, of course, but at this point, you’re going to have to pay someone if you want to save a large number of high-resolution pictures and videos on the cloud and have them available from anywhere. Local backup is still a possibility. However, it is neither as easy nor as adaptable as cloud storage.
