> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://allmycameras.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Google Storage Full? Find What Is Using the Space Before You Delete or Pay - URL: https://allmycameras.com/google-storage-full/ - Published: 2026-10-10T05:33:36.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-10T05:33:36.000Z - Description: Google's free 15 GB is shared between Gmail, Drive and Photos, and backups you forgot about count too. Here is how to see what is using it, what stops working when you are over, and how to free space without throwing away the originals of photos and videos you care about. - Author: All My Cameras - Tags: Google Photos, Guides Google's free 15 GB is one pool shared by Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos. When it fills up, photo backup stops, Drive stops taking uploads and your email can be affected. Before you delete anything or buy more space, open Google's storage page and find out which of the three is actually the problem. For people who shoot video, it is usually Photos, but not always. ## What stops working when you are over From Google's own help page on storage limits: - **Google Photos:** you cannot back up any photos or videos. - **Google Drive:** you cannot upload new files. - **Gmail:** your ability to send and receive email "can be impacted". - **Docs, Sheets and Slides:** you cannot create new files until you are back under. The longer-term rule is the one to know: if you stay over your limit for two years, Google says all of your content may be removed. It promises at least three months' notice by email or notification first, with a chance to buy storage or download your data. ## What counts toward the 15 GB | Counts | Does not count | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Photos and videos backed up in Original quality | Photos and videos backed up in High or Express quality before 1 June 2021 | | Photos and videos backed up in Storage saver since 1 June 2021 | Files in someone else's shared folder (they count for the owner, not you) | | Gmail messages and attachments, including Spam and Trash | Docs, Sheets and Slides last edited before 1 June 2021 | | Everything in Google Drive, including PDFs, images and videos | | | Docs, Sheets, Slides and Meet recordings created or edited since 1 June 2021 | | | Android device backups (SMS, call history, settings, app data) | | Source: Google One help, checked October 2026\. Google's help also lists WhatsApp backups for Android under the storage manager, so they are worth checking too. ## Step 1: see the breakdown Open [Google One storage](https://one.google.com/storage?ref=allmycameras.com) on a computer. The bar at the top splits your usage between Gmail, Drive and Photos. Under "Get your space back", choose **Free up account storage**. That opens the storage manager, which groups items into suggestions (deleted items, spam, emails with large attachments, large photos and videos) and lets you clean up by service. The first section is usually items you already deleted. Google is explicit that deleted items still take up space until they are permanently deleted, so start there. It is free space with no decisions. ## Step 2: if Photos is the biggest Google Photos has its own storage tool at [photos.google.com/quotamanagement](https://photos.google.com/quotamanagement?ref=allmycameras.com) (on Android: Settings, Backup, Manage storage). It suggests large photos and videos, blurry photos, screenshots and unsupported videos. For anyone who shoots video, large videos are where the space is. Sort them, and for each one decide: is there another copy? If the clip came off a camera, the original is probably on a drive already and the Google copy is a convenience. If it was shot on the phone, Google may hold the only copy. ### Do not delete originals you have no other copy of Before you delete anything from Photos, get a copy out. For a handful of clips, select them and download. For a whole library, use Google Takeout. Our guides cover [downloading a large Takeout export](https://allmycameras.com/google-takeout-multiple-zip-files/) and [putting the dates back afterwards](https://allmycameras.com/fix-google-takeout-photo-dates/). Phone users can also copy straight from the device: see [backing up iPhone photos to an external drive](https://allmycameras.com/back-up-iphone-photos-to-external-drive/) and [backing up Android photos to a computer](https://allmycameras.com/back-up-android-photos-to-computer/). ### The "Recover storage" option is one-way Google Photos can convert your existing Original-quality library to Storage saver. Storage saver resizes photos above 16 MP down to 16 MP and videos above 1080p down to 1080p. Google states the conversion cannot be undone. That might be fine for a library of phone snaps, but it throws away the 4K versions of your videos and the full resolution of camera photos. Only use it once the originals are safely somewhere else. ### Turn off the source of the problem If your phone backs up video in Original quality, the space will fill again. Options: switch backup to Storage saver for new uploads, exclude certain folders on Android, or stop backing up video to Google and copy it to a drive instead. ## Step 3: if Gmail is the biggest Old attachments are the usual cause. In Gmail's search box: ``` has:attachment larger:10M ``` Change the number to suit. Add `older_than:2y` to find old ones. Delete what you do not need, then empty Trash and Spam, because both still count. ## Step 4: if Drive is the biggest In [Google Drive](https://drive.google.com/?ref=allmycameras.com), open **Storage** from the left-hand menu. It lists your files with the largest first. Video files that were synced from a computer, old phone backups saved as files, and zipped exports are typical. Two traps here: - **Takeout exports saved to Drive.** If you once exported with "Add to Drive", those archives now count toward the space you are trying to free. Download them and delete them from Drive. - **Drive trash.** Deleted Drive files sit in the bin for 30 days and still count while they are there. Empty it to get the space back now. ## Step 5: check device and app backups In the storage manager, look for device backups from phones you no longer use and, on Android, WhatsApp backups. Google lists a direct path for WhatsApp: Storage, Free up account storage, WhatsApp, Delete backup. Only delete a backup for a device you have retired or have backed up another way. Google says it can take up to 24 hours for storage changes to show, so do not panic if the number does not move straight away. ## Free up space or move out? If the honest answer is that Photos holds years of camera and phone footage and will only grow, cleaning up buys you months. The longer-term choices: - **Pay Google** for a bigger plan. Simplest; your library stays where it is. - **Move photos to a service you already pay for.** Prime members get unlimited full-resolution photo storage, but only 5 GB for video: see [moving Google Photos to Amazon Photos](https://allmycameras.com/move-google-photos-to-amazon-photos/). Apple users can transfer directly: see [Google Photos to iCloud](https://allmycameras.com/google-photos-to-icloud/). - **Host it yourself.** [Immich](https://allmycameras.com/google-photos-to-immich/) gives you a Google Photos style app on your own hardware, with no per-file-type limits. - **Keep video on drives.** Camera footage is large and rarely needs to be on a phone. A good [folder structure](https://allmycameras.com/photo-folder-structure-multiple-cameras/) and two drives cost less than years of cloud storage for 4K video. Whichever you pick, the rule is the same: one copy in the cloud is not a backup. Keep a copy you control. ## Related - [iCloud storage full: what to do](https://allmycameras.com/icloud-storage-full/) - [Google Takeout split into many zip files](https://allmycameras.com/google-takeout-multiple-zip-files/) - [Move Google Photos to Amazon Photos](https://allmycameras.com/move-google-photos-to-amazon-photos/) - [Move Google Photos to Immich](https://allmycameras.com/google-photos-to-immich/) - [Find duplicate photos safely](https://allmycameras.com/find-duplicate-photos/)