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Google Photos Ends Free Unlimited Storage Support: Here’s What You Need To Know

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Google Photos free unlimited backup plan service is finally over. Users now have to pay some extra charges for any additional storage. In November last year, the company announced that starting June 1, 2021, it would no longer offer unlimited free storage for “high-quality” photos on Google Photos.

Therefore, users now will be limited to 15GB of free Google Storage that the company allows for all accounts shared across Photo Storage, Gmail, and Drive.

Users can choose from Google’s subscription storage plans, starting at Rs 120 per month for 100GB of storage. But if you don’t want to spend money on extra storage. Hence, it would be the ideal choice to clear up your existing 15 GB of free space.

Here are the steps to help you clear up your free 15GB Google storage:

Step 1: Install “Google One app” from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

Step 2: Once installed, open the app and go to the ‘Storage’ tab to check how much of your free 15GB storage is occupied and used across your Gmail, Google Drive files, and Google Photos data.

Step 3: To start deleting this data, click the “Free up account storage” button. 

Starting June 1, 2021, all photos and videos uploaded to Google Photos will be counted down to the 15 GB storage limit in Google account storage. This means that you can pay for a Google One subscription for additional cloud storage or delete some content to continue with the free storage service once you have reached your storage limit.

According to Google, more than one billion users use Google Photos and more than 28 billion photos are stored on the platform every week. The company is intended to apply new changes to pursue users to get its Google One subscription, which offers up to 30TB of additional storage on a paid plan. 

In general, Google Photos has evolved over the years. It has several features that allow users to search for images, create slideshows automatically, edit photos, free up storage, and go beyond cloud storage. However, if users don’t bother about the features that Google Photos provides, they can choose any cloud storage service to back up their media online. 

Microsoft OneDrive: Microsoft OneDrive is the best alternatives to Google Photos and provides users access to many other Microsoft services. It offers a gallery view to save photos and to tag images automatically. OneDrive is also free for up to 5 GB of storage. The 100 GB storage plan costs Rs 130 per month,, Rs 210 for the 200 GB plan, and goes up to Rs 650 per month for the 2 TB plan. 

Amazon Photos: Amazon Photos offers unlimited storage for full-resolution photos and allows users to share with up to five family members. It also offers several functions for searching, editing and sharing. Amazon Photos comes bundled with an Amazon Prime membership and free storage space is limited to 5 GB for non-Prime members.

Apple Photos: Apple Photos is another great alternative to Google Photos for iPhone users. The service offers seamless integration into the Apple ecosystem, powerful AI capabilities, and a variety of editing tools. This service is free again for storage space up to 5 GB and does not work with Windows or Android operating systems.

DropBox: DropBox is part of a cloud storage platform that offers cross-platform compatibility and additional features such as DropBox passwords and DropBox transfers. The service supports all file types, but only offers 2 GB of free space. The plans are quite expensive, starting at $9.99, i.e, around 720 rupees.

Pratibha Dubey

Digital Marketing Specialist

A self-motivated and passionate Digital Marketing Specialist who has a passion for learning more and unraveling the new digital marketing techniques. By communicating conscientiously to a team of differentiated specialists, she possesses excellent leadership skills. She is a collaborative individual who values the talent of those around her and knows how to enhance the work of others with a scope of improvement. She is a persistent problem solver who takes failures as an opportunity to grow.