Google Drive storage full? How to free up space

A free Google account comes with 15 GB of storage, and it fills up faster than most people expect. When it does, you can't upload to Drive, new photos stop backing up, and Gmail starts bouncing incoming email. The good news: most accounts have a few big things taking most of the space, and you can find them in minutes.

First, know what counts

The 15 GB is shared by three services:

• Google Drive: every file you own, including Docs, Sheets and Slides created since June 2021, files in shared folders that you uploaded, and everything in the Trash.
• Gmail: all messages and attachments, including Spam and Trash.
• Google Photos: photos and videos backed up since June 2021, in any quality.

Files that other people own and share with you do not count against your storage, even if they appear in your Drive. Backups of Android phones and, on Android, WhatsApp chats also use your Google storage.

To see the breakdown, open one.google.com/storage. It shows how much each service uses and offers a "Clean up space" tool.

Free up space in Google Drive

1. Sort by size. Open drive.google.com/drive/quota. It lists your files from largest to smallest. Old videos, ZIP archives and disk images are the usual suspects.
2. Empty the Trash. Deleted files keep using space for 30 days unless you empty the Trash yourself.
3. Check copies you made of shared files. "Make a copy" turns someone else's file into one you own, and it counts against your storage. Delete the ones you no longer need.
4. Remove hidden app data. In Drive, open Settings, then Manage apps. Apps that store data in your Drive show an option to delete it.

Free up space in Gmail

Search Gmail for has:attachment larger:10M to find messages with big attachments, and older_than:2y has:attachment for old ones. Save the attachments you want to keep, then delete the messages. Empty Spam and Trash afterwards, or the space is not released for 30 days.

Free up space in Google Photos

• Use the "Review and delete" suggestions in Photos for blurry shots, screenshots and large videos.
• Switch the backup quality to Storage saver. In the Photos settings you can also compress photos you already backed up ("Recover storage"). This lowers image quality and can't be undone, so read the warning first.
• Turn off backup for folders you don't need in the cloud, such as WhatsApp images or downloads.

What happens if you stay over the limit

Besides the upload and email problems, Google's policy is that if your account stays over its storage limit for two years, it may delete your content in Gmail, Drive and Photos. It warns you first, but don't let it get that far.

When cleaning isn't enough

If your files are simply bigger than 15 GB, you have two paths:

• Buy more Google storage. A Google One plan is the least effort: everything stays where it is.
• Move your archive somewhere else. Keep Drive for the documents you share and work on, and move finished projects, old photos and large videos to another place. That can be an external disk, or a second cloud service. pCloud offers lifetime plans paid once instead of every month; Proton Drive and Internxt encrypt your files so that only you can read them. Our comparison of Google Drive alternatives goes into the differences.

Whatever you choose, move files rather than deleting them blindly, and check the copy opens before you remove the original. Our guide to backing up Google Drive explains how to export everything in one go with Google Takeout.

Frequently asked questions

Do files shared with me count against my storage?

No, only files you own. They start counting if you make a copy.

Does deleting a file in Drive free space immediately?

Only after it leaves the Trash, either when you empty it or after 30 days.

Why is my storage full when Drive looks empty?

Gmail and Photos share the same 15 GB. Check the breakdown at one.google.com/storage.