Google is killing off its unlimited free “high quality” photo backups. Starting 1 June 2021, the photos you back up will consume your free 15GB Google Account storage. So, you’ll be charged for storage post this limit. The newly updated Google Drive policy will count the Google Docs and Sheets also against the same ceiling.
There are more changes introduced in this latest update. Let’s take a quick look.
New changes in the Google Photos’ storage policy
So, photos you backup in “high quality” post-June 1st, 2020, will eat away the 15GB free space that you get by default with every new Google Account.
The photos and videos you store up to that date won’t be affected.
Note that, if you are a Pixel owner, you will still have the privilege to upload high-quality photos for free even after June 1st.
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Google will send you alerts as you near the deadline. The company is also providing new storage management tools within Google Photos, including a feature called Blurry Photos. This as the name suggests, will let you find and review fuzzy, low-quality and dimly lit photos that you may not want anyway. It will help you stay within the 15GB cap.
Google also highlights “personalized estimate” time till which the free space will last, based on your upload frequency and usage patterns.
Besides photos, “Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms and Jamboard files” will also exhaust your free storage quota.
In its official blog, Google states the new storage policy will allow it “to keep pace with the growing demand for storage”. So, although the company shows sustainability as the reason, one may wonder if its a push to pay up for Google One plan.
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Whatever be the case, we ask, “Why does Google take away the one thing that people recognize Photos with?”
