Alongside Google Photos, Google has also announced a revision to its storage policy for your Google account. Starting June 1, 2021, new Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, and Jamboard files will count towards your account’s free 15GB storage.
As is the case with Google Photos, the new policy will not impact files you’ve uploaded before June 1. However, if you choose to modify these files after June 1, Google will treat it as a new file and will add it to your 15GB data cap shared across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos.
Google is also changing the way it has been handling inactive accounts and accounts that exceed the storage limit after June 1. If you haven’t used a Google service in 2 years, Google says it will delete all contents of that specific service. Google will alert you through emails and notifications within Google products at least three months before deletion. You can easily stop this by keeping your account active. Google recommends periodically visiting Gmail, Drive, and Photos on the web or mobile while you’re signed in.
Similarly, Google will delete all your content in Gmail, Google Drive, and Photos if you’ve been over your storage quota for 2 years. Much like inactive accounts, Google will notify you before pulling the trigger. You can either purchase additional storage through Google One or remove unnecessary files to avoid this situation.
Google is revising its storage policy at a time when users are uploading over 4.3 million GB of data across Gmail, Drive, and Photos every day. According to Google, the revision is to offer a ‘great storage experience and to keep pace with the growing demand.’
