Google to count high-quality photos, videos in free 15GB quota

Google has announced that from June 1, any new high-quality photos and videos you back up will count toward the free 15GB of free storage that comes with every Google account, or the additional storage youve purchased as a Google One member.

The company said that your existing high-quality photos and videos are exempt from this change.

“Any photos or videos backed up in high quality before June 1, 2021, will not count toward your Google Account storage. These photos and videos will remain free and exempt from the storage limit,” Andy Abramson, Director, Product Management, Google Photos, said in a statement late on Monday.

The company estimates that more than 80 percent of the users should still be able to store roughly three more years of memories in high quality with your free 15GB of storage.

As your storage nears 15GB, Google will notify you in the app and follow up by email.

“If you don’t see an estimate, you may not have uploaded many photos and videos to Google Photos, you may be close to your storage limit (making it difficult to predict how many months your remaining storage will last) or your account is provided through work, school, family or another group,” Google informed.

Google said that it is also rolling out a storage management tool in the Photos app to help you easily manage photos and videos you’ve backed up that count toward your storage quota.

“The storage management tool surfaces photos or videos you might want to delete like blurry photos, screenshots and large videos so you can get the most out of your storage. You can also purchase more storage through Google One where available,” the company said.

Google said it is also renaming its high-quality storage tier to Storage saver.