How to Use Google Photos' Storage Management Tool to Free Up Space Now That Unlimited Backup Is Over

Google Photos has introduced a new Storage Management tool to help users make the most of their 15GB free quota for backups, which went into effect on June 1. Google earlier offered unlimited backup for 'High' quality photos - compressed to 16-megapixel. Now, free Google accounts will now have a 15GB storage limit that will be shared across Google Photos, Drive, and Gmail. With the Storage Management tool, you'll be able to remove images that you don't need to back up, in order to free up space fro your quota.

Google Photos will now also show you an estimate of when you are likely to run out of free storage. Additionally, Google is also renaming the 'High' quality storage option to 'Storage Saver' to clear any confusion about the policy change. These updates should be visible to all users soon.

These features for Google Photos were announced through a post on its blog. Google will not support unlimited free storage of 'High' quality photos or videos via Google Photos from June 1. The blog says that users will only be allowed 15GB of free storage with their free Google accounts to back up their data including photos and videos via Google Photos. All photos and videos backed up in 'High' quality before June 1, 2021 will not count against the 15GB storage limit that comes into effect in a week. Although, any photos or videos backed up in 'Original' quality will count against the quota.

The new Storage Management tool on Google Photos can be helpful for users who don't want to subscribe to Google One membership for additional storage. The tool will show users photos and videos that they might want to delete - like blurry photos, screenshots, and large videos.

Google Photos' Storage Management tool shows how much space you have remaining
Photo Credit: Screenshot/ Google Photos

Apart from the tool, users will now be shown an estimate of when they are likely to run out of their free storage limit of 15GB. To view the remaining storage and how long it will last, head to photos.google.com/quotamanagement while logged in to your Google account. Google will also remind users when they are nearing the limit through a notification on the app and an 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," the blog further explains.

To clear any confusion pertaining to the new storage policy, the 'High' quality storage option on Google Photos - that earlier allowed users to back up unlimited photos and videos in compressed quality for free - is now being renamed to 'Storage Saver'. Google says that the name change won't affect its functionality as users can select High Quality or Original Quality while backing up photos and videos.