Managing your Drive

What uses your storage space

Items that take up space

Google Drive

• Most files in your "My Drive," including PDFs, images, and videos.

• Items in your Trash. Learn how to empty your trash.

• Starting June 1, 2021, any newly created Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, or Jamboard files will count toward storage. Existing files will not count toward storage, unless they're modified on or after June 1.

Gmail

• Messages and attachments, such as items in your Spam and Trash folders

Google Photos

• Photos and videos stored in "Original quality."

• Photos and videos uploaded in "High quality" or "Express quality" will begin to take up space on June 1, 2021. Older files uploaded before that date won't take up storage space. Learn more about Photos backup options.

• If you go over your storage quota or don't log into your account for 2 years or longer, these "High quality" photos are deleted. Learn how to keep your Google Account active and under quota.

Remove hidden data from apps in Google Drive

1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com.

2. Click Settings Settings and then Settings.

3. On the left, click Manage apps.

4. If there's hidden data, you can find the amount under the app's description.

5. To delete this data, click Options and then Delete hidden app data.

Items that don't take up space

• Google Drive: Files in "Shared with me" and shared drives. These files only take up space in the owner's Google Drive.

• Google Sites.

• Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Jamboard, and Drawings files you create before June 1, 2021, and don't edit after that date.

• Google Photos: Photos and videos backed up in High quality or Express quality before June 1, 2021.

Storage differences in Google Drive

Items in Google Drive for your computer take up a different amount of space than the same items at drive.google.com.

• Items in your Trash take up space in Google Drive, but aren't synced to your computer.

• Shared items will take up space on your computer, but not Google Drive.

• Items that are in multiple folders will be synced to all folders on your computer, taking up more space.

• If you only sync some folders to your computer, the storage on your computer will be less than what is shown on Google Drive.

• Your computer may show a slightly different file size than drive.google.com because of Mac or PC requirements.

What happens if you run out of space

• Gmail: You won't be able to send or receive messages. Messages sent to you will be returned to the sender.

  • Starting June 1, 2021: If you remain inactive or go over your storage quota for 2 years or longer, all of your emails may be deleted.

• Google Drive: You won't be able to sync or upload new files. You won't be able to create new files in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, and Jamboard. Until you reduce your storage usage, neither you nor anyone else can edit or copy your affected files. Syncs between your computer's Google Drive folder and My Drive will stop.

  • Starting June 1, 2021: If you remain inactive or go over your storage quota for 2 years or longer, your content within the affected product(s) may be deleted.

• Google Photos: You won't be able to upload photos and videos in Original quality. If you want to add any more photos and videos, you can either upload or back up in High quality (lower resolution), or turn off Back up & sync.

  • Starting June 1, 2021: You also won't be able to upload photos and videos in High quality or Express quality if you are out of storage. And if you remain inactive or go over your storage quota for 2 years or longer, all of your photos and videos may be deleted.

To free up space in Google Drive, Gmail and Photos

Clear space in Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos to make room for new items.

Delete files by size in Google Drive

1. Use a computer to see your files listed from largest to smallest.

2. Put files you don't want in your Trash, then permanently delete them.

Tip: Within 24 hours, deleted items will show in the available space in your Google Drive account.

Delete files by size in Gmail

1. In the Search box, type has:attachment larger:10M.

2. Click Search. (Note: Replace "10" with a higher number to delete larger files.)

3. Select the emails you don't need, then click Delete.

4. On the left side of the page, click Menu > Trash.

5. At the top, click Empty trash now.

Permanently delete emails in Spam

1. On the left, click Spam. If you don't see Spam, click More.

2. At the top, click Delete all spam messages now. Or, select specific emails, then click Delete forever.

Store photos & videos as "High quality" in Google Photos

Change your photos and videos from Original quality to High quality which doesn't take up storage space. High quality photos backed up after June 1, 2021 will begin counting toward your Google Account storage. This includes photos backed up in the Original quality and then compressed to High quality after June 1, 2021.

1. On a computer, go to photos.google.com/settings.

2. Click Recover storage. This won't change the quality of your future uploads.

Move photos & videos to Trash

1. On your computer, go to photos.google.com.

2. Point to an item you want to move to Trash.

3. At the top left, click Select.

4. At the top right, click Delete and then Move to trash.

Delete files you don't need

To delete single or multiple files that take up storage, use the Google One Storage Manager. Learn how to free up Google storage space.

If you delete a file by mistake, learn how to recover a deleted file.