Google to stop offering free photo storage

It’s been five years since Google started offering its unlimited free photo backups at “high quality.” However, now Google Photos will begin charging for storage once more than 15 gigs on the account have been used.

The new change in policy will be in effect from June 1st, 2021, and it comes with other Google Drive policy changes like counting Google Workspace documents and spreadsheets against the same cap. Google has also introduced a new policy of deleting data from inactive accounts. If the version has not been logged in for at least two years, its data will be deleted.

According to sources, photos, and documents uploaded before June 1st will not count against that 15GB cap. Only images uploaded after June 1st will begin counting against the cap. However, google taking away unlimited backup for “high quality” photos and video also means taking away one of its service’s most significant selling points.

Sources also claim that the android maker will send alerts and warnings users begin to approach the storage cap. A new storage management tool has also been added to Google Photos. It includes a tool that makes it easier to find and delete photos like blurry images or screenshots.

The sudden change in Google policy is related to its Google One storage. The service offers a free VPN for Android at some of its higher tiers. Google’s stated that “Today, more than 4 trillion photos are stored in Google Photos, and every week 28 billion new photos and videos are uploaded.

Since so many of you rely on Google Photos to store your memories, it’s important that it’s not just a great product but also continues to meet your needs over the long haul. To welcome even more of your memories and build Google Photos for the future, we are changing our unlimited High-quality storage policy”.

Google One pricing starts at $1.99 / month for 100GB and has tiers going through 200GB ($2.99 / month), 2TB ($9.99 / month), and up to 30TB ($149.99 / month).

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