Your Gmail Storage Is Full. Do not pay Google yet. Try these 8 proven fixes first.
Have you ever opened Gmail. Seen the message that says you have used 15 GB of 15 GB. At that moment Google starts telling you to pay for a storage plan for a dollars each month.. Before you do that you should know that your free 15 GB storage is probably full of old files and emails that you do not need.
The good news is that Google has some tools that can help you clean up your storage and get back some space.. Most people do not know about these tools because they are hard to find.
Before you spend money on storage you should try these eight steps to get back some space and keep using your Google account for free.
Why your storage fills up quickly.
Many people think that only Gmail uses their storage.. That is not true. Googles 15 GB is shared between three things:
- Gmail
- Google Drive
- Google Photos
If you have a lot of high-resolution photos, big email attachments and old files on Google Drive they can fill up your storage quickly. The first thing you need to do is figure out where your storage is going.
Step 1: Turn off Google Photos backup before you delete anything.
This is the important step. If Google Photos backup is on deleting photos from Google Photos can also delete them from your phone.
To turn off backup you need to:
- Open Google Photos
- Tap your picture
- Select Photos Settings
- Tap Backup
- Turn Backup Off
When you do this you can safely remove photos from Google Photos without affecting the copies on your device.
Step 2: Find out what is using up your storage.
To do this you need to go to:
one.google.com/storage
This page shows you how your 15 GB is being used by Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos.
For people one of these things is using up most of their storage. Some people find out that their photo backups are using up most of their storage while others find out that big email attachments are using up a lot of space.
Knowing what is using up your storage helps you focus on cleaning that first.
Step 3: Use Googles built-in storage cleanup tool.
Google has a tool that can help you clean up your storage. On the storage page you need to select:
"Free Up Account Storage"
This tool finds emails, spam messages trashed photos and old files on Google Drive. Of looking through multiple apps you can see everything in one place.
Many people are able to free up a lot of storage space with this step.
Step 4: Delete big emails.
Big attachments can use up a lot of storage space. Old videos or photo archives can use up space than thousands of regular emails.
To find emails you need to open Gmail and type:
larger:10MThis will show you all emails that're bigger than 10 MB.
You should review the results and delete old video attachments, PDFs and downloaded files that you do not need.
You will probably find emails from years ago that you do not need anymore.
Step 5: Empty Spam and Trash completely.
When you delete emails they usually go to the Trash folder. Stay there for up to 30 days. They still use up your storage space.
To empty the Trash folder:
- Open Gmail
- Go to Trash
- Select Empty Trash Now
You should also empty the Spam folder.
When you do this your storage space will be freed up away.
Step 6: Remove promotional emails.
Promotional emails can add up quickly. Retail discounts, newsletters and social notifications often sit unread for years.
You should clean up the Promotions tab by selecting all conversations and deleting them. You should do the thing for the Social tab.
Most people will not miss these emails. Removing them can free up a lot of storage space.
Step 7: Clean up Google Photos properly.
For people Google Photos is the biggest user of storage space.
You should use the web version of Google Photos to review and delete screenshots, photos duplicate shots and unwanted videos.
After you files you need to open the Trash folder and empty it completely.
Remember that deleted photos stay in the Trash folder for up to 60 days and still use up storage space until they are permanently removed.
Step 8: Sort Google Drive files by size.
Google Drive often has files that use up a lot of storage space.
You should open Google Drive click Storage in the sidebar and sort files by size. This will show you the files first.
You should delete anything you do not need. Then empty the Drive Trash folder.
Files that are in the Drive Trash folder still use up storage space until they are permanently removed.
How storage can you recover?
It depends on the person. Many people are able to recover a lot of storage space by following these steps.
- 1-3 GB from cleaning up Gmail
- 2-10 GB from cleaning up Google Photos
- More GB from cleaning up Google Drive
In cases these eight steps can restore enough storage space so that you do not have to pay for extra storage.
Final Thoughts.
Googles storage upgrade plans are convenient. You should only pay for extra storage if you have to.
Most full Google accounts are full of attachments, promotional emails and unused files. By spending a minutes cleaning up Gmail, Photos and Drive you can often recover a lot of storage space and keep using your free 15 GB plan.
Before you pay for storage you should try these eight steps. You might find that the extra storage you need is already, in your account.
