Every Google account comes with 15GB of free Google Drive storage space. This storage is shared with Gmail, Google Photos, and other Google services. 15GB may sound like a lot initially, but can fill up fast with photos, documents, and email attachments.
When you reach the 15GB limit, you will not be able to store any new files or photos. Luckily, there are several ways to free up storage space and increase your storage limit. Here are the main options:
Table of Contents
Check Your Current Usage
The first step is understanding what is taking up space in your Drive.
- Go to drive.google.com and click on the pie chart icon at the top right to see a breakdown of storage usage by service
- Alternatively, visit google.com/settings/storage to see detailed usage
- Identify categories to target – often photos and videos take up the most space
Delete Large Files
Deleting a few big files can free up more space than deleting many small files.
- In Drive, click on “Storage” then “Free up space”
- Sort files from largest to smallest
- Preview files before deletion to make sure you want them gone permanently
- Empty your trash frequently
Convert Files To Google Formats
Converting files to Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides formats usually saves space.
- Find files to convert under “Other” in your storage usage breakdown
- Right click and select “Open with Google Docs/Sheets/Slides”
- Convert and overwrite the original file to save space
Store Files Elsewhere
Consider storing files in another cloud storage service:
- Download files from Drive and upload them elsewhere
- Popular options: Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud, Amazon Photos
- Allows you to free up Drive space without losing files
Buy More Storage
Purchasing extra storage directly from Google is simplest if you need more space:
- 100GB for $1.99/month or $19.99/year
- 200GB for $2.99/month or $29.99/year
- 2TB for $9.99/month or $99.99/year
- Family plans allow sharing of storage
Create Multiple Accounts
As a workaround, create additional free Google accounts to get more storage:
- Each account comes with 15GB free
- Transfer less critical files to alternate accounts
- Allows you to get lots of extra space for free
- Downside: files are fragmented across accounts
Adjust Google Photos Settings
Limiting Google Photos quality can drastically cut how much space it takes up:
- Open Photos Settings > Back up & sync
- Change upload size to “High quality” (free unlimited storage)
- Uses advanced compression to save space
Following these tips will help you maximize and expand your free Google Drive storage. Let me know in the comments if you have any other great tricks for freeing up space!
