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Easy way to delete junk in Google Photos as time runs out on unlimited storage
Google Photos has been a lifesaver for budding photographers with limited storage on their mobile devices. Until recently, it was one of the few photo storage options available that hit the mark on two fronts: it’s free and had no limits on the number of photos you could save.
That is all about to change as Google has been gearing up to implement its strict storage limits on all photos uploaded to the service. The change was first announced about six months ago.
Under the new rules, any photos you upload after May 31, 2021, will count towards your 15GB monthly limit. Once that runs out, you’ll have to pay for extra storage through a Google One subscription. Don’t worry. We’ve got some tricks to save space and money.
Here are the details on Google Photos
In preparation for the change, Google released a “review and delete tool” aimed at helping you free up as much space as you can. It is important to note that you have until the end of this month to upload all your high-quality photos. Doing so before the date won’t count towards your limit.
RELATED: Google Photos: 20 tips to help you take control of your pictures
The tool is baked into the latest version of the Google Photos app and will help you determine which pictures to keep and which ones to remove. The tool will scan your photo collection and look for any blurry images, screenshots or large videos.
Google also launched Your estimate, which essentially guesses when you will run out of free storage. It factors in how frequently you backup your photos and videos and the average sizes of these backups.
“We estimate that more than 80 percent of you should still be able to store roughly three more years of memories in High quality with your free 15GB of storage,” Google explained in a blog post.
When you start approaching your 15GB limit, you’ll receive a notification in the app and an email to let you know.
Changing a name
The High-quality storage tier is also being renamed and will from now on be known as Storage saver.
“While we’re updating the name, your photos and videos will continue to be stored at the same great quality. As always, you have the control to choose the storage option that works best for you,” Google explained.
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As mentioned, you could always purchase a subscription to Google One. This upgrades your cloud storage to 100GB for $1.99 per month. For something bigger, you can fork out $9.99 per month for 2TB.
If you don’t want to go through the hassle of keeping an eye on storage, there are a couple of alternatives.
- Apple’s iCloud is available for iOS users, and the first 5GB of storage is free.
- Amazon Drive is available for Prime members, and you can store unlimited photos, while a limit of 5GB is imposed for videos.
- Our sponsor, IDrive, is another option to look at. The first year is less than $35 with a special 50% off promo and will get you 5TB of storage. That’s a lot!
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