New Google Photos storage rules could delete your Gmail and Google Drive files too

Google recently announced they were killing off free storage for Google Photos from June 1st, 2021. A lot of people haven’t been happy with Google’s track record on moves like this, and have been seeking alternatives.

Many users assumed that any images already there would remain safe, but it seems not. Google has started emailing some of its Gmail, Drive and Photos users to let them know that their content may soon be deleted without warning or permission. Like the new Google Photos restrictions, these new policies also come into effect on June 1st, 2021.

Essentially, if your account is inactive for two years or more, Google may delete your content without warning. Also, if you’ve exceeded your storage limit for two years or more, they may also delete your content to free up the space. So, if you’re over your storage limit due to photos, you may find that email and other files go missing to recover it.

The good news, though, is that they won’t be enforcing this policy until June 1st, 2023 – two years after the new policies come into effect. But they will still regularly send you nag emails to remind you that you’re over the limit and you need to delete content to free the space back up yourself.

Every Google account will still come with 15GB of free storage that is used for Gmail, Drive and Photos, but this is a shared storage space used between all of them. Not 15GB for each service. So, you’ll want to keep an eye on how much space your photos and files are taking up if you want to keep receiving emails.

You’re probably better off just looking for another service for your cloud photos and files storage and just sticking with Google for email.

[via The Express]