Google Photos unlimited free photos ends June 1 — what to do now

Google Photos unlimited gratis photos ends June 1 — what to practice now

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Google Photos' free storage ride is coming to an end, as the visitor is making sweeping changes to its cloud storage policy, resulting in a tiered organisation that's similar to Apple's iCloud. Users will however get up to 15 GB for complimentary that's shared throughout their Google accounts. Come June ane, still, they won't exist able to partake in the unlimited storage option without paying a premium.

Originally, Google gave users 15GB of storage for their Gmail, Google Drive, and Photos for free. Photos and videos that were saved at lower qualities — High or Express — were given unlimited space at no cost. This prepare apace became popular thank you to an easy-to-use UI and suite of family sharing and smart brandish features. But now that users have become hooked on Google Photos' interface, the search visitor is telling users to either pay up, or motion their photos elsewhere.

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Google Photos will exist easier to organize

In the days when Google Photos storage was unlimited, you had the option to fill-in all your photos without worrying if they were actually worth keeping. From June 1, that won't exist the instance. So at that place's a make new Google Photos storage management tool designed to help yous track down and delete particularly troublesome snaps.

google photos management tool — (Image credit: Google)

Specifically Google Photos will circular up all the screenshots, large files, and blurry shots you've backed up, every bit well as images that came from other apps. That style you lot can encounter exactly how much infinite they're taking upward, and scroll through a dedicated feed to pick and choose which ones should be deleted.

The tool has already started rolling out, and should exist available to use in the coming days. Google Photos will also give you a personalized guess on how long information technology should take to fill upwards your 15GB free storage allocation.

Google Cloud Storage Options

If you're worrying about what to do with those pre-Covid holiday photos, there are a few options. One is to backup all of your current photos and videos in High or Limited quality before June 1 on your Photos business relationship.

Since these don't currently count against your total amount of storage infinite, changing photo quality means information technology won't eat upward storage space subsequently the change; the current unlimited rules still use. This can be done by going to your Google Photo settings — not to be confused with your Android device's Gallery Settings — selecting Backup and Sync, then Upload Size. From hither, y'all'll modify the setting to High or Express quality.

Note: Limited reduces the resolution more High.

Now all of your photos and videos saved in the cloud won't accept upwards extra space. Anything saved after June 1, regardless of quality, will count towards the 15GB cap. Unless you upload them from a Pixel device, considering those devices still get unlimited High and Express quality storage.

Another pick is to pay for more storage infinite through Google I. Like to Apple tree'southward iCloud storage plans, yous'll be able to choose different sizes based on your needs. Google 1's membership plans are 100GB, 200GB, and 2TB for $1.99, $ii.99, and $9.99 a month respectively. There are likewise yearly options for those aforementioned storage plans that offer a slight discount, ranging from $xix.99/twelvemonth to $99.99/yr. The higher tiered options should exist sufficient for nigh customers. That said, they besides come with added perks (like three% back in the Google Shop and VPN for Android phones).

Bottom line

The changes in Google's cloud policy should have been expected. That said, Google is still offering more cloud infinite than Apple. That company only gives its users 5GB of costless infinite before requiring an upgrade, as opposed to Google's 15GB. The premium options are similar, with Apple offering 50GB for $0.99/month. Sure, information technology's cheaper than $ane.99. But if you're going to get that much for 99 cents, why non get 100GB for a dollar more?

To be off-white, Apple's other premium options fall right in line with what Google is offering. And both of them pale in comparison when considering Microsoft's largest storage option; for $nine.99/calendar month, you can get 6TB of space (dissever between half-dozen people) with the Microsoft 365 family plan.