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The era of 15GB free Gmail storage is ending (Update: Google responds)
(www.androidauthority.com)
I'm intentionaly letting it overfill
this post was submitted on 15 May 2026
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Anyone else remember when Google bragged about never being worried about storage as you watched your storage free count, grow and grow and grow.
TBF when Iade an account there to check it out back then, they offered about 1GB. But that was huge for the time back then
I remember when they offered 1GB, was at a time when I think the standard hotmail was like either 10 MB or 100 MB, and they made the announcement on april 1st.
Then did it via an invite system.
You know now that I think of it, I wonder what would have happened if google plus had used a similar playbook to that. Seems like with gmail google knew the "exclusivity" was a selling point. Facebook grew big via similar strategies (only these special college students can get it, ok a few more colleges can), meanwhile google plus was "HEY, USE GOOGLE PLUS NOW, Oh you aren't using it yet, we made your youtube account a google plus account now, so now you have an account please use it now!
While social media in general is toxic. I do feel design wise google plus was leaps and bounds ahead of facebook at the time. Circles is IMO the feature that would have made social media actually semi-useful. (IE post your video game content to gamer friends, fun activities to friends, and not putting any job risking content to bosses etc...).
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I remember. I'm also paying Google $2 a month for 100gb. Fucking bastards. But can you point me to 100GB for less?
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5GB is plenty for emails, won't be an issue for 99% of people.
THE problem with google's storage is that they actively mislead consumers:
- They bother customers during setup and after with: "Do you want to backup your device?" To which a considerable amount of people react to as "Yeah ofcourse I want that!"
- Google does not show any indication where this backup goes or about the eventual payment so people just forget about it.
- After some time their gmail and photos app will start to complain: "YOUR STORAGE IS FULL" - with constant notifications. And their Gmail stops working so they can't receive emails anymore.
- These regular people confuse 'storage' with internal storage so they start looking for ways to expand their internal storage, which obviously doesn't do anything.
- Eventually they give up and either pay google the ransom or make a new email.
This is the real dark pattern behind their "free cloud"
ive seen people with full gmail accounts and thounds of unread emails
Worst part is every job, educational institution, legal institution, will send you PDFs to your gmail.
What a racket, if my father was a bit more sane...
...I'd have him prepare me for actual war. He can run in complete silence in a forest.
It is interesting. I've deleted almost all my emails from my Gmail account and it just won't go bellow 50% full. There is no way to see what is taking up the space.
My mother on the other hand has 3000+ emails and it's at like 15% full. They absolutely do this on purpose.
Are you sure you're not using anything else google related that might clog it up? That's what I'm getting at. Check google one for a breakdown.
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Did you ever use Google Photos to store your pics? That is what has my Gmail/google storage at 99% full, even though it's been over a decade since I used it and I disconnected it from all my accounts.. except apparently not. You can go through the steps to disconnect, it looks like it works, but it doesn't. I currently have an iPhone, and if I try to delete all the photos in Google Photos, it will still sync with my phone and also delete the same photos on my phone. No matter what I do, I can't severe that connection. And so I'm stuck at 99%
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- Google is reportedly testing a 5GB storage limit for new Gmail accounts, down from the standard 15GB.
- Users can “unlock” the full 15GB of free storage by adding a phone number to their account.
Seems they’re trying to get phone numbers this way. Maybe it’s for increased user data, maybe it’s to prevent fraudulent activity, maybe it’s to have more information to give authorities.
phone numbers were already an almost mandatory addition to new Google accounts. You need to set up 2FA when you make a new account, and the option to use an authenticator app is so well hidden... meanwhile Google still wants your phone number "to authenticate you", even though it's less secure than storing your password on a post it on your phone.
I work with homeless people and I discovered you can no longer make email without a cell phone with any major provider. I can't get them into their social security without an email.
I was able to find an email provider that didn't require a cell phone, but then you had to use a cell phone to get past the verification on the social security site. You are absolutely fucked without a cell phone now.
Thats really twisted. They really want to make not owning a cell spy a crime. Every time I learn something new about Surveillance it makes me more anarchist.
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To be generous, this could just be anti-botting. It sucks that bots suck up so many resources, and make things that could be free not free just to try to stop them. When you can have bots create thousands of accounts trivially, it makes sense that they need to provide some kind of identifier.
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Update: May 15, 2026 (2:57 AM ET): Google has now confirmed this test in a statement to us while giving more details regarding the feature
Next up: too many people are exporting their data at once, so now exporting your data costs extra.
Pretty sure that'd be illegal under GDPR.
Only if enforced.
I sincerely and earnestly want Google to fail and cease to exist.
Can you please hope I never win the lottery?
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Remember the 1GB Gmail reaction? I remember:
Damn, this image can now drink alcohol in the US.
Thank you Google for TURNING INTO FUCKING APPLE RIGHT AFTER I SWITCH TO A FUCKING PIXEL
GrapheneOS is built for Google devices. Doesn't really solve the email problem though.
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I transitioned to a custom domain backed by iCloud some years ago but just kind of let the Gmail sit around because it a) functioned as a decent catch all for garbage and b) I was just too lazy to move over some less important accounts to the new email.
This is a good reminder to migrate the last of it over and let the gmail account atrophy.
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"You have 15 GB of space as long as you're not using it all"
"You used 80% of your free 15GB, upgrade for more storage. Only $9.99/mo... I mean 5.99/month."
"Wait it's $0.36/month for 3 months."
"No email for you cause you used all 15G. Pay up."
Paraphrase from tactics that they are trying for me to sign up. Heck never.
Imagine how much of Earth's storage space is marketing emails that no one reads.
THATS THE ONLY REASON PEOPLE STILL USE GMAIL! Proton Mail has 1 free gb, I didn’t use it when I had the free plan.
Unfortunately not, the main reason the majority of people use gmail is that they don't even know there are other email providers.
The market is saturated and "don't be evil" was a long, long time ago...
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Pay for webmail.
Be the product.
Choose the form of the destructor.
Why not both? /s
We already see $1,500 TVs showing ads.
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Are there good services to intake all of my Google takeout data, or do I just collect it and wait
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I still have my gmail account from 2004 or so. I never delete anything, and it is where all the garbage mail goes, although I use it occasionally for purchases and other things.
So 22 years of email, never deleting anything, and I am well under 5gb.
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