What's using your Google storage: Gmail, Photos or Drive?

"Your storage is almost full" doesn't say which part is full. Gmail, Google Photos and Google Drive all draw from the same storage, so the fix depends on where the space actually went. Here's how to find out, and what to do in each.

One pot, three apps

A free Google account has 15 GB, shared by Gmail, Google Photos and Google Drive. A Google One plan makes the pot bigger, and can be shared with family. On a work or school account (Google Workspace), the amount is set by the organisation, and on many plans it is pooled across everyone in it.

To see the split, open one.google.com/storage: it shows how much each of the three uses. Google's storage manager at one.google.com/storage/management lists some of the biggest items too.

What counts, app by app

Gmail: every message and attachment, including Spam and Trash.
Google Photos: photos and videos backed up in Original quality, and those backed up in Storage saver since 1 June 2021. Photos backed up in the old High quality before that date don't count.
Google Drive: every file you own, including PDFs, images and videos, plus Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and similar files created or edited since 1 June 2021. Files in the Drive trash count until it's emptied. Files shared with you count against their owner, not you.
Google Meet recordings land in Drive, so they count there.

Freeing space in Gmail

Search Gmail for has:attachment larger:10M to find heavy emails, or older_than:2y larger:5M for old ones. Then empty Spam and Trash, which still count.

Freeing space in Google Photos

In Google Photos, the storage page (Settings → Backup → Manage storage, wording varies by device) groups large videos, screenshots and blurry photos for review. Deleting from Photos also deletes from every synced device, so check before you clear a lot.

Freeing space in Google Drive

Drive is usually where the big savings are, and where they're hardest to see, because Drive doesn't add up folders. Start with the trash, then the biggest folders, then exact duplicates. See Google Drive full? and how to see folder sizes for the steps.

What happens if you stay over

Over your limit, you can't upload to Drive or Photos, and Gmail stops sending and receiving email. Google says it may delete content across Gmail, Drive and Photos if an account stays over its limit for two years. The details are on Google's own help page.

Questions

What uses my Google storage?

Gmail (messages and attachments, including Spam and Trash), Google Photos (Original quality, and Storage saver since June 2021) and Google Drive (your files, plus Docs, Sheets and Slides created or edited since June 2021). All three share the same storage; one.google.com/storage shows the split.

Do Google Photos count towards Google Drive storage?

They count towards the same Google storage, which Drive shares with Photos and Gmail. Photos backed up in Original quality count, and so do Storage saver photos backed up since 1 June 2021.

Do emails in Gmail's trash count towards storage?

Yes. Gmail messages in Spam and Trash still count until they're deleted, so emptying both frees space straight away.

Why is my Google storage full but Google Drive looks empty?

Your storage may be full because of Gmail or Google Photos, which share it with Drive. Check the split at one.google.com/storage. If Drive is the big part but looks empty, the space is usually in the trash, in deep folders or in duplicates, which Drive doesn't add up for you.

See it for your own Drive

TidierCloud scans your Drive and shows all of this in one place: the biggest folders with every subfolder added up, the biggest files, exact duplicates and the trash, on a map of where the space goes. It only reads, and nothing leaves your computer.

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