454
The era of 15GB free Gmail storage is ending (Update: Google responds)
(www.androidauthority.com)
happy to selfhost immich
this post was submitted on 15 May 2026
454 points (99.6% liked)
Technology
84733 readers
3295 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related news or articles.
- Be excellent to each other!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
- Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.
Approved Bots
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
I'm intentionaly letting it overfill
Imagine how much of Earth's storage space is marketing emails that no one reads.
Whats the fucking point if they only let you attach a 25mb or smaller file.
wtf do they need a ph# for? theyve got your email and sms ids(same as ph#). a ph# just seems like a bit of sales pitch food
"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.
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"
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.
ive seen people with full gmail accounts and thounds of unread emails
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.
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%
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.
likely backing up to your google cloud with photos, files, essays,,,,etc.
load more comments
(5 replies)
New users.
Even still, I moved off Gmail years ago. I keep my Google fingerprint minimal.
Anyone else remember when Google bragged about never being worried about storage as you watched your storage free count, grow and grow and grow.
load more comments
(22 replies)
Pay for webmail.
Be the product.
Choose the form of the destructor.
Why not both? /s
We already see $1,500 TVs showing ads.
I see a Ghostbusters quote, I upvote
- 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.
load more comments
(9 replies)
load more comments
(2 replies)
load more comments
(4 replies)
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.
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(2 replies)
The market is saturated and "don't be evil" was a long, long time ago...
load more comments
(3 replies)
Remember the 1GB Gmail reaction? I remember:
Damn, this image can now drink alcohol in the US.
I blame Microslop
Is Proton okay?
as long as you pay them
Yes, unless you read into the missinfo campaings. They will follow your local laws, but you can control how much info they have on you.
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.
They really think they can get away with anything don't they... All the mainstream companies do.
view more: next ›