Google storage: Android backups will soon count towards the 15 GB free allowance

Google is becoming less generous with cloud storage. Since 2021, the company has no longer offered unlimited free cloud storage for photos and videos. More recently, it announced another policy that will also increase use of the 15 GB of free storage provided to every user. This allowance is already used by emails, Google Drive files, and new photos and videos in Google Photos, following the end of the unlimited free offer. Android backups will soon count towards it as well.

Android backups will use Google account storage

Google confirmed the news in a statement reported by 9to5Google. “Android Backup lets you save data from your phone to your Google Account, so you can easily restore it or set up a new device. We have updated our policy so that all Android backup data will now count towards your Google Account storage space. We estimate that this will add only 40 MB on average. We are also giving you greater transparency and new controls that allow you to choose the data and apps you want to back up,” the statement says.

As Android Authority reports, Google has now begun notifying users of the new policy by email. “In 45 days, all data included in your Android device backups will count towards your Google storage limit. Google Photos photos and videos, as well as MMS data, already count towards your Google storage space. With this change, all other data will count as well,” the company reportedly warns in the email.

What to do if Google account storage is full?

It is worth remembering that once Google account users have filled the 15 GB provided, they must free up space by deleting files, such as photos and videos in Google Photos or files in Google Drive. Alternatively, they can expand the cloud storage linked to their account by taking out a Google One subscription.

Alongside YouTube Premium, Google One is currently one of Google’s most popular subscriptions. According to the latest figures, Google’s subscriptions - including its AI subscriptions - now have more than 350 million subscribers.