Google to halt free photo and video storage

Google has announced it will stop providing free unlimited photo and video storage from next year.

The Google Photos service has let users back-up multimedia content in “high quality” without it going against their account cap since launching more than five years ago.

But from June 1, any new photos and videos uploaded will count towards the free 15GB of storage that comes with a Google account.

The firm said the move will allow it “to keep pace with the growing demand for storage”.

All your existing photos and videos backed up in High quality and any new content you back up in High quality before June 1, 2021 are exempt from this change and will not count toward your Google Account storage. pic.twitter.com/lRaY4mQNFN

— Google Photos (@googlephotos) November 11, 2020

Shimrit Ben-Yair, vice-president of Google Photos, said: “We know this is a big shift and may come as a surprise, so we wanted to let you know well in advance and give you resources to make this easier.”

Any photos or videos added in high quality before the cut-off date will not count towards a person’s cap and will remain exempt from the limit after June 1.

Owners of any Google Pixel smartphone will also be exempt from the changes, meaning they will be able to continue backing up photos and videos from their smartphone for free.

Google said it currently has more than four trillion photos stored on the platform, with 28 billion new photos and videos uploaded every week.