It feels similar Google Photos has existed a whole lot longer than the 5 years it's been around. By 2019 the service had attracted over 1 billion users, significant that Google's recent determination to stop providing free unlimited storage is a huge blow to, well, more than than a billion people.

As of 1 June 2021 any photos or videos yous upload, or which are uploaded automatically past the app, will count against your 15GB of Google storage, or however much storage you take with your Google account.

Only Google'southward ain phones - the Pixel 2 through to five - will exist exempt from the new rules. If yous own one, hither'due south what happens now:

  • Pixel 3a, 4, 4a, 5: You lot'll still have unlimited 'Storage saver' uploads, but non Original quality.
  • Pixel 3: Unlimited gratis Original quality photos until 1 Jan 2022. Subsequently that, unlimited Storage saver uploads.
  • Pixel two: Unlimited Storage saver uploads.
  • Original Pixel (2016): Unlimited Original quality uploads until your telephone stops working.

For everyone else, y'all become to proceed your uploaded photos and videos, but anything uploaded on or after 1 June will count against your Google storage.

Google Photos won't delete your photos

Technically, yous don't need to practise anything differently now because photos and videos you take on your phone will nonetheless be uploaded to Google Photos every bit normal, even afterward one June. But uploads (backups) will finish when your Google storage is full.

This means those images and videos will stay on your phone and won't be backed up in the cloud. That may exist ok with you, and it doesn't mean you tin can't view those photos in the Google Photos app on your telephone and benefit from all the dandy features such every bit automatic tagging, the subject field-based search (such every bit "cats" or "cars") and the automated creations such equally animations and videos.

Aside from the fact you no longer have an online fill-in of your photos and videos, you lot won't be able to admission them in Google Photos from any other device.

I honey being able to quickly discover a photo in web browser version of Google Photos, but once your storage is total, the web version won't update with new photos and videos.

What'south Storage saver?

Google has changed the name of 'High quality' uploads to 'Storage saver'.

This is a tacit access that this option, which compresses photos and videos and doesn't store the original-quality files (except for photos 16Mp or under), isn't really loftier quality at all. So you may want to rethink your options and start uploading at Original quality.

If y'all don't desire to pay for Google 1 storage - encounter beneath - and then here are the best alternatives to Google Photos.

How tin can I free upward Google Photos storage space?

You can articulate out large files taking up space in your Google storage. Merely this is only a temporary fix as that infinite will fill upwardly again with photos and videos sooner or afterwards.

Google is also rolling out a tool that identifies blurry, nighttime photos and large videos so you can choose which ones to delete to gratis up space.

Don't forget, though, that your 15GB of free storage is used past Gmail and Google Bulldoze as well as Google Photos, then you'll need to keep some storage gratuitous if you want to go along receiving emails and creating new Google Docs or uploading files.

You'll take received an email about the change and in it is a link to a personalised estimate of when your free storage will make full up, so it could be months or years depending upon how many photos and videos you lot take.

If yous missed it, open the Google Photos app and look in the Manage storage section (under Fill-in & sync) to see the aforementioned estimate.

What to do when Google photos free storage ends

Get more Google Photos storage with Google One

Ultimately, if you want to continue backing up to Google Photos you'll have to pay. This isn't as expensive as you might fear. The service is called Google One - a sort of combined storage and VPN service.

Upgrading to 100GB is less than £2/$ii per calendar month and yous can have upwardly to 2TB if you demand it. Check out our full guide to Google One for more on the costs and benefits of the service.

If you lot do add more storage to Google Photos, this is a slap-up excuse to make certainall of your photos and videos are backed up there, so brand certain to check out how to upload every photo & video you have.

What other options do I have to back upwardly photos and videos from my camera roll?

If you prefer, you tin can sign upwards to one of the best cloud storage services which may offer even more storage or – ameliorate yet – a lifetime plan which ways you pay once for a fix amount of storage and there's and then no subscription fee to pay afterwards that.

An example is pCloud which offers 500GB for a one-off payment of £175 or 2TB for £350. Both are 65% discounts on the normal prices.

The pCloud app for Android and iOS offers automatic backups of your photographic camera coil too, so you won't have to do anything – simply like Google Photos.

Evidently yous lose the neat features of Google Photos mentioned earlier -  plus the photos and video editing tools. Which is why you might prefer to pay for Google One storage instead.

Unfortunately, in that location are no costless services which are equivalent alternatives to Google Photos. If you have a NAS drive, you can probably utilise information technology to support your camera curlicue. As for online services, iCloud isn't free and neither is Flickr (which now limits gratuitous users to 1000 photos).

For more details on those, run into our roundup of the all-time alternatives to Google Photos.

If you decide to move to a new storage solution, don't worry - at that place'due south an piece of cake way to download all your photos and videos from Google Photos in 1 become, so that y'all can re-upload them to your new backup.

We discussed the changes in our weekly podcast Fast Accuse, which yous can picket right here:

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