Google Photos won’t offer free uploads starting June 1, 2021: What this means

Google is all set to change its unlimited high-quality storage policy. The company has announced that those using Google Photos won’t get free uploads starting June 1, 2021. From next year, if you upload high-quality images or videos, then those will be counted toward your Google Drive storage limit. Google on Wednesday asserted in a blog post that to “welcome even more of your memories,” the company needs to change its policy.

Starting June 1, 2021, all your photos or videos will be counted toward the free 15GB of storage that comes with every Google account. In case you are unaware, Google offers a total of 15GB free storage for Gmail, Drive and Photos. So, if the provided storage space gets full, then you will have to buy the Google One subscription to get more storage. Google noted that all the existing high-quality content will remain exempted from storage quota.

Currently, Google is offering the unlimited backup option for “high quality” photos and videos. However, the pictures are automatically compressed to 16MP and videos to high definition. There is also an Express option, which gives free unlimited storage, but compresses photos by 3MP and videos to standard definition. If you have opted for the Original Quality option, then the new changes won’t affect you. Google already counts all your “original quality” photos against a storage cap in the Photos app. If you are an owner of a Google Pixel phone, then you don’t need to worry as Google will allow you to upload photos and videos at the high-quality setting for free.