Google Warns Gmail, Drive, Photos Users That Their Files May Go Missing Soon

Google has started warning users via email that their Gmail, Google Photos, and Google Drive content could be permanently deleted if they don’t follow the search giant’s latest rules.

In an email sent to users who had previously used one or more of the affected products in their Google Account cloud storage, the company notified users of the changes to its cloud storage policy that will take effect on June 1, 2021.

Users who fail to comply with changes to Google’s cloud storage policy could have their private content removed from its servers. However, the company said it will warn users several times before removing any content, giving them ample time to comply with the new policy.

According to Google, accounts will only be targeted if they haven’t been used for two years or if a user exceeds their storage limit for two years.

As Google’s new rules won’t go into effect until June 2021 and won’t take effect until June 21, 2023, there’s plenty of time for users to upgrade or back up photos, documents, and files they want to save.

Always 15 GB of free storage

The search giant will continue to offer 15 GB of free cloud storage on Gmail, Drive and Photos with every Google account. If you’re worried about hitting that limit or just want to know how much storage you’ve used for all of the Google services you use, you can check this page for a full breakdown as well as an estimate of how much storage you have the time required to use all of your allocated storage space.

From there, you can either upgrade to a higher-tier Google One plan for $ 1.99 per year for 100GB, $ 2.99 per month for 200GB, $ 9.99 per month for 2TB or 49, 99 euros for 10 TB, or opt for one of the best cloud storage services. You can also use a cloud backup solution for files that you want to keep, but don’t have regular access to.