Google is reportedly planning to make drastic changes to their policy for providing free cloud storage to customers, and the changes may have far-reaching consequences for millions of future customers of Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos. According to news reports, Google is apparently going to decrease the amount of free cloud storage provided to some new accounts from 15GB down to 5GB, particularly for customers who do not verify their phone numbers during registration. It has been reported that Google may introduce these changes at least to certain parts of the world. The report was initially posted on Reddit before being discussed further on Android Central. According to the screenshots posted on Android Central, Google may be restricting the entire 15GB storage capacity to verified accounts only. So in order to keep the 15 GB you will need to verify the account with a phone number.
The reported policy shift could significantly affect new Google users because the free storage pool is shared across Gmail, Google Photos and Google Drive. That means emails, attachments, photos, videos and files all count toward the same storage limit.
New support page wording hints at major storage policy shift
For many years, Google has promoted “15GB free storage” as one of the biggest advantages of creating a Google account. However, reports now claim that the company quietly changed the wording on its official support pages from “15GB free” to “up to 15GB” free storage.
According to screenshots circulating online, some users reportedly saw notices explaining that accounts created without a linked phone number may receive only 5GB of free storage instead of the standard 15GB allocation. Reports suggest Google may be using phone verification to prevent users from repeatedly creating multiple free accounts and misusing cloud storage services. The possible update appears to target only newly created accounts. Existing Google users are not expected to lose storage space immediately under the reported changes.
Gmail, Photos and Drive users may feel impact more quickly
The reported storage reduction could become a major issue for users who rely heavily on Gmail attachments, photo backups and Google Drive file storage. Since all three services share the same storage pool, even 15GB already fills up quickly for many users.
Under a 5GB limit, users may reach storage capacity much faster, especially those who frequently upload high-resolution images, large email attachments or work-related files. Many users have become dependent on Google’s cloud ecosystem because it combines multiple services under one account. The reported move may also encourage more people to subscribe to Google One paid plans if they run out of free storage more quickly than before.
Competition and spam control may be driving Google’s decision
While there is no official confirmation by Google regarding the cause of the reported change, it seems that the tech giant might be implementing a move aimed at minimizing spam accounts and ensuring that storage space isn’t abused. Phone number verification has been used by most tech firms to verify accounts. It appears that Google might now consider these verified accounts more reliable and, thus, worthy of higher storage limits.
Interestingly, the development comes shortly after Google expanded storage benefits for paying Google AI Pro subscribers. Reports said premium subscribers recently received expanded cloud storage allowances of up to 5TB, showing the company is simultaneously increasing benefits for paid users while potentially limiting free offerings for unverified accounts.
Existing users remain unaffected for now as questions continue online
At present, existing Google account holders are not expected to face immediate changes to their storage limits. However, people creating new accounts may now need to link a phone number if they want to continue receiving the full 15GB of free storage.
Users can also monitor current storage usage through Google One settings to avoid running out of space across Gmail, Drive and Photos. As discussions continue online, many users are now closely watching whether Google formally announces the reported storage policy changes in the coming weeks.
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Khalid Qasid is a media enthusiast with a strong interest in documentary filmmaking. He holds a Master’s degree in Convergent Journalism from AJK MCRC. He has also written extensively on esports at Sportsdunia. Currently, he covers world and general news at NewsX Digital.
