Time to get a string of Geek Gold original posts rolling – first up, our Google Account Storage Guide!
One of the greatest benefits in using a combination of Google services is how tightly integrated they can be. For instance, Gmail combines the goodness of email with the accessibility of Google Talk. Want quick access to your recent Google Docs? There they are in your Gmail window. Unfortunately, when you use over a dozen Google services like I do, the storage limitations become a bit confusing and sometimes limting.
This quick guide is geared towards those wanting to know what storage they get for free with their Google account and what they get if extra storage is required.
What you get for free
Gmail. 7.5GB+ and growing…
Picasa Web Albums. 1GB ( Buzz and Blogger photos and videos add to this as well)
Google Docs. 1GB for uploaded files (Docs and converted document files have no limit and do not count towards this 1GB) Please note that just like Word, Powerpoint and Excel, Google Docs does have size limitations on individual file types. Click here for the Google Docs size limitations.
What you get by paying
Additional shared storage on top of free storage. If you pay for 20GB of extra storage and have are using 10GB of Gmail storage, only 2.5GB of extra storage is being used.
Piece of mind. There is nothing worse than an bouncing email or running out of album space.
Choice of plans. Storage plans ranging from 20GB ($5/year) to 16TB ($4096/year) are available to fit the needs of anyone!
Why I pay for extra storage
Great limited-time promotion last January. 200GB + 4GB Eye-Fi SD card for $50
Photo storage. Picasa Web Album is closing in on 6GB, so I now have piece of mind when uploading photos.
Document backup. It is comforting to know that I can upload zipped files of Web projects and video files to my Google Account for safe keeping.
Reasonably priced and easy to downgrade. With renewal coming soon and the fact that I am current using only 5GB of my paid storage, I decided to downgrade to the 20GB package at $5 per annum. Downgrading involved clicking on the 20GB package and agreeing that my storage will be downgraded once the current subscription expires. Simple!
If you aren’t using Picasa Web Albums and the Gmail storage is growing quicker than your inbox, then additional Google storage probably isn’t for you. If you are an avid Google user and want to backup files online, I personally feel that 20GB for just $5/year is a no brainer!
I encourage you to leave your thoughts on Google account storage in the comments below!
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Interesting article, can you tell me what happens with the data when you have 25gig of data stored on Google services then downgrade to free?
Hi Damian,
Thankfully, Google has address your exact question! My understanding is that you will still have access to all 25GB of data, but will not be able to add any more photos, documents and incoming emails will bounce – not good.
Here is an excerpt from the page where Google discusses downgrading.
Is there a limitation of space for non-Google related files in the paid account? The free account only allows 1GB of the 5GB for non-Google files.
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