In November 2020, Google announced that its free unlimited storage for high quality photo uploads will end on June 1, 2021. Starting on that day, all new photo and video uploads will count towards the free 15GB storage that comes with your Google Account. You’re probably asking what it means and what you should do about it? We’ll answer those questions below.
To give you a quick background, Google offers unlimited storage for photos and videos uploaded in ‘high quality,’ while files uploaded in ‘original quality’ count towards the 15GB of your Google Account. The former is a more popular option for obvious reasons, especially for owners of devices with limited storage. Unfortunately, it’s not going to last that long as the unlimited storage option will end on June 1, 2021, unless you own a Pixel 5 and earlier devices.
What should I do now?
There’s no need to worry as photos and videos uploaded in high quality before June 1, 2021, won’t be counted towards the free 15GB. We still have a few days before that day so I suggest uploading everything in High quality before that day arrives.
What should I do on June 1, 2021?
You have multiple options at your disposal once the unlimited storage ends:
1) Continue uploading to your Google Photos account until you fill the 15GB allocated to your account. If your storage is almost full, you can try to fill up some space using these tips.
2) If you don’t have enough space available you can either create a new Google Account for another free 15GB or purchase a Google One subscription to get more storage on your current account. Below are the options available as of writing:
• 100GB – PHP 89/mo or PHP 889/yr
• 200GB – PHP 149/mo or PHP 1,499/yr
• 2TB – PHP 479/mo or PHP 4,799/yr
3) Move to a different cloud storage platform. If you don’t want to use Google Photos, you can try alternatives such as Microsoft One Drive with 15GB or MEGA for 50GB. Like Google Photos, you can get a bigger storage allocation by paying a subscription. You can check other cloud storage alternatives here.
4) Get a NAS. NAS stands for Network Attached Storage and is basically a personal cloud storage solution that plugs directly to your WiFi router at home so you can back up and access all your files there. Popular brands include Synology, Western Digital, and QNAP. It has its own hard drive, which you can upgrade or replace in the future, and usually accompanied by an app or software to help you manage and access your files locally or remotely. However, these devices are expensive and require some technical know-how.
5) Get a portable drive. This is an old-school method, but hey, it’s still an effective way to back up files. For laptops and PCs, you can get an external hard drive. You can go for a mechanical hard drive if you’re on a budget (you can get one from PHP 2K), or an SSD if you need speed and have a bigger budget.
For mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, you will probably need something with a USB-C or Apple Lightning interface. Fortunately, some brands like SanDisk offer OTG flash drives in those types. You can get one starting at PHP 1K, then all you need to do is plug it into your device and transfer the files.
And there you have it. As you can see there are many ways to manage your photo and video backup. You can pick one that works for you or use a combination of the options. Just make sure it will make your life easier and works with your budget.
