I stopped hitting cloud storage limits for good by changing this Google Photos option
Android Police 2026-06-21 10:00:19
Context: The author, Rahul Naskar, a technology writer with experience covering Android, discovered a solution to stop hitting Google's 15GB free cloud storage limit by changing a setting in Google Photos. This change allowed him to store his photos and videos without exceeding the limit, primarily by adjusting the backup quality. The author, who does not subscribe to Google One, utilizes Microsoft 365's 1TB cloud storage for larger files.
Key Facts
- The author was hitting Google's 15GB free cloud storage limit primarily due to Google Photos backups, which by default store photos and videos at their original quality, occupying significant space.
- Google Photos assumes users want to keep the original quality of their shots in backups, which can quickly fill up the 15GB free storage, with a single high-quality photo occupying up to 50MB of space.
- The author changed the backup quality setting in Google Photos from the default "Original quality" to "Express," which compresses photos to 3MP and videos to standard definition, allowing him to save cloud storage space.
- The "Express" option is one of the available backup quality settings, with the other being "Storage saver," which compresses photos to 16MP and videos to high-definition, and is accessible by navigating to the "Photos settings" and then "Backup" in the Google Photos app.
- By changing the backup quality to "Express," the author has not hit the cloud storage limit since, and recommends this setting for users who prioritize saving storage space over preserving photo and video quality.