Gmail Storage Full? How to Free Up Google Storage

The “storage full” warning in Gmail is about your whole Google Account, not just email. Google says each account includes up to 15 GB shared across Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos, and that WhatsApp backups on Android count too. A large photo library can fill Gmail even if your inbox is small.

What happens when your Google storage is full

• Email stops: Google says you can’t send or receive emails, and messages sent to you go back to the sender.
• Uploads stop: you can’t upload or create files in Drive or back up photos and videos to Google Photos.
• After 2 years over quota: Google says your content in Gmail, Drive and Photos may be deleted. It notifies you at least 3 months before.
• You can still sign in to your Google Account.

See what’s using your storage

On a computer, go to one.google.com and click Storage. On iPhone, when you’re over your quota, open Gmail, Drive or Google Photos and tap Manage storage (or Clean up space), then Usage details to see the split by service.

Quick fix: get Gmail working again

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   Step 1: Empty Trash and Spam

   Google says items in these folders count against your storage until you permanently delete them. In the Gmail app on iPhone, tap Menu › Trash, then Empty trash now. Empty Drive’s and Google Photos’ Trash too.

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   Step 2: Delete emails with large attachments

   On a computer, search Gmail for has:attachment larger:10M, tick the emails you no longer need and click Delete, then empty Trash. older_than:2y has:attachment finds emails with attachments older than two years.

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   Step 3: Give it time

   Google says storage updates shortly after you delete, but after deleting many files at once it can take up to 48–72 hours.

Clear Drive, Photos and backups

• Drive: on a computer, click Storage on the left; Google lists your files from largest to smallest. Files shared with you only count against the owner’s storage, unless you make a copy.
• Photos: Google says photos and videos backed up in Original quality count against your storage. Storage saver ones count too if backed up after June 1, 2021.
• WhatsApp on Android: Google says to turn off Include videos in WhatsApp › Settings › Chats › Chat backup first. If you delete a backup without changing settings, a new one appears at the next backup. Deleting a WhatsApp backup is permanent: if you change phones or reinstall WhatsApp before a new backup is made, you lose your chat history.
• Device backups: check the Backups section of the Google One storage page for device backups you no longer need.

CleanX

Find what fills Gmail from your iPhone with CleanX

Sign in with Google and CleanX lists the senders in your latest 2,000 inbox emails with how many of those emails each sent and how much space they take, largest first. Select senders, or pick a category such as Promotions and add filters like older than 1 year, and CleanX moves those emails to Gmail’s Trash. They stay there for 30 days, so you can restore them; to free the space without waiting 30 days, empty Gmail’s Trash afterwards.

• Senders sorted by the space their emails take
• Whole Gmail categories with age and keep filters
• Scanning is free; moving to Trash needs CleanX Pro

See everything CleanX does →

Keep it from filling up again

• Unsubscribe from newsletters you don’t read: see how to unsubscribe from emails in Gmail.
• Clear old mail in bulk: see how to delete all emails in Gmail.
• Download before deleting anything you want to keep: Google lists downloading files to your device and then deleting them from the cloud as another way to free up space.