{"id":951,"date":"2021-12-31T19:06:07","date_gmt":"2022-01-01T00:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dandc.com\/?p=951"},"modified":"2021-12-31T19:06:07","modified_gmt":"2022-01-01T00:06:07","slug":"how-to-use-googles-storage-manager-tool-to-free-up-space-on-your-account","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.dandc.com\/?p=951","title":{"rendered":"How to use Google\u2019s Storage Manager tool to free up space on your account"},"content":{"rendered":"

via Chrome Unboxed \u2013 The Latest Chrome OS News<\/a> December 30, 2021 at 11:48AM<\/p>\n

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While Google One is relatively new on the scene and provides many unified tools for managing data for individuals and families alike, most users may not be aware of the built-in feature for freeing up storage space across their Google Account. \u201cStorage Manager\u201d by Google is a powerful system that takes advantage of the company\u2019s servers to let you process bulk amounts of data all at once. With limited space on free accounts, and Google\u2019s recent decision to say goodbye to unlimited<\/a> this method as well as direct bulk<\/a> <\/a>Google Photos management<\/a> can be lifesavers!<\/p>\n

You could simply visit each Google service and manually delete files, but this new option frees up your need to strategically plan and execute individual tasks by combining them all into one webpage. For anyone not yet using Google One, you can sign up and get a membership that includes not only the aforementioned storage management but also device backups, Google Store rewards, Pro help sessions directly from Google Support, additional Google Photos editing features, hotel discounts, and even a VPN (for 2TB+ plans). As a heads up, even free Google Account holders can use Storage Manager, but these other perks come with a subscription.<\/p>\n

Accessing Google Storage Manager<\/h2>\n

With all of the basics out of the way, let\u2019s see how you can potentially free up hundreds of gigabytes of data on your Google Account so that your start the new year out with a clear head and storage space to spare! First, you\u2019ll want to navigate to the Google One Storage page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Open Google One Storage<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

From here, you\u2019ll see a full breakdown of your Google Account storage across Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. Additionally, Google Recorder and storage you\u2019re sharing with your loved ones via your Family Group are listed here as well. It\u2019s a colorful bar that\u2019s segmented out in the same way that Apple has done for years. This is my second favorite feature of Google One, just below the storage management tools, that is.<\/p>\n

Alright, let\u2019s scroll down. Just below your breakdown, you\u2019ll see a banner called \u201cGet your space back\u201d. It says here that you can \u201csee ways to free up space in Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos\u201d. Just go ahead and click \u201cFree up account storage\u201d. As a reminder, you can simply upgrade below this space if you want to remove account restrictions until you have time to clean things up, but I recommend following along today so you can start off the new year in a great space!<\/p>\n

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Click on \u201cFree up account storage\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Reviewing and Deleting Items<\/h2>\n

On this next screen, you\u2019ll see suggestions for Discarded items like recently deleted emails and files, and spam that you can remove to free up some space. Additionally, Google Photos sometimes has \u201cUnsupported videos\u201d \u2013 or videos that the service can\u2019t process or play because of their file type. At the bottom of this screen, you can completely remove them, but I\u2019d recommend downloading a copy of them with Google Takeout<\/a> instead! Just because Google can\u2019t make use of them doesn\u2019t mean that you want your precious memories deleted, right?<\/p>\n

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I just want the steps<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Visit the Google One Storage Manager<\/a><\/strong>
2. Scroll down and click \u201cFree up account storage<\/a>\u201c<\/strong>
3. Review<\/strong> Discarded items, Large Items, and Other items
4. Select items you no longer need<\/strong>
5. Click the trash can icon<\/strong> at the top-right of the window (These items will be permenantly deleted<\/strong>!)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The bulk of the work here will be you going through the \u201cLarge items\u201d section. As you can see in my example above, there are almost 50GB of storage that I can free up on my account! That\u2019s pretty impressive, but it\u2019s important to realize that you may not want to delete all of these files. In fact, I\u2019ve found that I often don\u2019t. Google just knows that they\u2019re large items, but it doesn\u2019t understand their sentimental value to you.<\/p>\n

Clicking the \u201cReview and free up\u2026\u201d button under each of the three boxes (Email with large attachments, Large files, and Large photos and videos) will bring you to a screen where you have some pretty powerful filtering and organizational tools for making sense of these items.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to move forward with Large files in Drive. In the photo below, you can see that I have blurred out my personal items, but what you\u2019re looking at is 31.5GB of photos and videos in Drive from back when Google Photos was tied to it. Back on July 10, 2019, the company separated the two to reduce confusion, but I and others continue to have loads of storage taken up by what was left in Drive, which is frustrating.<\/p>\n

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