6 simple tips to help you free up Google Drive space

Google Drive offers 15GB of free storage, but that can disappear faster than you think. Don't rush to spend more money on additional storage — a few simple cleanups can free up a lot of space for more important things.

 

1. Check which services are taking up the most space

Most users, when they see their Drive is full, immediately think of deleting large files. However, few people notice that this free 15GB is shared between three services:

1. Google Drive
2. Gmail
3. Google Photos

That means the culprit for full memory is not necessarily Drive.

To see which services are eating up the most space, head over to the Google One Storage page. There, you'll see a graph of how much space is being used by each service. Once you've identified the culprits, you'll know where to focus your cleaning efforts instead of randomly deleting a few small files that don't help.

2. Find and delete large files in Google Drive

If Google Drive is the biggest space-hogging culprit, start cleaning up heavy files that are no longer needed — like duplicate copies, old zip files, or outdated backups.

How to do:

1. Open Google Drive , select Storage in the left sidebar.
2. Click Storage Used to sort files from largest to smallest .
3. Look at the file types (videos, zip files, forms, etc.) and delete what you don't need.

 

You should also check for 'orphaned files' — these are files you added to a shared folder but the owner deleted it. Even though they no longer appear in your main Drive list, they're still taking up space, so find and delete them to free up some space.

3. Optimize Google Photos to save space

If Google Photos is taking up the most space, there are a few things you can do:

1. Switch to 'Storage Saver' (formerly called 'High Quality') instead of 'Original Quality'. Photos and videos will be lightly compressed to reduce their size without affecting their display quality .
2. In Settings > Manage Storage , delete blurry photos, screenshots, old or large videos .
3. For important high-resolution photos, you can back them up to an external hard drive instead of storing them in the cloud.

 

4. Delete emails with large attachments in Gmail

Gmail also shares space with Drive, and often has a bunch of old emails with large attachments. Deleting them can help you reclaim a lot of space.

Quick search:

1. Open Gmail.

Type in the search bar: has:attachment larger:10MB

1. Review the email list containing large files, delete unnecessary emails .
2. If there are important files, download them to your computer before deleting them .

5. Use Google One Storage Manager

If you want a comprehensive, automated cleanup, use Google One Storage Manager. It will suggest categories to delete, such as:

1. Blurred image, screenshot
2. Email with large attachment
3. High Capacity Drive Files

Just click 'Review' , select unnecessary items and delete them directly in the interface.

 

Additionally, each service has its own filter section to help you clean more thoroughly, for example:

1. Delete spam, trash in Gmail
2. Remove corrupted videos, large files in Photos or Drive

6. Don't forget to clean the Trash

When you delete a file, email, or photo, it stays in Trash for 30 days before being permanently deleted — and still takes up space in the meantime.

Clean manually by service:

1. Drive: Open 'Trash' > select 'Empty Trash'.
2. Gmail: Open 'Trash' > select 'Empty Trash now'.
3. Photos: Open 'Library' > select 'Trash' > 'Empty Trash'.

Once done, the freed up space will appear immediately in your Google One account.

Summary

Running out of Google Drive space doesn't mean you have to delete important documents . By identifying the cause and applying the tips above, you can clean up excess files , optimize photo storage , and manage email smarter — all without spending extra money .

If after cleaning up you still find 15GB isn't enough, you might consider upgrading to a Google One plan for more flexible storage.