New Google Accounts Receive 5 GB Storage, Increased to 15 GB Upon Providing Phone Number

Google is reportedly beginning to change its free storage policy for new Google accounts. Accounts that are not linked to a phone number will now only receive a free storage capacity of 5 GB. Previously, Google account users automatically received 15 GB of storage, which could be shared across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos.

This policy change was first identified through user reports noting different notifications during the creation of new Google accounts. “Your account includes 5 GB of storage. Get more storage space with your phone number for Google Photos, Drive, and Gmail,” Google states. According to Google, the requirement to link a phone number is to ensure that the additional storage capacity provided is used only once per person/account.

In addition to notifications during account creation, the policy change is also visible on Google’s official support page. Previously, Google stated that every Google account is “equipped with 15 GB of free cloud storage.” However, the phrasing has now changed to “up to 15 GB of free cloud storage,” implying that this capacity is no longer automatically available to all users.

According to the Wayback Machine from the Internet Archive, this linguistic change began appearing on 18 March 2024 and remains in effect. While Google does not explicitly state that a phone number is mandatory to obtain 15 GB of storage, it is requested during the creation of new accounts. There are certain conditions where phone verification is not required, such as when setting up a new Android device without a SIM card.

The policy of linking a phone number to secure 15 GB of storage is intended to prevent system abuse by users or bots creating numerous accounts to amass large amounts of free storage. Reports also suggest that Google may be limiting free storage due to increasing costs and the limitations of storage hardware, as gathered by 9to5google.