{"id":6706,"date":"2026-07-20T13:14:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T13:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/?p=6706"},"modified":"2026-07-20T13:14:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T13:14:21","slug":"google-to-end-long-standing-free-android-backup-storage-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/?p=6706","title":{"rendered":"Google to End Long-Standing Free Android Backup Storage Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>MOUNTAIN VIEW:<\/strong> Google has announced a significant change to its cloud storage policy, ending a long-standing practice under which most Android device backups did not count toward users&#8217; Google account storage limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The company has begun notifying users by email that <strong>Android device backups will soon count against their available Google storage<\/strong>, giving affected users <strong>45 days&#8217; notice<\/strong> before the new policy takes effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Android Backups to Count Toward Storage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Until now, Google account storage has primarily been shared among:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Google Photos<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Google Drive<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gmail<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under the updated policy, <strong>Android device backups<\/strong> will also consume space from a user&#8217;s Google account storage allocation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The change means that backup data such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>System settings<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>App data<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SMS messages<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Call history<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">will count toward the storage limit available in each Google account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Users Given 45-Day Notice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Google said it is informing users in advance so they have enough time to manage their storage or adjust their backup settings before the policy comes into effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The company said the notice is intended to help users decide whether to delete unnecessary files, modify backup preferences, or upgrade to a larger storage plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Users May Need More Storage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Google warned that if Android backups cause an account to exceed its storage limit, users will need to either:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Free up space by deleting existing files and backups, or<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Subscribe to a paid Google storage plan for additional capacity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The company noted that users will have greater control over which apps and data are included in their backups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Average Backup Expected to Be Small<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Google spokesperson previously said the average Android backup is expected to use <strong>around 40 MB<\/strong> of storage, although actual usage may vary depending on the amount of data stored on individual devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Google also said it plans to provide users with more options to choose which information they want to back up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Part of Broader Storage Changes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The update is the latest in a series of changes to Google&#8217;s storage policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier, in <strong>May 2026<\/strong>, the company began testing a reduction in free cloud storage for newly created Google accounts, lowering the allocation from <strong>15 GB to 5 GB<\/strong> for selected users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The latest policy reflects Google&#8217;s ongoing efforts to streamline its cloud storage services while encouraging users with larger storage needs to move to paid subscription plans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MOUNTAIN VIEW: Google has announced a significant change to its cloud storage policy, ending a long-standing practice under which most Android device backups did not..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/438389_541250_updates-1.jpg",700,400,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/438389_541250_updates-1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/438389_541250_updates-1-300x171.jpg",300,171,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/438389_541250_updates-1.jpg",700,400,false],"large":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/438389_541250_updates-1.jpg",700,400,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/438389_541250_updates-1.jpg",700,400,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/438389_541250_updates-1.jpg",700,400,false]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/?cat=11\" rel=\"category\">Science<\/a>","tag_info":"Science","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6706"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6708,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6706\/revisions\/6708"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}