Google has been warning me that my account is running out of storage, so I started clearing out old photos and videos. I downloaded everything from 2018 to my computer, and the resulting ZIP file was about 2.3GB. However, when I deleted those items from my cloud library, Google said only 8.8MB of storage would be recovered. Why is the downloaded file so much larger than the amount counted against my storage, and how can I verify what is actually using my quota?
3 Answers
A ZIP archive's size mainly tells you how much data was exported to your computer. It does not prove that Google was charging that same amount against your account. Look at the storage manager and compare Google Photos, Drive, and Gmail individually before deleting more files.
The size of the downloaded ZIP is not necessarily the same as the amount those items count toward in your Google storage. Photos may have been stored using a space-saving quality setting, may have been uploaded under an older storage policy, or may include files that were not counting against your quota. Check the account storage breakdown first to confirm whether those photos were actually responsible for the space usage.
Deleting files may not immediately change the storage total. Check the trash in the relevant service and empty it if necessary, then allow some time for Google to recalculate the account usage. That said, if the storage breakdown still shows only a small amount being freed, the photos probably were not using 2.3GB of quota in the first place.
Trash normally has to be cleared before deleted items are permanently removed, although Google can sometimes show that certain items in Photos do not count toward account storage.
Also make sure the ZIP file was saved only to your computer. If it was placed in Drive, that copy could count toward your cloud storage separately.