Google has quietly updated its policy on account storage, limiting the standard 15GB of free storage to accounts that are verified with a phone number.
For many years, creating a Google account has automatically given users access to a 15GB free storage pool that is shared between Drive, Gmail, and Photos. It’s a substantial sum that can go a long way when compared to Apple and some others.
However, this is now marked with an asterisk. When creating a new Google account, one user was informed that they would only receive 5GB of free storage. The user would have to connect a phone number to the account in order to receive 15GB.
Google’s notice reads:
“Your account includes 5 GB of storage. Now get even more storage space with your phone number for Google Photos, Drive, and Gmail.
- Unlock 15 GB storage at no cost by using your phone number
- Keep 5 GB storage
Google will use your phone number to make sure storage is added only once per person.”
We have found that Google has changed its language on the 15GB of free storage. While looking for confirmation of this change the link is now broken. The phrase “Your Google Account comes with 15 GB of cloud storage at no charge” from a support page has been changed to “up to 15 GB of cloud storage at no charge.” Another support page about “How your Google storage works” uses the same language.
We were able to confirm that Google made this modification at some point in March 2026 using the WayBack Machine from the Internet Archive. It was added to the archive on March 18 and is still active today.
To the best of our knowledge, Google does not specifically state that, aside from the new account setup procedure, phone number linking is necessary for 15GB of storage. Crucially, in the majority of cases, you must include a phone number.
We were required to verify a phone number before attempting to create a new Google account on both desktop and mobile devices. However, in certain situations, such as when configuring a new Android phone without a SIM card, this verification is not necessary.
Google presents this as a policy to guarantee that this 15GB storage pool is added “once per person” if you are able to complete account setup without providing a phone number, though someone with multiple phone numbers could theoretically get around that restriction.
In any case, it prevents users and bots from abusing Google’s system and obtaining an infinite amount of storage. Although there has been some criticism of the change, it’s important to remember that Google, like everyone else, is dealing with the rising cost and shortage of memory and storage hardware, which is probably at least partially what prompted this change.
