Google is rolling out a small but significant update to its Google Photos service that will make it easier to keep control of your storage.
In this recent update, spotted by 9To5Google, Google has added extra information to each photo, allowing you to view its selected backup quality as well as the amount of your precious Google One storage quota it’s using. If you have received the update, and not everyone has, you can view the new information by going to the Google Photos web interface, viewing a photo or video and clicking on the ‘i’ icon for more info.
Here you will see a variable list of background information about your photo, including the time and date it was taken, its file name, size, shooting location and the type of device that was used to upload it. In this update, Google has now added a new ‘Backed up’ section that shows you whether an image is stored in Google’s efficient but reduced-quality “storage saver” mode or in the larger, “original quality” mode. It also shows you the size of the file in megabytes so you can manage your storage more effectively.
If your photo has been uploaded under one of Google’s previous unlimited storage plans, you’ll be notified that the file isn’t taking up space in your account storage. This means you can now see quite easily which files can be safely left alone if you’re having a clear-out to free up storage.
Once again, Google hasn’t rolled out this feature to everyone so if you don’t see it immediately you may have to wait until it’s activated on your account.
This new update supplements Google’s existing storage management options, for which I’ve provided a quick reminder below:
Managing Storage On Google Photos
Google Photos lets you manage your storage space by allowing you to choose the upload size of your photos and videos. Depending on the storage plan in effect when your photos were uploaded, they may or may not contribute to your overall Google One storage quota.
If you’re running low on space, you can use Google’s storage management functions to find and delete any large photos and videos you may no-longer need. This function will only show you media that count against your storage quota; anything uploaded under a previous free storage option won’t show up here as deleting those wouldn’t release any storage space anyway.
However, this method only lets you view and delete the top storage hogs as determined by Google. Since the new update, you can now view the information for any photo or video you like.
