Google Workspace storage FAQ for admins

Here are common questions for admins about storage space for your organization's Gmail, Google Drive files, and Google Photos.

To review your own storage, go to Manage files in your Google Drive storage.

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What are Google Workspace storage and upload limits?

Google Workspace storage is shared between Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. Learn how storage use is calculated.

The amount of storage for each user depends on your Google Workspace edition. Most Google Workspace editions have pooled storage. Pooled storage is indicated in the following tables as total storage or a storage amount times the number of End User licenses.

Pooled storage is granted in stages:

  • At the time of purchase, you get part of your storage. 
  • As you make timely payments for your subscription, your storage increases up to your total storage limit. It can take up to 72 hours after a payment for your storage to increase.
Google Workspace Edition or Subscription Storage Limits

G Suite Basic

No longer available for new customers

30 GB per End User

G Suite Business

G Suite Business - Archived Users

No longer available for new customers

Unlimited storage

1 TB per Archived User

Google Workspace Business Starter 30 GB times the number of End Users, including Archived Users
Google Workspace Business Standard 2 TB times the number of End Users, including Archived Users
Google Workspace Business Plus 5 TB times the number of End Users, including Archived Users
Google Workspace Enterprise Starter 1 TB times the number of End Users

Google Workspace Enterprise Standard

Google Workspace Enterprise Plus

5 TB times the number of End Users, including Archived Users

For customers with 5 or more End Users, more storage may be available at Google's discretion upon reasonable request. Learn how to request storage.

Google Workspace for Education

Google Workspace Edition or Subscription Storage Limits

Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals

Google Workspace for Education Standard

100 TB total for all End Users
Google Workspace for Education Teaching and Learning Upgrade Additional 100 GB times the number of End User licenses
Google Workspace for Education Plus Additional 20 GB times the number of End User licenses

For more information about storage for Google Workspace for Education storage, go to Understand storage availability and usage.

Google Workspace Essentials

Google Workspace Essentials editions do not include Gmail.

Google Workspace Edition or Subscription Storage Limits

Google Workspace Essentials Starter

15 GB per End User

Google Workspace Essentials

No longer available for new customers

100 GB times the number of End User, up to a maximum of 2 TB
Google Workspace Enterprise Essentials 1 TB times the number of End Users
Google Workspace Enterprise Essentials Plus 5 TB times the number of End Users

Google Workspace Frontline

Google Workspace Edition or Subscription Storage Limits

Google Workspace Frontline Starter

Google Workspace Frontline Standard

5 GB per End User*

*This storage limit applies to all End Users using a Google Workspace Frontline edition, even if the Customer purchased another Google Workspace offering with different storage limits.

Google Workspace for Nonprofits

Google Workspace Edition or Subscription Storage Limits

Google Workspace for Nonprofits

100 TB for all End Users

If you need more storage, review your storage options for non-Education Google Workspace editions or storage options for Education editions.

Additional limits

Drive users are limited in the amount they can upload per day, the number of files they can create, and the depth they can nest folders. For details, see Storage and upload limits for Google Workspace.
How does pooled storage work?
Pooled storage is shared storage for all your users. This storage includes, but is not limited to, files from Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos.
Each user’s license adds to your organization’s pool. Because storage is pooled, users can use more than the storage included in their license. We recommend that you set storage limits to fairly share storage between users and shared drives.
What counts toward storage? What doesn't?

The following files count toward storage:

Google Drive

  • Items in Google Drive, which includes PDFs, images, videos, Meet recordings, and Sites project files.
  • Files created or edited after May 2, 2022 in collaborative content creation apps like Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, Recorder, and Jamboard.
  • Content in shared drives.
  • Content in Trash until it's permanently deleted.

Gmail

  • Messages and attachments, including items in your Spam and Trash folders.

Google Photos

The following content doesn't count toward storage:

  • Drive shortcuts
  • Google Chat messages and attachments
  • Content created with My Maps
  • Files shared with users. Shared files are counted only for the file owner's storage, not for the users the file is shared with.
  • Version history for files created in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, unless the user explicitly decides to keep older versions.
  • WhatsApp backups from Android devices
How can I see how much storage my organization uses?

You can see your organization's storage use in your Admin console, including which users and shared drives use the most storage. For details, see Review storage use across your organization.

If you don't have access to the data on the Storage page, you might be able to review the Accounts report:

  1. Go to the article View Apps reports for your organization.
  2. Follow the steps on how to go to the Accounts report > Total storage used.

Review the storage status of a single user

  1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

    Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

  2. In the Admin console, go to Menu and then Directoryand thenUsers.
  3. Click a user to open their account page.
    At the top of the page, you can see the percentages of mail and Drive storage utilized by the user.
What happens if a user or organization is over their storage limit?

If a user exceeds the storage limit set by their admin or by their license, their Google services are immediately impacted.

As soon as your organization exceeds its storage limit, users can’t add or back up photos to Google Photos.

If your organization exceeds its storage limit by 25% or for 14 days (whichever comes first), the following services are impacted:

  • Users can’t add new files or images to Google Drive.
  • Users can’t create new files in collaborative content creation apps like Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, and Forms. Until they reduce storage use, nobody can edit or copy their affected files or submit forms owned by the user.
  • Users can’t record new meetings in Google Meet.

When your organization’s limit is exceeded, users can still sign in to their Google Workspace account, send and receive emails, and view and download files.

If you need more storage, review your storage options for non-Education Google Workspace editions or storage options for Education editions.

Ultimately, you are limited to the amount of storage described in our terms of service, and if you exceed your limit, we reserve the right to disable uploads to Drive, suspend your domain, or delete your domain along with all its data.

How do I get more storage for my organization?

The ways you can get more storage for your organization’s email, files, and photos depend on your edition:

What is the difference between Google Drive storage and Google Cloud Storage?

Google Workspace storage is best for files that users access and edit frequently or collaborate in through Drive, Gmail, or Photos. Cloud Storage is best for files that users access indirectly through a website or other system your organization’s developers set up.

Is my storage calculated in metric or binary units (GB or GiB)?

Google Workspace storage is sold and calculated in binary units. For example, each Enterprise Standard user license adds 5 TiB to your pooled storage, equal to ~5.5 TB.

What happened to legacy individual storage subscriptions?

Individual storage subscriptions are no longer available for purchase. When you upgrade to an edition that has pooled storage or your edition is updated to have pooled storage:

  • The legacy storage isn’t added to your organization’s pooled storage.
  • Any legacy storage subscriptions are automatically cancelled.

User-purchased storage

If users purchased additional storage, you may want to prepare ahead of the switch to make sure your organization has enough pooled storage for everyone. To identify which users might have a legacy user-purchased storage subscription:

  1. Review the amount of storage included with your current Google Workspace subscription. On this page, go to What are Google Workspace storage and upload limits? 
  2. In your Admin console, use the storage management tools to identify high-storage users. If their storage use is larger than what is included with their license, they might have purchased a legacy storage subscription. For example, a user with a Business Starter is expected to have 30 GB of storage, but if they’re using 50 GB, they may have purchased additional storage.

Alternatively, users can cancel their subscription ahead of the switch. To cancel an individual storage subscription, the user:

  1. Opens https://play.google.com/store/account/subscriptions with the account they use for work or school.
  2. Finds the Google One subscription (user-managed individual storage subscriptions are now listed as Google One subscriptions).
  3. Clicks Manageand thenCancel subscription and follows the on-screen instructions.

Admin-purchased storage

If you purchased additional storage for your users with the legacy admin-managed storage subscription, you can review how much storage that added in your Admin console (go to Billingand thenSubscriptions). On that page, you can cancel the subscription if you no longer need it. It will be canceled automatically after the switch to pooled storage.

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