Google is tightening the rules on free cloud storage for new accounts, and the change is already showing up in early tests: users can now be offered just 5 GB unless they link a phone number. That is a sharp drop from the long-standing 15 GB starter tier shared across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos.
The move looks less like a gift being trimmed and more like an attempt to stop people from gaming the system. Google says the goal is to make sure the 15 GB allowance is handed out once per person, not once per throwaway account – a sensible cleanup, even if the timing smells like storage economics doing some quiet work in the background.
How the Google storage offer works
According to users who spotted the test, the smaller free tier applies during account creation if a phone number is not attached. Google’s support language has also been updated, replacing the old blunt ”15 GB” promise with wording that says each Google account gets up to 15 GB by default, used by Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos.
That detail matters because Google is not banning phone verification; it is leaning on a step that was already common. The company still has exceptions, including some Android sign-ups on devices without a SIM card, so this is not a universal lockout so much as a stricter default.
Why Google is doing this now
The official line is abuse prevention, and that tracks. Free storage has always been a magnet for duplicate accounts, burner sign-ups, and people stretching one allowance across several identities. The less polite interpretation is that Google is also protecting a resource that is never really ”free” once you multiply it by billions of users.
There is a broader pattern here. Cloud providers have spent the past few years nudging users toward paid tiers, stronger verification, and fewer loopholes, because storage costs are real and margins are not magical. Google’s tweak is small on paper, but it is the kind of small change that often becomes the new normal before anyone bothers to call it a shift.
What new Google accounts should expect
- Without a linked phone number, new accounts may only see 5 GB free.
- With verification, the familiar 15 GB allowance is still the baseline.
- The storage is shared across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos.
If the test expands, the real question is not whether Google can enforce it – of course it can – but how many users will accept the extra friction before looking elsewhere. For most people, 5 GB is a cramped starter home, not a cloud strategy.