Gallery Full? Pay or Clean Up?
Most Android smartphone users have experienced this before. One day you're snapping photos back-to-back, then suddenly Google Photos tells you that your storage is nearly full. At that point, you can either upgrade to Google One—which increases your storage from 15GB to 100GB for about $2.10 per month (roughly 1.99 euros)—or start organizing your photo library. But before you start deleting, here's what to consider.
The Quick Fix: Compress Your Photos
Often, the fastest way to recover several gigabytes of space doesn’t require deleting photos at all. According to Frandroid, one lesser-known trick is to compress your photos. By reducing their quality, you can store more photos without actually removing any from your library. Google Photos allows you to convert your original quality images to a compressed version with a few taps. This offers a balance: you make more room while keeping your memories intact.
Empty the Trash to Actually Free Up Space
There's an important step many people overlook. When you delete a photo, it stays in your Google Photos trash for up to 60 days and continues to use your storage during that time. So if you want to free up space immediately, don't forget to go to the trash and empty it. It's the digital equivalent of taking out the trash—you need to ensure deleted items have actually been removed from your storage.
