Cloud storage services like Google Drive provide storage space so you may back up your files and access them from anywhere at any time. Even Google Drive, though, does not always perform as smoothly as you’d like.
Unfortunately, there appears to be a flaw in the cloud service that causes you to receive a message that Google Drive is full, which turns out to be false when you examine the Google storage space available. When you encounter error messages like “Gmail storage full,” this is what happens.
So, if you’re trapped in this situation, here are a few solutions to the “Google Drive storage full, but no files in it” difficulty. Each of these recommendations addresses the basis of the problem, allowing you to make better use of your Google storage.
The first step in troubleshooting should be to figure out what’s eating up your cloud storage. Google Drive, after all, is simply one component of the overall Google account storage package. As previously mentioned, your cloud space quota is used by Gmail, Google Photos, and anything shared by you.
So, go to https://one.google.com/storage and log in to your account to locate the perpetrator. Check Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos for available storage space.
You’ll need to delete some huge email attachments and compress uploaded images if Google Drive utilises less storage space than the other two services. Let’s look at the specifics:
Method 1: Delete Large Email Attachments
If you receive lots of emails with attachments, they might be responsible for hogging your Google Drive space. To free up some storage space, open your Gmail account and delete all messages that you no longer need. To make your search easier, you can use various search criteria to identify specific messages with large attachments. For instance, you can enter “has:attachment:10M” (without quotes) in the Gmail search field to open all emails containing attachments that are larger than 10 MB. Alternatively, click on the arrow next to the “Search mail” input field and use the available options to filter your search.
Once the emails appear, you can choose to delete all outdated messages.
Method 2: Delete Unnecessary Files from Google Drive
1. While in your Google Drive account, click on the “Storage” option in the left sidebar to display all the items using up your storage space.
2. Click on “Storage used” to change the sort order from large to small. If you see any large files that you don’t need anymore, remove them from the Drive.
3. Next, click on “Computers” in the left sidebar and check if there are huge files there. However, keep in mind that if you are still syncing these folders and files to your computer, deleting them removes them from your PC as well.
Once you’re done deleting files that you don’t need, remember to empty the trash.
Read: How to use Google Slides 2022
Method 3: Delete Photos From All Your Devices
Sometimes, even after deleting your photos from Google Photos, you may face the “Google Drive incorrect quota” issue. This is because your other devices might restore the missing pictures by syncing them.
To permanently remove the photos, you’ll need to delete them from all your synced devices. This might be a tedious exercise, but one that may save you the headache of dealing with the Google Drive ‘Storage Full’ error.
Method 4: Check Storage Taken By Google Drive Files
Some files may be still available on Google Drive. To check all the available files, open https://drive.google.com/drive/quota using a browser on your phone or web. Tap on the Storage used option to change the sort order from large to small. If some huge files are still visible, delete them.
You should also check the files at https://drive.google.com/drive/computers. Here you will find the files that were backed up from your computer. Delete them if not needed. However, do note that if you are still syncing them to the computer, they will be removed from your PC too.
Method 5: Empty Your Trash
When was the last time you emptied the trash on Google Drive? Every time you delete files from Google Drive, they are not permanently deleted but rather end up in the trash, where they will stay until they are automatically deleted every 30 days.
Luckily, you don’t have to wait 30 days for the trash to be cleaned out. To keep your used storage space down, empty the trash regularly. Here’s how to do that:
- Visit your Google Drive account and select “Trash” on the left sidebar.
- If there’s anything, click on “Empty trash” and then select “Delete forever”.
Method 6: Remove Hidden App Data
If you use Google Drive to backup data from third-party apps, such data will also take up storage. To view such hidden data, follow these steps:
Step 1: Open drive.google.com from a browser.
Step 2: Click on the settings icon at the top and select Settings from it.
Method 7: Clear Cache On Android
If you are checking the available storage from an Android phone, clear the cache for the Drive app. Clearing cache will not delete the files as it is different from clearing data.
To clear cache for Google Drive, open Settings on your phone and go to Apps & notifications or Installed apps. Look for Google Drive under All apps. Tap on Storage inside Google Drive. Finally, tap on Clear cache. Restart your phone.
Lastly, Be Patient.
The key to success is having patience. If you deleted a large number of files from Google Drive, you should wait for at least 24 hours after trying the above steps before panicking. Hopefully, the updated storage would reflect then, and you will not get the storage is full error on Google Drive.
