Google Drive storage rules have changed in recent times. We are all more or less aware of the storage space that our account has, but a second limitation is beginning to be imposed regarding the maximum number of files that could affect even paid accounts, which would be paying for more space than they can use.
To make matters worse, the new file limit isn’t even working as it should, which is causing additional issues in Google Drive.
There are more limits than space on Google Drive
We are all aware (because more or less frequently we end up filling it up) that Google Drive has a limit in terms of the space of the files that you can upload to the service. Once exceeded, you have to delete files to empty it, or buy more space in Google Drive.
However, there are other secondary limitations that we may not be as aware of. Google Drive now limits users to 5 million items, no matter how much they take up , and even if they don’t reach your account’s space limit.
A Google Workspace spokesperson confirmed the change: “To maintain strong performance and reliability, individual users are limited to a total of 5 million items created in their Google Drive.”
It appears this change only affects a small number of Google Drive users, not the entire community. Affected people started receiving “Upload failed” notifications for any action, including creating a new empty folder.
File limits on other cloud services
Although it seems that this limit is difficult to reach, it is already causing a problem for many users, who are filling the Google incident tracker with reports. The implementation of this change may not have been perfect either, as some users say that even with a million items, they can’t create a new .
Some Google competitors also have file limits . OneDrive for Business has a limit of 50,000 items per folder, but it’s never been clear if there’s an overall limit as well. Dropbox, on the other hand, says there is no limit.
People can upgrade their account to Google One, the service that houses Gmail, Drive, YouTube and others, for additional storage. This storage can go up to 30 TB. However, it seems that regardless of a person’s Google One plan, whether it’s 100GB or 20TB, the 5 million item limit applies .
As a result, users with small file sizes are likely to hit the item limit before the storage limit is reached . Especially on these paid plans with large amounts of space, a 2TB plan would have to exceed an average file size of 400KB to run out of storage before reaching the item limit. Unless a person is storing large files like photos and videos on their drive, some may be paying for more space than can realistically be used.
