Pixel photos/videos counting against storage quota

[spawndoodling]

Hi all! I am having an issue where my Pixel photos and videos appear to be counting against the 15 GB storage quota tied to Gmail, Drive, and Google Photos not taken or uploaded by a Pixel phone. This caused me to reach my 15 GB storage limit and delete photos and files from Photos and Drive. Has anyone experienced or found a remedy to this problem?

It just so turns out that this problem is unsolvable at the moment, according to support. I called Pixel technical support and they were ultimately unable to remedy the issue. It was a highly disappointing call, because technical support claimed this was an issue with Google Drive and/or Google Photos that they did not have experience dealing with. Their "fix" was suggesting that I compress my photos to high quality. To their credit, they did pledge to work with me to try and fix the issue over time, but it was disappointing that Google was unable to live up to its promise.

Gmail and Drive do not take up beyond 2 GB of storage, and prior to buying the Pixel in November, I had used Google Photos but never before run out of storage. On Google Drive, when I click on "Google Photos" and click the information icon next to a photo, it ironically says that it counts toward 0 bytes of my storage quota. And this is not just for photos taken on my Pixel either: all photos, screenshots, and other device photos count toward 0 bytes, including those taken/uploaded on my Nexus 6 and Nexus 6P. On Google Photos, it correctly states that I have unlimited storage at original quality. And yet, on the Google Drive storage page, it says that I have reached the 15GB limit, overwhelmingly from my Photos. And when I reach the limit, it will affect my ability to receive emails, which is a bit worrisome.

However, I made the point to Support multiple times that Google has promised Pixel users unlimited storage at original quality. I've now had several Pixels (one stolen, one lost, and one manufacturing defect) since November, but they've always been Pixels. I was very disappointed that Support admitted that there was no fix for this issue and they couldn't help. In the grand scheme of things, this is not a big issue, but it strikes me as a worrisome glitch/error that might not have a proper solution.

Let me know if anyone has experienced anything like this. Know I can always count on A/C for help! Thanks.

 

[B. Diddy]

I wonder if getting a refurbished phone affects this -- i.e., if you get a refurbished phone that has already been used by someone else, perhaps the unlimited photo storage was a one-time thing for the first owner only? Just speculating here.

 

[anon(847090)]

"I am having an issue where my Pixel photos and videos appear to be counting against the 15 GB storage quota tied to Gmail, Drive, and Google Photos not taken or uploaded by a Pixel "

there is your problem. only photos and videos taken from pixel is free.
its not tied to your account. its tied to your pixel

 

[can3gxw]

"I am having an issue where my Pixel photos and videos appear to be counting against the 15 GB storage quota tied to Gmail, Drive, and Google Photos not taken or uploaded by a Pixel "

there is your problem. only photos and videos taken from pixel is free.
its not tied to your account. its tied to your pixel

That's not his problem - he's just quoting the rules for the quota. The first line of his post states his problem:

Hi all! I am having an issue where my Pixel photos and videos appear to be counting against the 15 GB storage quota

 

[anon(847090)]

That's not his problem - he's just quoting the rules for the quota. The first line of his post states his problem:

i dont think so. you just took half the sentence and ignored the rest

Hi all! I am having an issue where my Pixel photos and videos appear to be counting against the 15 GB storage quota tied to Gmail, Drive, and Google Photos not taken or uploaded by a Pixel phone.

there is no period at the end of storage quota. its at the end of Pixel phone.

 

[B. Diddy]

i dont think so. you just took half the sentence and ignored the rest

Actually, I think @can3gxw's interpretation is right. But let's see what @spawndoodling has to say.

 

[spawndoodling]

i dont think so. you just took half the sentence and ignored the rest

Hi all! I am having an issue where my Pixel photos and videos appear to be counting against the 15 GB storage quota tied to Gmail, Drive, and Google Photos not taken or uploaded by a Pixel phone.

there is no period at the end of storage quota. its at the end of Pixel phone.

Apologies for the confusion. I meant that photos taken WITH my Pixel are counting against the storage quota. When I go to Google Drive, every photo that I've taken with my Pixel says it's using 0 bytes of storage. But then under the storage checker website - which indicates how much of your 15GB quota Gmail, Drive, and Photos are using - it inexplicably says that I've used almost 10GB of data taking photos on my Pixel.

I deleted every photo from Google Photos not taken by my Pixel and have ended up with the same result. It seems like when I activated a new Pixel, since I've had a few, that it counts the old photos toward the storage quota.

Google support still has been unable to solve the issue so I can only assume this is a glitch, but I too wonder if B. Diddy is right:

I wonder if getting a refurbished phone affects this -- i.e., if you get a refurbished phone that has already been used by someone else, perhaps the unlimited photo storage was a one-time thing for the first owner only? Just speculating here.

 

[HeliBif]

Apologies for the confusion. I meant that photos taken WITH my Pixel are counting against the storage quota. When I go to Google Drive, every photo that I've taken with my Pixel says it's using 0 bytes of storage. But then under the storage checker website - which indicates how much of your 15GB quota Gmail, Drive, and Photos are using - it inexplicably says that I've used almost 10GB of data taking photos on my Pixel.
...

Google support still has been unable to solve the issue so I can only assume this is a glitch, but I too wonder if B. Diddy is right:

Same issue here, and I've had the same Pixel since I bought it last year. I'm nearly 40 GB in my Photos and this alert only popped up in the past few days, so it wasn't an issue a month ago when I probably had 38 GB in Photos. For the record my account limit is 15 GB as well, and my combined Gmail and Drive storage is only about 8 GB.

I email Google support this morning so I'll keep you updated if anything comes from that but I won't hold my breath either and may begin transferring photos to another storage location if Google can't be counted on to take care of us...

 

[anthonium]

Does anybody know if the original Pixel's storage is also for a limited time now? I've read the Pixel 2 has unlimited storage until 2020. What does this mean for the original Pixel owners?

 

[B. Diddy]

I don't have a definitive answer, but I believe what they're saying is that after 2020, any photo taken with a Pixel 2 will be uploaded in High Quality, not Original Quality. All previous photos uploaded at Original Quality will still remain. Realistically, the large majority of people who get a Pixel 2 now will have moved on to the next great phone by 2020, so it won't be an issue for most people.

So if this applies to the original Pixel, then it will only affect photos taken after 2020 as well (unless they choose an earlier cutoff year).

 

[natorize2]

I had a similar problem where photos taken on my pixel were taking up drive space. I talked to support, and they said that I should use the 'Recover Storage' option. I downloaded the pictures which I wanted to keep at original resolution, then I used the suggested option, then deleted the newer quality versions of the photos I had downloaded, and re-uploaded those photos, making sure that my upload setting was at 'Original Quality'. The photos that the Pixel takes are already lower than 16MP so I wasn't worried about those. That seemed to fix everything for me. Hope that helps.

In reply to anthonium, some news articles have said that the original pixel will have the original quality Photos storage forever.