I use Google Drive for work documents, backups, screenshots, PDFs, and random downloads, and I often see the storage bar slowly fill up.
Since Google Drive shares space with Gmail and Google Photos, it doesn’t take long for the “Storage almost full” warning to appear.
That’s usually when Google nudges me toward a Google One upgrade.
But before paying for a plan, I run through a short but ruthless Google Drive cleanup routine. Most of the time, I can buy months of breathing room without spending a dime.
Start with the storage breakdown
Oh where, oh where has my file storage gone?
Before I delete a single file in Google Drive, I check where my storage is going.
Google storage encompasses more than Drive. It also includes Gmail, Google Photos, device backups, and various other applications.
If you see a storage warning and Google suggests upgrading to a paid plan through Google One, the problem might not be your Drive files.
Instead of digging through folders, I go to the Google One website. It shows a simple breakdown of how many gigabytes Drive, Gmail, and Photos use.
The category that uses the most space is where I go next. If Photos takes up 80% of my storage, I don’t touch Drive. If Gmail is full, I search for large attachments.
Sort files in Google Drive by size
Delete the biggest offenders
After I determine that Google Drive is the issue, and not Gmail or Google Photos, I don’t waste time scrolling through folders.
I open Google Drive on my desktop, click Storage, and view my files ordered by the storage amount used. I usually find old screen recordings, video files, duplicate exports (especially PDFs), or archived ZIP files from old projects.
Video is almost always the worst offender. If I still need the file, I download it to an external hard drive and remove it from Drive.
ZIP files are another storage trap. They usually contain project backups, design assets, or exported folders. The problem is that after I extract them, I save the contents elsewhere.
So when I see ZIP files near the top of the storage list, I review and delete the unnecessary ones.
Sorting files by size can also help identify duplicate files that may not be easily visible in the folder view. Instead of keeping every version forever, I keep the final copy and delete the rest.
If version history matters, use Google Docs’ built-in revision tracking instead of creating new files.
Empty the Trash folder in Google Drive
It’s one of those chores that’s easy to forget
Deleting files inside Google Drive doesn’t immediately free up space. Deleted files are moved to the Trash folder, where they remain for up to 30 days before being permanently deleted.
If you’ve deleted files because you’re close to your free 15GB cap, but haven’t emptied the Trash folder, you may not have freed up any storage.
In Google Drive, click Trash on the left sidebar. Select the items you want to remove and click the trash can icon at the top. Then, click Empty trash to delete all the items.
Since storage is shared across Google services, I also empty Gmail Trash, Gmail Spam, and Google Photos Trash.
Remove orphaned files hiding in plain sight
Files without a home
Not every file in Google Drive lives neatly inside a folder. Some become “orphaned,” meaning they aren’t stored in a folder but still count toward your storage.
It usually occurs when you delete a folder but keep certain files, leave shared folders, or reorganize projects and forget to relocate the uploads.
To find them, go to Google Drive and type is:unorganized owner:me in the search bar. That surfaces files you own that aren’t placed anywhere.
The first time I tried it, I found old PDFs, random image uploads, and outdated exports I’d forgotten about. From there, I delete what I don’t need or move the file into the right folder.
Old device backups you forgot existed
Ghosts from old phones of the past
If you use multiple Android phones, you may have old device backups sitting in your Google account.
Every Android phone backs up app data, call history, and device settings. These old backups don’t automatically disappear when you upgrade phones.
These backups aren’t always front and center inside Drive’s main file view. This makes them easy to miss. Still, they count toward your storage quota.
To fix this, go to Google Drive, click Storage, select Backups in the upper-right corner, and check how many devices are listed. If you see phones you no longer use, delete those backups.
I rarely need to upgrade to Google One
I’m not opposed to paying for additional storage. Upgrading to Google One can be a sensible choice at some point.
However, reaching the storage limit in Google Drive often indicates a maintenance issue.
By following a few simple steps, such as sorting documents, emptying the Trash folder, deleting old device backups, and removing unnecessary files, I can free up several gigabytes of storage.
This focused cleanup session keeps my cloud storage in check and buys me months of breathing room.
