As Google decides to stop the unlimited storage for Google Photos, things are getting complicated. Whatever the company says, we know the free storage space of 15GB will soon start to overflow. Therefore, it’s important to use the storage space wisely. The best way to avoid paying for additional cloud storage space is to delete duplicate photos, files, videos, audio, and other files stored on Google Drive. Doing so will not only help increase the storage capacity of Google Drive but will also keep data organized.
Wondering how to go about this, and which tool to use to delete duplicate data directly from Google Drive?
Here is the best tool for the job and it is called Duplicate Files Fixer. Using this tool in no time, you can remove duplicate files thereby increasing Google Drive space for free.
Fact Check – Starting June 1, 2021, all High-Quality images, or videos that you upload will be counted towards free 15GB Google Drive storage. However, if you have a Pixel 5 or an earlier version or the high-quality pictures and videos have been uploaded before June 1, they will be exempted.
How to check how much storage space you’ve used from the free 15GB?
To know how much space is used and available, follow the steps below:
1. Login to your Gmail account
2. Afterward, click the Profile icon > Manage your Google Account.
3. Click Account Storage.
4. You will now see storage details explaining how much storage space is used by which app and the amount of free and used space.
5. This will give you an idea of how long your storage might last once Google Photos and videos are counted.
Note: You can get all the information from the Google Photos app also. Alternatively, you can click here to get the information.
Now that we know how to check for storage space it’s time to learn how to increase Google Drive storage by deleting duplicate data.
Fact Check – On average 17% of pictures stored on the device are identical copies of the original image.
How To Use Duplicate Files Fixer And Increase Google Drive Space For Free
Duplicate data be it photos, music, word files, or any other data, we fear it. All it takes is unnecessary copying of the same data or clicking photos in quick succession. Hence, we need to be careful when uploading the data to double-click the cloud. Luckily, Duplicate Files Fixer is the quickest way to find duplicate data on both PC and Google Drive.
Here’s how to use it to clean duplicate data from Google Drive and increase storage space.
1. Download and install Duplicate Files Fixer
2. Launch the data duplication tool.
3. Click the down arrow next to Scan mode and select Scan Google Drive.
4. Afterward, sign in to your Gmail account or select the Gmail account from which you want to delete duplicate data. Grant access permission by clicking Allow when asked for.
5. Reconfirm your choice by clicking Allow.
6. This will open a new tab with the message “Received verification code. You may close this window.”
7. This means you have granted access permission to Duplicate Files Fixer and the tool can now scan Google Drive.
8. Open Duplicate Files Fixer minimized to Taskbar.
9. Click Add Folder.
10. This will open a new window from where you can select the folder to scan. It might take a second or so to show data, don’t fret.
Note: If the pop screen does not show any data click the Refresh icon and wait for the program to show the folder.
11. Select the folder to scan and click Ok.
12. You will now see it added to the Duplicate Files Fixer, hit Scan for Duplicates to start the process, and wait for it to finish.
Note: If there are no duplicates detected in the folder added, you will get the following message.
13. You’ll now see the scan results. To preview detected duplicates, double click the search results to expand.
Note: The right pane of the scan result window shows a summary of detected duplicates.
14. To remove detected duplicates, click Automark. This function gives various options to auto-select duplicate data and helps remove duplicates automatically from each group leaving one in each unmarked.
Note: The scan result window divided duplicates into various tabs. If you want to delete specific duplicate data, click the respective tab.
By default, Duplicate Files Fixer shows All files.
15. Now that the duplicates are selected, you can remove identical image files by clicking the Delete Marked button.
16. Click Yes, to confirm the action
17. Wait for the process to finish.
18. You will now see a summary explaining the number of Duplicate Files Found, Duplicate Files Detected and Unique Files Retained.
19. Click Ok.
20. To scan more files, hit the Back button and head to the home screen to add more folders and files and drop duplicates using Duplicate Files Fixer.
That’s it, using these simple steps in no time, you can get rid of duplicate files stored on your Google Drive. This will increase the storage capacity of Google Drive.
Note: If you are a Mac user don’t feel left out soon, we will release the same feature for Mac users also.
Frequently Asked Question
Q1. How do I get 100GB free on Google Drive?
Unfortunately, you cannot get 100GB free on Google Drive anymore. When Google Drive, Google Photos, and Gmail merged their storage, for a short time users were able to enjoy free 100 GB storage.
Q2. How can I get more Google Drive storage for free?
To increase Google Drive storage for free, you can delete duplicate data that takes unnecessary space. For this, you can try using Duplicate Files Fixer, a tool that scans both PC and Google Drive storage for types of duplicate data.
Be it photos, documents, music files, video, or other files this professional and best duplicate cleaner tool will detect all and will help remove them.
To download it click here
Q3. How can I increase my Gmail storage without paying?
There are plenty of ways to increase Google Drive space for free. Here are some ideas:
- Delete unnecessary or duplicate data
- Convert uploaded data to Google formats like Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides
- Remove large attachments
- Keep photos and videos duplicate free
- Empty trash
Q4. What takes up space on Google Drive storage?
Items in Trash, Gmail, data stored on the drive and starting from June 1st, 2021, photos, videos, sheets, Jamboard files, Slides, Forms, Drawing all will count towards free 15GB Google Drive storage.
Q5. How To Increase Google Drive Storage Free
Merging Google Photos with Google Drive is disappointing and this will soon make us run out of 15GB of storage space. But if we use the space intelligently, we can avoid filling up space soon. Using Duplicate Files Fixer, you can remove duplicate data uploaded to Google Drive and can increase the storage capacity of Google Drive storage.
We hope after reading this post you were able to get the answer to how to increase Google Drive space and will use the solution. Do let us know how the tool works for you in the comments section. We love hearing from you, do share your thoughts and suggestions.
Next Read:
How To Remove Duplicates From A Specific Location – Google Drive & PC
How to Move Files in Google Drive and Transfer it to Another Account?
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