Storage & quotas in Google Workspace
How Google Workspace storage works, how much you have, where it's used, and what to do when you're running low.
Every Google Workspace organization has a shared pool of storage used across Gmail, Drive, and Google Photos. Knowing how storage works helps you avoid running out — which can cause emails to bounce and files to stop saving.
Quick summary
Storage is pooled across your whole organization. Business Starter gives 30 GB per user, Standard gives 2 TB per user. You can see total storage usage in the Admin console. If you run out, users can't receive email or save files until you free up space or upgrade your plan.
How storage is pooled
In Google Workspace Business plans, storage is pooled — not assigned individually per user. Here's what that means:
- On Business Starter with 5 users: your total pool is 5 × 30 GB = 150 GB, shared across everyone.
- On Business Standard with 5 users: your pool is 5 × 2 TB = 10 TB.
- One user can use more than their "share" if others use less. There are no hard per-user limits.
What uses storage?
| Service | What it stores |
|---|---|
| Gmail | All email messages, including attachments |
| Google Drive | Uploaded files (PDFs, images, videos, Office files, etc.) |
| Google Photos | Photos backed up to Google Photos |
Does not count against storage:
- Files created natively in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides (not converted/imported files)
- Shared drives content has its own pool
How to check your organization's storage
As a Workspace admin:
Go to admin.google.com and sign in.
Click Reports in the left sidebar.
Look for Storage usage or click on the Highlights section — it shows total storage used across the organization.
Individual users can check their own usage at drive.google.com/settings — look for a storage bar at the bottom of the left sidebar.
What happens when storage runs out
If your organization's storage pool is full:
- Users cannot receive new email — messages bounce back to the sender
- Users cannot upload files to Drive or save new versions of documents
- Google Photos backups stop
This is a serious disruption, so it's worth monitoring storage before it becomes a problem.
Freeing up storage
Delete large or old files from Drive
Open Google Drive and search for large files: click the search bar and filter by file size (look for a Size option in the search filter dropdown).
Review files you no longer need and move them to Trash.
Empty the Trash. Files in Trash still count against storage until the Trash is emptied. Right-click Trash in the sidebar and choose Empty trash.
Clean up large emails in Gmail
In Gmail, search for has:attachment larger:10MB to find large emails with attachments.
Delete emails you no longer need.
Empty Gmail's Trash — go to the Trash folder and click "Empty Trash now."
Upgrade your plan
If your team genuinely needs more storage, upgrading from Business Starter to Business Standard increases storage from 30 GB to 2 TB per user. See Google Workspace plans explained and Google Workspace billing explained.
Common questions
Related guides
- Google Workspace plans explained
- Google Workspace billing explained
- Google Drive basics
- Shared drives explained
Need a hand?
Learn more
Google Workspace on your phone
How to set up and use Google Workspace on an iPhone or Android phone — installing apps, signing in, and using Gmail, Drive, Calendar, and Meet on the go.
Turning on 2-step verification
How to enable 2-step verification (2FA) for your Google Workspace account — the most important step you can take to protect your business email and files.