Google confirms a new storage policy test, after some users reported that new Gmail accounts get 5GB, not 15GB, of free storage if they don't add a phone number
Update: Google has confirmed that it's testing a 5GB storage limit for some new Gmail users, unless they add their number. — •
Context & Ripple Effects
Google has previously tightened practical limits around its storage products: Drive accounts received a 5 million-file cap that also applied to paid Google One users, while Google later introduced a lower-cost 30GB Google One Lite tier in India.
This test is reportedly rolling out experimentally in India first. It therefore connects Gmail account creation to Google's broader effort to define storage limits and paid storage tiers more explicitly.
First-order effects
- Some new Gmail users in the test receive 5GB rather than 15GB of free storage unless they add a phone number, making phone-number provision an immediate condition for the higher allowance.
- Google gains a way to segment new accounts during signup while it evaluates the policy before any wider rollout.
Second-order effects
- Users who remain at 5GB may reach storage constraints sooner, increasing the practical relevance of entry-level Google One options such as the 30GB Lite plan already introduced in India.
- The test could make account-creation flows more consequential for Google’s connected services, since Gmail accounts retain data and linked services even when users later change their Gmail address.
Third-order effects
- If expanded, the policy would further shift free cloud storage from a uniform account benefit toward a conditional, tiered entitlement tied to account-verification choices.
- The earlier undisclosed Drive file cap suggests that storage constraints can affect both free and paying users; broader use of such limits would make transparency around quotas and eligibility increasingly important.
The trend: This is one data point in Google’s move toward more actively managed, segmented cloud-storage allowances rather than a single fixed free tier for every account.