Earlier, when users signed up for a Google account, they were granted access to 15GB of free storage that is shared across Gmail, Drive and Photos. But the company seems to have now changed this policy.
As reported by a Reddit user, during the setup process of a new Google account, the user was notified that they would only get 5GB of free storage. In order to unlock 15GB of storage at no cost, the user would need to link a phone number to the account.
The company mentioned that “Google will use your phone number to make sure storage is added only once per person.” This is done to stop users and bots from abusing Google’s system and getting more storage on a technically infinite basis.
Earlier, a support page mentioned that “Your Google Account comes with 15GB of cloud storage at no charge,” but the support page now reads that “Each Google Account includes up to 15GB of storage.” It is said that the company made this change in March 2026.
It is not explicitly mentioned that the phone number linking is required for 15GB of storage outside of the new account setup process.
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