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Are you getting an ‘Google Drive Storage Full But No Files In It’ Issue? This problem can be caused by a number of things, like having a lot of files in the Google Drive trash, Google Photos taking up too much space, or even your Gmail storage taking up space. To fix this, you will need to go through a series of steps to figure out what’s wrong.
Google Drive is a cloud-based storage service that lets users save their files online and access them from any device with an internet connection. If you have a Google account, you get 15GB of free storage space that you can use to save photos, emails, and other data from your Android phone. It works perfectly on computers, iPhone , and Android smartphones.
We mentioned below are the ways to fix ‘Google Drive Storage Full But No Files In It’ Issue. If you’ve tried all of these solutions and you’re still having the same problem in your devices, you should go to their official Google Drive support website for more information.
Ways To Fix ‘Google Drive Storage Full But No Files In It’ Issue
Remove Large Files From the Google Drive Storage
If Google Drive still says you don’t have enough space, you probably didn’t throw away any big files. In this case, look at the files on your Drive and see if you can get rid of some of them. Google Drive lets you quickly sort your files by size, which makes it easy to find the ones that take up a lot of space and delete them.
- Open a web browser and launch Google Drive.
- Select Storage in the sidebar on the left.
- Choose Storage used at the top-right corner of the file list. The arrow should point downwards.
- Your largest file in Drive should appear at the top. Next, review the files on the list and decide the ones you’d like to delete.
- Select the files to delete and choose the trash can icon at the top.
- Make sure to empty the Trash after removing the files.
Delete Files From the Google Drive Trash
People often forget to empty their trash after deleting a file to get rid of it for good. Even files you have deleted are still taking up space in your Google account until you empty the trash. Google makes it easy to delete your deleted files all at once or just the ones you want. This is how.
- Launch a web browser on your computer and open Google Drive.
- Sign in to your Google Drive account on the site.
- Select Trash from the sidebar on the left.
- To delete files individually, right-click a file and choose Delete forever from the open menu.
- To get rid of all your Trash files, choose Empty trash at the top of the file list. Then, select Delete forever in the prompt.
Delete Photos and Videos From Google Photos
Your Google Photos photos and videos take up a lot of space, so Drive tells you that you don’t have enough space in your account. One way to fix this is to get rid of the photos and videos you don’t want on your account. That will free up a lot of space on your Drive and get rid of the “storage full” message.
- Open Google Photos in a web browser on your desktop computer.
- Select Photos in the left sidebar.
- Select the checkmark icon at the top-left corner of a photo or video to add it to the delete list. Then, select the other items to remove.
- Choose the trash can icon at the top-right corner.
- Select Move to trash in the menu that launches.
- Empty the Trash by selecting Trash in the left sidebar and choosing Empty trash on the right pane
- Select Empty Trash in the prompt.
Find and Delete Unwanted Emails in Gmail
Your Gmail emails don’t use as much data as some other services, like Photos. But you should check your inbox to see if there are any large files attached. To make room in your Google account, you should get rid of any attachments you don’t need. Gmail makes it easy to find the emails with big attachments, which helps you free up space in your account.
- Launch Gmail in a web browser on your computer.
- Choose the Show search options icon next to Search mail box.
- Select greater than from the Size drop-down menu.
- Enter a size in the box next to the Size drop-down menu. For example, type 10 to find all emails with an attachment larger than 10 MB.
- Ensure MB is selected in the drop-down menu. Then, select Search at the bottom.
- Empty your Gmail trash folder by choosing Trash in the left sidebar and selecting Empty Trash now on the right pane.
Delete Hidden App Data Stored on Google Drive
Google Drive connects to a number of third-party apps, which lets those apps store data in the cloud. When Drive tells you that you are running out of space, it’s a good idea to check and delete the data for those apps. That will free up space on your Drive, which could fix the “storage full” error.
- Access Google Drive on your computer.
- Select the gear icon at the top of the site.
- Choose Settings in the menu that opens.
- Select Manage Apps in the sidebar on the left.
- Choose Options for an app and select Delete hidden app data. Repeat this step for each app you want to remove the data for.
Compress Your Photos and Videos on Google Photos
One way to get more space on your Google account without getting rid of your photos and videos is to make them smaller. You can compress your multimedia files in Google Photos, which means they will take up less of your account’s storage space.
You can choose an option on Photos to compress files you’ve already uploaded. The site changes your files from their original (high quality) state to a state that takes up less space. This could lower the quality of your files, but most of the time you wouldn’t notice.
Keep in mind that Photos compresses the files you store elsewhere, like on Blogger. But your files on Google Drive and YouTube won’t be touched.
- Open Google Photos on your computer.
- Select the gear icon at the top-right corner.
- Choose Recover storage on the Settings page.
- Select Compress in the box that opens.
FAQ
Why are there no files in my Google Drive but still full?
If Google Drive still says you don’t have enough space, you probably didn’t throw away any big files. In this case, look at the files on your Drive and see if you can get rid of some of them. Google Drive lets you quickly sort your files by size, which makes it easy to find the ones that take up a lot of space and delete them.
How do I fix Google Drive full?
- Open the Google One app on your Android phone or tablet.
- Tap Storage at the bottom. Free up space on your account.
- Choose the category that you want to take care of.
- Choose the files that you want to get rid of. To sort files, tap Filter at the top….
- After you choose your files, tap Delete at the top.