Google has made a significant change to its account storage policy; new accounts no longer automatically receive 15GB of free storage. Instead, they are limited to 5GB unless the user links a phone number to the account.

In previous years, Google offered each new account 15GB of free storage across its various services, such as Gmail, Drive, and Photos—a larger amount compared to some competitors like Apple, which offers its customers only 5GB of free cloud storage.

Recent reports have revealed a new notification appearing during account creation, stating that users will receive only 5GB of storage, with the option to increase it to 15GB free of charge by adding a phone number to the account.

The message explains that Google uses the phone number to ensure the additional storage is granted only once per person, a measure aimed at curbing system abuse and the creation of numerous accounts.