Google starts informing Android users about a major backup storage change

Google has started emailing Android users about an upcoming change to its backup storage policy, giving users a 45-day heads-up before the new rules take effect.

Earlier this month, Google was spotted preparing to make all Android backup data count toward your Google Account storage. At the time, the company had quietly begun rolling out the change alongside new backup controls. Now, Google is officially notifying users via email, confirming both the policy update and what it means if you run out of storage.

The email explains that, once the change takes effect, “all data included in Android device backups will count toward your Google Account storage limit.” While Google Photos uploads and MMS messages already consume storage today, the update extends this to other backed-up data, including SMS messages, call history, device settings, app settings, and more.

Google also warns users that if their account exceeds its storage limit after the change, “automatic Android backups will pause” until they either free up storage or upgrade their Google storage plan.

Interestingly, the email also gives users an estimate of how much additional storage their backup will consume.

In my case, Google says my Android backup will increase by just “0.03GB (around 30MB)” after the policy takes effect. That’s broadly in line with what we reported earlier, when Google said the average increase in backup size would be around 40MB, making the impact negligible for most users.

The email also confirms new granular Android backup controls. If you’re running Android 9 or later, you’ll be able to choose exactly which types of data and which individual apps are included in your backups. That means you can exclude the things you don’t want backed up or restored on a future device.

Google says users can monitor how much space their Android backups consume through the Google One storage manager. If needed, they can also free up storage, purchase additional Google storage, or disable Android backups entirely.