Google Imposes a 5 Million File Limit on Drive Accounts Amid Misuse Concerns

Paying customers are caught off-guard as Google introduces a hard cap on the number of files stored in Drive accounts.

In an unexpected move, Google has imposed a 5 million file limit on the number of files that can be stored in a single Google Drive account. The change, reported by Ars Technica, took many paying Drive users by surprise, as some found themselves unable to upload new files without warning.

Google confirmed to Ars Technica that this restriction is not a bug, but rather a measure to "prevent misuse of our system in a way that might impact the stability and safety of the system." Although the change may initially seem alarming, the 5 million file limit is unlikely to affect the average user, as most are far from reaching this cap. Google reassured Ars Technica that "the number of impacted users here is vanishingly small."

However, the rollout has raised concerns among some users, particularly those paying for Google Workspace plan packages. Google introduced the file limit without any public announcement or explanation, leaving users who had encountered the issue since February in the dark. This comes as a shock for those who pay $150/month for 30TB of storage with Google One, as well as "enterprise" plan customers who were promised, "as much storage as you need."

In an attempt to clarify the situation, Google told Ars Technica that the limit is based on "how many items one user can create in any Drive," rather than a "total cap for all files in a drive."