Google’s Android Backup Change Follows a Familiar Storage Playbook

Google has started emailing Android users a 45-day countdown before their phone’s full device backup begins eating into the same storage pool as Gmail and Google Photos. The notice, titled “New Android Backup Storage Policy & Controls,” confirms a change Google first announced on July 7: text messages, call history, device settings and app data will now count against the account storage limit set by your Google One tier.

It is a sequence Google has run before. A free backup category gets folded into the shared quota, new toggles arrive to soften the complaints, and Google One’s paid subscriber base keeps climbing. This time the target is the last major exemption left inside Android’s own backup system.

The Email That Starts a 45-Day Countdown

The emails went out over roughly a week, landing anywhere from July 15 to July 20 based on the dates reporters at 9to5Google, Droid Life and Android Authority said they personally received theirs. Because the clock starts on delivery rather than a single fixed date, the actual switchover for most existing accounts lands somewhere in the last days of August or the first days of September.

Anyone setting up Android backup for the first time is already under the new rule. It took effect on July 7 for new backup users, while existing accounts got the 45-day grace period instead, according to Google’s own rollout notes.

Google explained the reasoning in its own words to users:

We’ve updated our policy so that all Android backup data now counts toward Google Account storage. We expect this to only add 40MB on average. We’re also giving you more transparency and new controls that let you select which data and apps you want to back up.

That 40MB figure is a company-wide average. One Android Authority editor found their own backup would grow by just 0.03GB, about 30MB, once the policy applied. AndroidPolice pegged the realistic range at 30 to 60MB for most accounts, since photos, videos and MMS attachments already counted before this update.

Before this change, two categories counted against your quota. Now six do.

Every Google Account still includes 15GB of storage at no charge, shared across Gmail, Drive and Photos, before anyone buys into Google One, the paid tier that raises that ceiling.

Google Has Run This Play Before

The pattern is not new. Google has trimmed a free storage exemption roughly every two years since 2021, each time with an official explanation about transparency, security, or service quality.

1. June 2021: Google ends free unlimited storage for photos and videos uploaded through Google Photos, folding them into the shared 15GB pool with Gmail and Drive.
2. November 14, 2023: A Google support post confirms WhatsApp backups on Android will soon count toward Google Account storage, matching how WhatsApp already worked on other platforms.
3. Late 2023 into 2024: The WhatsApp change rolls out from beta testers to all Android users, with several outlets pointing to a completion date around mid-2024.
4. March 18, 2026: Google quietly edits its own support pages, changing language promising 15GB of free storage to “up to 15GB,” alongside a regional test that starts new accounts at 5GB until a phone number is verified.
5. July 7, 2026: Google begins counting all Android device backup data, not just photos and MMS, toward the same storage limit for new backup users.
6. Mid to late July 2026: Existing users start receiving individual emails, each one triggering its own 45-day countdown.

Google’s own Drive support documentation still confirms that WhatsApp backups on Android count toward storage, meaning the 2023 change never reversed. It simply became the baseline that this July’s policy now builds on top of.

What Happens When You Hit the Limit?

If your Google Account runs out of space after this change, automatic Android backups simply stop. You will not lose data already backed up, but new backups will not upload, and Drive, Gmail and Photos each stop accepting new material until you free up room or buy more storage.

None of this happens instantly or loudly. Backups just quietly pause in the background, which is part of why Google is pairing the policy with a heads-up email rather than a silent switch.

Android Authority reported that Google points concerned users toward the Google One storage manager, which shows exactly how much space Android backups consume and offers three ways out: free up storage, buy more, or turn off device backup entirely.

Google One’s Subscriber Base Grew 50% After the Last Squeeze

Google has never published a direct line between shrinking free storage and Google One signups. But the timing lines up closely enough to notice.

Sundar Pichai, Google and Alphabet’s chief executive, announced that Google One had crossed 100 million paying subscribers during the company’s fourth-quarter 2023 earnings call, roughly two months after the WhatsApp backup change was first confirmed to the public.

By May 2025, that figure had climbed past 150 million, a 50% increase from February 2024, according to Reuters reporting cited by Sherwood News. Google One sits inside Alphabet’s broader push to diversify revenue beyond advertising.

When Google One passed the 100 million mark, its published pricing looked like this:

The new granular controls do not change any of that math. They just let users decide how quickly they get there, and whether they pay to avoid it.

New Toggles Give Users a Way Out

Alongside the storage change, Google is rolling out backup controls more detailed than anything Android has offered before.

• Per-app toggles for every individual app that backs up data, so one storage-heavy app can be excluded without disabling backup entirely.
• A dedicated on and off toggle for SMS and MMS messages.
• A dedicated toggle for call history.
• A dedicated toggle for device settings.

The controls only work on Android 9 and newer, and Google is rolling them out gradually over the coming weeks rather than switching every account on at once. On Pixel phones, the path runs through Settings, then Accounts and backup, then Google Backup, then Other device data. On most other phones, searching “backup” inside the Settings app gets there faster.

Checking Your Own 45-Day Clock

Every email Google sent includes a section called “current storage status,” showing how much of your quota is already used and how much Android backup is expected to add once the policy reaches your account. That personal number matters more than the 40MB average.

If an account is already close to its limit, the fix does not require spending anything. Turning off backup for a handful of storage-heavy apps, or disabling SMS and call history backup specifically, can keep an account under its cap without touching Google One at all.

Anyone who ignores the email still keeps their own 45-day window. Google’s own device backup guide explains that once a phone is set up, you can restore your backup on a new device, though the process can still take up to 24 hours to finish.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does This Change Affect WhatsApp Backups Too?

WhatsApp chat backups on Android already count toward Google Account storage, a change Google made in 2023 and 2024. The July 2026 policy adds SMS, call history, device settings and app data on top of that, so heavy WhatsApp and Android backup users could see both changes compound in the same quota.

Can I Turn Off Android Device Backup Completely?

Yes. Android’s backup settings let you disable device backup entirely, and photos already stored in Google Photos stay untouched if you do. Everything else you had backed up is erased once the feature is switched off, so anyone planning to switch phones soon should think twice before turning it off.

Will This Policy Affect iPhone or iCloud Backups?

No. This specific change applies only to Android’s built-in device backup system. iPhone backups go to Apple’s iCloud by default and are not covered, though iPhone owners who use Gmail, Google Photos or Google Drive still share the same Google Account storage pool as any Android user.

How Do I Find My Own 45-Day Deadline?

Check the email titled “New Android Backup Storage Policy & Controls.” It lists your account’s current usage and estimated increase, but it does not appear to print an exact calendar date, so count 45 days forward from whenever that message arrived in your inbox.

What Happens If I Go Over My Storage Limit Because of This Change?

Automatic Android backups pause until you free up space or upgrade your plan. Google’s own storage help documentation separately warns that accounts sitting over quota for a full two years risk having content deleted across Gmail, Drive and Photos, though that outcome sits well down the road for most users affected by this specific change.