How I unlocked another 15GB of Gmail storage for free (and kept my old files, too)

"Every new Google email account comes with 15GB of free storage -- a solid offer at no cost. However, that space can fill up fast, especially since it also covers files in Google Drive and Google Photos. If your inbox is cluttered with unread newsletters and sneaky spam, there's a way to clean house without losing important messages."

"Google offers a way to pay for more storage by upgrading to a Google One account. The "Basic" plan costs $24 per year for 100GB. The free solution, however, lies in taking a few steps to back up your essential files and reset your data capacity."

"If you're going through this process, you're likely serious about retaining emails that could span years. As an added safety measure, it's a good practice to back up your emails on your computer or an external hard drive before transferring them back to the cloud. To do this, go to Google Takeout and select "Google Photos" and/or "Drive" as the products you wish to export."

Gmail accounts include 15GB of free storage shared across email, Google Drive, and Google Photos. When storage fills up, users can create a new archive account to gain additional free space instead of paying for Google One upgrades. The process involves three key steps: backing up existing files using Google Takeout to safely export data to a local drive, then using POP3 forwarding to transfer messages from the original account to the new archive account. This approach preserves important emails while providing a fresh start and avoiding manual cleanup or local storage downloads.

Read at ZDNET