11

Google says:

Photos bigger than 2048x2048 pixels use your storage. Everything smaller than that is free.

I have 6GB's of photos stored in original size (larger than 2048x2048 pixels), which I now want to reduce to the 'high quality' (2048x2048) size, which Google stores for free.

Is it possible to find and reduce the size of these photos (or delete them)?

Improve this question
5
  • If the originals are not 2048x2048 pixels, then they will be stored in their original size, Google isn't going to increase the quality of your photos.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Jun 3, 2015 at 10:51
  • I have previusly uploaded photos which are higher than this, so I want to reduce their size. Sorry, I should have made that clearer in my question.
    – Techboy
    Commented Jun 3, 2015 at 10:53
  • 1
    Based on the release anoucement of Google Photos. The service will automatically downgrade the quality to the maxium allowed. If you want the original quality, if you subscribe for additional storage, the same annoucement indicated those photos of higher quality won't be downgraded.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Jun 3, 2015 at 10:56
  • No, as stated in my question, I want to find and reduce the large photos so that they fit into the 2048x2048 category.
    – Techboy
    Commented Jun 3, 2015 at 12:30
  • Try going to the following URL: drive.google.com/drive/u/0/quota
    – user95582
    Commented Jun 7, 2015 at 12:41

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
9

This is now an option in the settings.

https://photos.google.com/settings → Recover storage.

Compress original items to high quality

Improve this answer
2
  • 3
    I'm reluctant to press this button, without first knowing: does this give you a chance to review and identify which photos will be compressed, before it does it? Or, provide a list of which ones were compressed, afterwards?
    – Ed Randall
    Commented Sep 29, 2020 at 5:37
  • 1
    No, pressing compress is also finalising the action.
    – Seirddriezel
    Commented Oct 16, 2020 at 10:55
3

https://drive.google.com/drive/quota shows you what files count against your quota. You can then download them and re-upload as High Quality so they don't count against your quota.

Improve this answer
3
  • This link looks promising, but the added quota of the files does not add up to the value Google claims my photos take, by adding all files with quota above 0 I get, at most, 2GB but it's claiming I have 8GB in photos...
    – pauloya
    Commented Oct 11, 2015 at 14:29
  • Strange thing happened, when I initially loaded this page I have about 14 videos on top, from 15Mb to 150Mb sizes, then a new one appeared on top with 211MB, then after about 15 mins all videos had disappeared from the top of the list. Looks like visualizing this page affects the list itself. I'm currently -16MB (negative) total available quota.
    – pauloya
    Commented Oct 11, 2015 at 14:41
  • After a another 15 the list has grown to more than 100 videos, the top one showing 1Gb! and several other with 700GB and 800GB, but every time I select one, it jumps down to quota used 0. The list seems to be still processing.
    – pauloya
    Commented Oct 11, 2015 at 14:58
3

Update: as stated there is now an option in Photos to fix the underlying problem.

I doesn't require searching for files by size, which the original question asked about, and for which an answer is provided below. I'm leaving the answer below in place, for now, because it's still correct, even though no longer the best answer to the specific question.

First answer: I cannot see any search-by-size function in any of the tools which can access the photo collection owned by a Google account.

But one option is to use Google Drive

If necessary, turn on the setting that creates a Google Photos folder in your "My Drive" folder (if you already turned this setting on, you can skip this step): - On the right, click the gear icon and then Settings. - Next to "Automatically put your Google Photos into a folder in My Drive," check the box and then Done.

Then in Drive, click the View Details button (small i near the top right). This shows you the size of each file in the folder you are currently looking at. You cannot sort, but it may be possible to spot the particularly large files by just eyeballing the list. Then you could download them, upload a resized version and delete the original.

This isn't a great approach, especially since you have to look individually thru each folder. But I'm not aware of any other options yet.

Ref: How Google Drive works with Google Photos

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    Using Google Drive search by file type will return all the corresponding files, so you can avoid to do the suggested procedure folder by folder.
    – Rubén - Volunteer Moderator - ♦
    Commented Jun 4, 2015 at 12:06
2

I found an option to view files in google photos taking up most space and sorted by size too!

Go to "Google One storage management" https://one.google.com/storage/management

Then scroll down to the bottom of the page where it shows "Large Items". Under that, you'll find "Large photos and videos" where you can review each file.

I am a pixel user and I also confirm it doesn't show the unlimited original quality files that I uploaded from my pixel phone. It only shows files that I had uploaded from my browser in full quality.

Improve this answer
0

I could not find the option, but then I discovered it by switching 'UPLOAD SIZE FOR PHOTOS & VIDEOS' to Original, then switch back to High quality (Compressed). Then it will prompt with a message how much storage used by uncompressed photos can be compressed to High-quality; all you have to do is confirm there.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.