Google introduced a limit to the number of files you can create and save in Drive, as previously reported by Ars Technica and CNET. The company confirmed to the edge that the change would have allowed you to create a maximum of 5 million files in Drive, even if you pay for additional storage. But Google reversed the change shortly afterward, saying it would “explore alternative approaches to ensure a great experience for everyone.”
“We recently rolled out a system update for Drive item limits to preserve stability and optimize performance.” Google said in a tweet. “While this affected only a small number of people, we are reversing this change as we explore alternative approaches to ensure a great experience for everyone.”
The 5 million file limit only applied to the number of files you create in Drive, not total files shared to your unit. This means that you could have had more than 5 million files on your system, as long as they were not created by you alone.
Google spokesman Ross Richendrfer originally said the change came as a way to “maintain strong performance and reliability” and that it should help prevent “misuse” of the company’s systems. If it reaches the limit, Richendrfer said he’ll get a notification and he can contact Google support to fix the problem.
Google did not alert those affected by the newly implemented limit before it took place
While 5 million may seem like an absurd number of files for one person to upload, some users have hit that limit. In a reddit post seen by Ars Technica and CNET, a user with 7 million files in Drive says Google suddenly banned them from creating new files in February despite missing the 2TB storage limit they pay for. Meanwhile, several other users on Google Issue Tracker The site says they encountered the file limit around the same time and were initially under the impression it was a bug.
As noted in the Reddit post, the file limit meant that someone with 2TB of storage with an average file size of over 400KB would hit their file limit even before running out of storage space. In other words, some users might be paying for more storage than they can actually use, unless they opt to compress their files in zip folders.
Judging by the user feedback, it seems that Google did not alert those affected by the new limit implemented. before took place, leaving them scrambling to relocate or compress the excess files once the policy went into effect. Nor does it appear that Google has updated its google one either workspace support pages to note the cover, although it claims that shared workspace units it can contain a maximum of 400,000 files. While most people probably don’t have 5 million files stored in Drive, Google could have at least given a proper warning to those who do.
Update April 4, 3:11 am ET: Updated to say that Google has reversed the limit.
