Faced with the buzz of users, Google removes the limit on the number of files in Drive

Google is dropping the Google Drive file limit and promises to provide advance notice if there are any changes.

Google has decided to reverse its decision by removing the file creation limit that the American giant introduced a few days ago in total silence on Drive. In the announcement posted on Twitter, the Google Drive account simply explains that it is reversing a “system update… of file limits”that was introduced to “preserve stability and optimize performance.”The tech giant said the latter only affects a small number of users, but is now looking into other alternatives to ensure performance doesn’t degrade, no matter how many files you have on your account.

Google is phasing out file limits on Google Drive

Several Drive users have seen an error showing their file upload failed and they have been unable to exceed the 5 million file creation limit since February. A Google spokesperson recently confirmed to Ars Technica that it introduced this 5 million limit to “prevent misuse of [its] system that could affect [its] stability and security.”While Google didn’t mention this limitation in its new announcement, that’s how Mountain View described the modification it decided to scrap.

Google has caused a lot of controversy, not only for imposing this limit on the number of files it can create, but also for failing to warn users. After all, paying users have been affected by this limitation, even if they subscribe to the most expensive Google One plan, which offers at least 30TB of storage. With such a large amount of storage, it is entirely possible to reach this limit with small files. In addition, Google Drive does not have a counter to easily visualize the total number of files present in an account and thus know if it is approaching this limit or not.

and promises to notify in advance, in case there are changes

This was clearly not the best approach to preventing possible misuse of Drive, and not warning users in advance is probably even worse. The American giant promised in a tweet that if it decides to make changes to its cloud storage service in the future, it will inform users first.

If we need to make changes, we will notify users in advance.

— Google Drive (@googledrive) April 4, 2023