# Is anyone actually running out of gmail space?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 19, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011 "2010-03-19T14:34:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/1 "2010-03-19T14:34:56Z")
Inspired by this article: [Free Up Space in Gmail by Backing Up Everything First](http://lifehacker.com/5496596/free-up-space-in-gmail-by-backing-up-everything-first)
Is there anyone who’s seriously running out of space in their gmail account? I mean, I send and receive a _lot_ of email, and my current account turns five on April 4th - but I’m still at only 29%. At this rate, I _might_ need to worry in ten years. Possibly. Unless Google increases the rate at which it adds space to free accounts - which, given ever-dropping storage costs, is a very real possibility.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/2 "2010-03-19T15:57:22Z")
That’s about 29 times what I use. I’ve actually been wondering if there’s a way to take advantage of the extra space.
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### Author:  [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/3 "2010-03-19T16:28:01Z")
> [@](#):
>
> You are currently using 965 MB (12%) of your 7434 MB.
I never delete -anything- and I don’t appear to be in any danger of running out any time soon.
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### Author:  [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/4 "2010-03-19T17:03:03Z")
Nope. I am currently using 864 MB (11%) of 7434 MB. I rarely delete anything.
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/5 "2010-03-19T17:03:34Z")
> [@](#):
>
> You are currently using 495 MB (6%) of your 7435 MB.
I started using Gmail a little over 2 years ago.
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### Author:  [@Lips\_Obsession](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lips_Obsession)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/6 "2010-03-19T17:31:05Z")
You are currently using 929 MB (12%) of your 7435 MB.
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### Author:  [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/7 "2010-03-19T17:34:05Z")
7.4 Gigabytes is a lot of room if your email doesn’t contain gigantic attachments.
I have a ten Mb limit on my primary email account (corporate) per email.
Given that, I doubt that my corporate account backup files and current email exceeds 3 Gigs and I have been using it steadily for more than 7 years.
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### Author:  [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/8 "2010-03-19T17:36:23Z")
I’m using 3% of mine and I’ve had the account for almost 5 years. They increase the size of my available storage way faster than I add to it.
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### Author:  [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/9 "2010-03-19T17:38:58Z")
> [@BigT](#):
>
> I’ve actually been wondering if there’s a way to take advantage of the extra space.
There’s a Firefox extension called [Gspace](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1593) that lets you use it for file storage. Of course you could just e-mail files to yourself, but this extension makes it a bit more convenient.
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### Author:  [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/10 "2010-03-19T17:51:37Z")
You are currently using 83 MB (1%) of your 7435 MB.
I send about 60 emails daily.
Also, I have 5 gmail accounts (the one above is my primary one). I don’t see why anyone would ever run out.
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### Author:  [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/11 "2010-03-19T18:30:00Z")
I’ve had my gmail account for 4 years and I’m at 15% but I delete most of the emails I get so it wouldn’t surprise me that I could be up close to 50% if I let it all accumulate.
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### Author:  [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/12 "2010-03-19T18:51:25Z")
Not even close.
I’m at 6% and have had my account for 6 years.
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### Author:  [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/13 "2010-03-19T18:57:06Z")
So far I’m the highest user, with 36% (2684 MB). But I use it for remote auxiliary storage for files, and I have big files.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/14 "2010-03-19T19:05:21Z")
> [@Gaudere](#):
>
> So far I’m the highest user, with 36% (2684 MB). But I use it for remote auxiliary storage for files, and I have big files.
How long have you had the account?
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/15 "2010-03-19T19:15:57Z")
15 percent.
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### Author:  [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/16 "2010-03-19T19:37:32Z")
My dad. He’s only had his address for about 2 1/2 years (since October 2007), but he recently filled up all his space. He and his friends pass around those emails with big attachments, like “look at this slideshow of the flowers of Japan!” and whatnot. For some reason, his email program wasn’t deleting them properly, and his mailbox filled up.
We discovered it about a month ago, when his friends and my brother complained that new emails they sent to him were bouncing back. “Could my inbox be full?” he asked me. Surely not, I thought, but when I logged into the web interface, sure enough: 7.9 GB used.
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### Author:  [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/17 "2010-03-19T19:50:54Z")
I have two different gmail accounts: one as a work backup and work blog contact, and one personal.
Personal: You are currently using 73 MB (0%) of your 7435 MB.
Work backup: You are currently using 0 MB (0%) of your 7435 MB.
No danger at all. 🙂
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### Author:  [@kenner116](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenner116)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/18 "2010-03-19T19:57:30Z")
371 MB (4%), account opened in October 2004. Didn’t really use it much until summer '06.
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### Author:  [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/19 "2010-03-19T19:57:54Z")
For what it’s worth, my personal Gmail account is at 49% capacity now (3659 MB used). I’ve had the account since September 2004. I do use Gspace, but that accounts for only a couple hundred MB.
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### Author:  [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anyone-actually-running-out-of-gmail-space/533011/20 "2010-03-19T20:06:59Z")
I am currently using “546 MB (7%) of your 7433 MB”, and I’ve had the account since October 2004. I never delete anything, apart from clearing out the spam folder.
If they keep up increasing the limit at their current rate I suspect I will expire before my available space does.
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