# Email storage limits 2026: Gmail 15 GB, Yahoo 20 GB, Outlook 15 GB, iCloud 5 GB How much free email storage you get in 2026: Gmail 15 GB shared, Yahoo 20 GB (15 GB UK/EU), Outlook 15 GB, iCloud 5 GB, AOL about 1 TB — and what happens when it fills. - Published: 2026-10-29 - Canonical: https://faraday.email/blog/email-storage-limits-compared-2026 ![Comparing free email storage limits across Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, iCloud and AOL](https://faraday.email/assets/blog/blog-attachment-limits.png) Free email storage in 2026 is not one number. **Gmail gives 15 GB shared with Drive and Photos. Yahoo gives 20 GB in the US and Canada, 15 GB in the UK and EU. Outlook.com gives 15 GB. iCloud gives 5 GB shared with your backups. AOL still gives about 1 TB.** The number on the marketing page is also not the number you can use for mail. Photos, attachments, Trash, and shared quotas decide whether you actually have room. > Storage is a quota, not an inbox strategy. ## Email storage limits in 2026 **Gmail — 15 GB free.** Shared across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos. Spam and Trash count. Google One adds 100 GB, 200 GB, or 2 TB. **Yahoo Mail — 20 GB free** in the US and Canada, **15 GB** in the UK, EU, Australia, and other regions. Yahoo Plus is 200 GB; storage add-ons are 100 GB or 1 TB. **Outlook.com / Hotmail — 15 GB free mailbox**, plus 5 GB of OneDrive. Microsoft 365 plans add 1 TB of OneDrive; the mailbox ceiling depends on the plan. **iCloud Mail — 5 GB free**, shared with Photos, device backups, and iCloud Drive. iCloud+ adds 50 GB, 200 GB, or 2 TB, and Mail Drop lets you send large files without stuffing the mailbox. **AOL Mail — about 1 TB** on newer accounts; older accounts have been described as unlimited. That is the last real advantage AOL has. **Proton Mail — 500 MB to 1 GB free**; paid plans scale up. ## What actually consumes your quota • Attachments, especially photos, PDFs, and video. • Spam and Trash, until purged — on Gmail this is the same 15 GB. • Photos and device backups, on Gmail and iCloud. • Drive files and hidden app data on Gmail; iCloud Drive and backups on Apple. • Years of newsletters you never opened. A mailbox that is 90% text can run for a decade in 15 GB. A mailbox that receives scanned documents and phone photos can fill it in a year. ## What happens when email storage is full **Gmail:** you cannot send or receive; Drive and Photos uploads stop. **Yahoo:** you cannot send or receive, and mail sent to you while full is not stored — it cannot be recovered later. **Outlook.com:** sending and receiving are blocked until you free space or upgrade. **iCloud:** mail stops arriving, and Photos and backups start failing too. **AOL:** delivery is affected, and inactivity can purge the account separately. ## How to free space, by provider • [Gmail storage full](https://faraday.email/blog/gmail-storage-full-2026) — the shared 15 GB, the searches that find heavy mail, and when to buy Google One. • [Yahoo Mail storage full](https://faraday.email/blog/yahoo-mail-storage-full-how-to-free-space-2026) — the 20 GB cut, the storage meter, and migration timing. • [Outlook.com storage full](https://faraday.email/blog/outlook-com-storage-full-2026) — Deleted Items, Junk, and Microsoft 365. • [iCloud Mail storage full](https://faraday.email/blog/icloud-mail-storage-full-2026) — the 5 GB shared quota and Mail Drop. • [AOL Mail vs Gmail vs Outlook](https://faraday.email/blog/aol-mail-vs-gmail-vs-outlook-2026) — why AOL still has the biggest free archive. ## Should you pay for storage or switch provider? Do the math on the whole account, not the inbox. If Photos or Drive is the heavy bucket, switching email providers fixes nothing. If the mailbox itself is the problem and you want a different ecosystem, migrate rather than pay twice. If you are staying, a storage plan is the cheapest fix: roughly $2/month for 100 GB on Google One, $1/month for 50 GB on iCloud+, and a few dollars on Yahoo or Microsoft. That is less than an hour of your time spent deleting receipts. ## How much email storage do you actually need? Most personal mailboxes with years of text and the occasional attachment live comfortably under 10 GB. Heavy attachment users, photographers, and anyone who never deletes should plan for 100 GB or more. Work accounts on Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 are a different budget entirely. ## Where Faraday fits Faraday does not sell storage and does not change your provider's quota. It connects to Gmail and Outlook and changes what you see: humans, bills, bookings, and newsletters are separated, follow-ups surface, and the inbox stops being a 15 GB list you scroll. Clean or buy storage for the quota. Use [Faraday](https://faraday.email/) for the inbox. ## How much free storage does Gmail have in 2026? 15 GB, shared across Gmail, Drive, and Photos. ## How much free storage does Yahoo Mail have? 20 GB in the US and Canada, 15 GB in the UK, EU, and other regions. ## Which free email has the most storage? AOL, at roughly 1 TB on newer accounts. Yahoo is next at 20 GB, then Gmail and Outlook at 15 GB. ## Does iCloud Mail have its own storage? No. It shares the 5 GB free iCloud quota with Photos, backups, and iCloud Drive. ## Does deleting email free storage immediately? Not on Gmail or Outlook until you empty Trash / Deleted Items.