An unofficial blog that watches Google's attempts to move your operating system online since 2005. Not affiliated with Google.

Send your tips to gostips@gmail.com.

August 1, 2006

When Will You Run Out Of Gmail Storage Space?

If Gmail storage grows at a rate of about 0.33 MB per day and you use the space the same as before, is there a chance you'll run out of space? Use this simple calculator to find out (type the date in this format: Month/Day/Year).

Update (October 2007): Gmail increased the rate of growth, so if you use Gmail for a long time or you didn't use too much storage, it's likely you'll see the answer "never".

31 comments:

  1. No offense, but I think this is a bit off. It told me I will never run out of space, but then I changed the numbers. When I said that I had used 9999 mb, it told me it would be like 150 years before I ran out.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Seems like it's not working so well. I input "2750", "2750", "07/01/06", and it shows never...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yeah - the tool really doesn't work. Although I don't think I'll ever run out of space either, so who cares about predicting it. I'm about to hit a gig!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Make sure to fill the form correctly (the date, your REAL used space). If you enter garbage, the result will be stupid.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's more likely a joke... you'll never be able to fill up your inbox...and if you supposedly did it expresses disbelief.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Really? = you've entered something wrong

    ReplyDelete
  7. a problem i see is that this calculator seems to assume my increase in storage needs has been linear over time. More likely, I am using more and more additional storage as time passes. Maybe I was increasing by 2 or 3Mb the first months, but now I am probably increasing at a rate of around 10Mb/months. And this number will keep growing.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Special needs deserve a special calculator.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yes... But tbh, if you really think hard about it... No ones inbox usage will be linear. I might not have any email for a year. Then it wont be accurate. Or I might get suddenly spammed by advertisers. Or even worse, I might loose my password and can no longer check what my usage is and cant check it on the calculator.

    What if someone accidently was sent a mp3 file in their inbox one day a month, but their mate accidently sent them two copies. Whoopsie, there goes 8mb, 4mb more than linear expansion.

    I would also like to see someone who has an account thats soon to run out, because I believe (Unless you been using your account for file storage) that no one can use 2.75GB and counting in email space.

    Oh and btw, the script doesnt cater for people who had GMAIL before 1/4/2004.

    Therefore, this calculator is good fun in a way, although in a practical sense its err...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Come on all of you, this is no kind of oracle or something. It is simple calculator that approximates when will you run out of space if you use it as up to now. Of course it is not exact, it is approximation tool and I think it is great idea. Although very simple. It tells me I will run out of space in 2008 (I am mailing large attachments quite often)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I typed in 378 MB storage used, had since 1/1/2004, came out NaN/NaN/NaN

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sorry for the bugs. I've updated the calculator:

    * now you see the current Gmail storage
    * there's a button to add the event to Google Calendar
    * I fixed the problems with the display and it should work with most browsers

    ReplyDelete
  13. try putting days after 30.. the counter is the only one who believes in 29th february! xD

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hey, February 29 is March 1, March 34 is April 3. If you think a little, it's quite logic.

    If you want data validation, you now have that.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Worked pretty well for me -

    1876MB used.
    Storage from 22nd Feb 2005 (I'm a brit - damn thing didn't like real formatted dates :D)

    I'll run out on the 3rd May 07... which given my useage, I guess will be right.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I don't remember when I started using Gmail from the beginning. Is there anyway I can know when my account was created?

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Search for "Welcome to Gmail". You should find the first email from your Gmail account.

    OR

    Go to "All Mail", click on "Oldest" (next to Older) and find the first email.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Why do US dates have to be all screwed up? Why go month/day/year. It makes no sense...the rest of the world uses the logical day/month/year

    like hrs:mins:secs

    not mins:hrs:secs...thats just silly.

    And apparently i'll never run out.

    ReplyDelete
  19. well i have 2650mb used so i guess its not impossible..

    ReplyDelete
  20. Want to run out of space? Do this:
    Start a marketing campaign, send out to all your 20 shops an Excel sheet of 3,5MB and require them to send it back to you for the period of one month.

    Some mails to teach the idiots how use your Excel sheet correctly and...

    FULL

    STOP

    ReplyDelete
  21. So funny!!!

    21/10/2029 for me! :D

    ReplyDelete
  22. The reason why the Brits are wrong.

    Lets face it... Month Day Year is a more practical format as long as you are representing the month in letters, not numbers. Simply put, you never start a sentence with a number in English grammar.

    Your date format is not right because others AGREE with you, it is wrong because I SAY it is wrong. (for those logically impaired… People agreeing with you doesn’t support your claim, and if your claim is on disputable grounds anyone who objects to it instantly invalidates your claim (Of course, the same can be said for me… meaning that neither date format is the best format). The reason so many people USE that date format is because of the INFLUNCE of greedy corporations. Her name is Globalization... and she is after our sovereignty.

    As for those “never” people… look at this intelligently, if rate of gain is greater than the rate of loss there will never be any “loss”. NaN means not a number… probably an error in his date calculator. February 29th exists… every three years. Again, date calculator… probably rushed and didn’t spend that much time (although, what is hard with making a date calculator?).

    Okay Idea... but we 'all' know how gmail REALLY works. It's like a bank... it gives out money it doesn't have and will REFUSE to give some to you if you request too much.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Neat script. Strange how many people got so worked up over it.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Just messing around and found this interesting calculator. Personally I think technology increases will make this calculator obsolete by the time it predicts that I will run out of space! I'm glad though, that I have a good chance of still being alive by the time this happens!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I have been using gmail since 2005. I keep all my emails on record -- sent and received. I now am told I do not have any more space left -- I still receive messages, but cannot send any more messages. What do I do?

    ReplyDelete
  26. You have four options:

    (1) delete some of your unimportant large messages. Use the advanced search to find messages that have attachments and delete some of them.

    (2) create a new Gmail account. Set the option to auto-forward all the messages from the old account to the new account and add the old email account in Settings / Accounts / Send mail as. You'll receive all the messages to the new address and you'll be able to send messages using the old address.

    (3) buy more storage. The cheapest option: $20/year for 6GB.

    (4) use another provider. For example, Yahoo Mail and AOL have "infinite storage". There are ways to forward email to these accounts because Gmail supports POP3.

    ReplyDelete
  27. i'm alil shocked, kinda speechless i might add.
    here's a screenshot:
    http://www.box.net/shared/ep6o5vbug9

    ReplyDelete
  28. Thanks for updating the alogrithm but I think there is a bug. For set up dates begore 2006, it seems that you will return 'Never' even if the current storage is 2800MB.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Suddeenly, GMail is up 1GB today.. amazing.

    ReplyDelete