Google Drive is one of the most popular (and frankly, best) cloud storage services out there. In an attempt to optimize its server infrastructure, Google silently introduced a controversial file creation limit of five million items. While this number is likely only reached by a small percentage of the total user base, it’s an unexpected limitation that some of those paying for Google One's higher tiers found themselves in, with backlash quickly hitting Google. As such, the company has today announced that it’s rolling back the controversial change.
In a Twitter announcement, Google Drive didn’t name the five million files limit explicitly, but instead called it a “system update to Drive item limits” that’s meant to “preserve stability and optimize performance.” The company goes on to say that this change only ever impacted a few people, but that it’s still rolling back the tweak “as we explore alternate approaches to ensure a great experience for all.” In a follow-up tweet, the company also promised to communicate such changes proactively with users ahead of time in the future.
The lack of communication was probably one of the biggest issues with the original five million files limit the company rolled out. Google Drive didn’t mention the new limit in any of its support documents, and only once people ran into the limit they were hit with a warning that they couldn’t upload or create more files. The fact that the limit disproportionately affected users paying for 2TB or 5TB of storage also was a point of contention. After all, people pay up to $25 a month for storing as many files as they want to. It also doesn't help that files moved to trash continued counting towards the limit until they're manually removed (or automatically disappear after 30 days).
We can only hope that should Google further pursues this file creation limit for its stability and performance optimizations, it will offer a clearer line of communication and won’t butt heads with those who pay the most for its services again.
Thanks: Mishaal Rahman