The cloud It is very comfortable to keep backup copies of our files and also to share them with other people. Today we can find many clouds where we can upload our files, being able to choose the one we like the most. The only thing we usually worry about is having enough space (either free or paid) to be able to keep our files on the servers. However, there is also another aspect that we must take into account and that, if we do not, we can have problems. Especially if we use Google Drive.
Google Drive is the most widely used cloud storage service in the world. The search engine giant offers us a total of 15 GB of free storage to save what we want on its servers, and several plans that go from 100 GB for 1.99 euros per month, to 2 TB of space from 9.99 euros per month. There are also other more advanced plans of 10 TB, 20 TB, and even more space for those who need more capacity within Google servers.
In general, when uploading files to the cloud from the computer or from the mobile, we always worry about having enough space, and nothing more. But we must take into account that, for two months, Google has included another limitation, in secret, that can give you a lot of headaches: lfile limit.
How many files can I upload to Google Drive?
This change was pushed onto the company’s servers without any public notice, which has been pretty ugly on Google’s part. And it is that, whether we pay for one of the Google One plans, or if we use the free version of Google Drive, we will not be able to upload more than 5 million files to the cloud
A limit of 5 million files may seem too high. And it really is. It is difficult for an average user to reach it. But there have already been users who have run into this new limit, appearing a 403 error when uploading new files to Google servers. This limit also applies per user, not by account. In this way, if the same user has access to two different accounts, the limit of 5 million files applies to the user in question, not to the account. Also, Google has another secret limitspecifically in the number of files that can be shared from an account, this being 400,000.
Google ensures that this limit is necessary in order to guarantee the security of the servers, as well as a stability and performance threshold when accessing data from the Internet. After all, it’s not that hard of a limit to hit, as 5 million 1KB files would take up only 5GB, and even 5 million 1MB files would take up only 5TB.
How to bypass the limit
Google does not allow you to bypass this limit in any way. Not even paying more. Therefore, there is officially no way to upload more than 5 million files to the company’s cloud. Unless, of course, we resort to certain tricks. For example, yes we pack the files Within a ZIP or RAR file we can upload all the files we want to the servers, since a compressed file, even if it has a million files inside, will only count as one.
Encrypting files, or hiding inside a VeraCrypt drive, will also count as an individual file.
