What is Storage saver in Google Photos? Compression and limits

What does Storage saver change?

• Resolution: photos above 16 MP are resized to 16 MP. A 12 MP photo keeps its size but is still re-compressed.
• Compression: files are re-encoded to a smaller size, which can soften fine textures.
• Video: anything above 1080p, such as 4K, is reduced to 1080p.
• Formats: some files, such as RAW, are converted; RAW files are not kept as RAW under this setting.

For phone photos viewed on screens, the difference is hard to see. It shows when you zoom into detail, crop heavily or print large.

Panoramas are a special case. A very wide panorama can exceed 16 MP even though it looks modest on screen, so it is downsized more than an ordinary shot and loses some of the stitched detail.

Did Storage saver use to be free?

Yes. Before 1 June 2021, photos and videos backed up in High quality, the old name for Storage saver, did not count toward the 15 GB free storage. Google ended that offer, so anything uploaded from that date counts. Photos backed up before the change stay free, which is why some long-time users have large libraries that use little quota.

Storage saver or Original quality?

Choose Storage saver if you mostly look at photos on a phone and your quota is tight; you fit more photos into the same space. Choose Original quality if you edit, print, or want the backup to be a true copy of the camera file. You can switch at any time in Google Photos settings under Backup quality, and the change applies to new uploads.

Google also offers a tool in storage settings to recover space by converting existing Original quality photos to Storage saver. It is irreversible: the full-resolution cloud copies are replaced, so keep originals elsewhere first.

Does Storage saver affect the phone copy?

No. The setting only controls the copy uploaded to Google. The photo on your phone stays as the camera saved it until you delete it or use Free up space. If you then remove the device copy, the compressed cloud version becomes the only one, which matters for prints. Deleting duplicates and blurry shots before they upload saves quota at any quality; the Google Photos space guide covers this.

Shared albums follow the uploader's setting. If a friend adds Original quality photos to an album you share, they use the friend's storage, not yours, and stay at full size.