Google is testing a more limited storage option for new free Gmail accounts, unless you link your phone number to the account.
According to a screenshot shared by Reddit user u/sungusungu, Google only offered 5GB of storage when signing up for a new Gmail account, with a toggle option to increase it to 15GB if they linked their phone number to the account.
Now, the fine print in the screenshot states that Google will use your number to ensure the increased storage is added only once per person. One commenter on Android Authority also noted that this could be an attempt by Google to address people who are trying to get more storage through additional accounts.
Google routinely asks you about adding a phone number to your account as a recovery option, and usually uses a headline along the lines of “you could lose access to Gmail” to really get you to do it.
As Android Authority pointed out, it is unclear whether this is a change being rolled out or whether Google is running an A/B test in certain regions. The support page for Google storage still shows 15GB as the standard, so unless that hasn’t been updated, there looks to be nothing to worry about for now if you are looking to create a new Gmail account
Source: u/sungusungu on r/degoogle via Android Authority
