Google Docs Ups File Size Limit to 10 GB, Free Storage Is Still 1 GB

Google has made a small but possibly significant change to Google Docs, you can now upload files as big as 10 GB, whereas the previous limit was 1 GB.

That's great news if you regularly handle large files and if you pay for storage in Google, but it won't mean anything if you're using the standard, Google-provided 1 GB of free storage.

By default, Google Docs users get 1 GB of free storage to put whatever they want in the cloud. Until now, they could also upload files as big as 1 GB, as long as they had the space to store them.

But Google also offers a paid storage option, a rather cheap one too, which starts at $5 per year for 20 GB. Users can get TB of space this way, though regular users probably wouldn't have what to do with so much storage.

Users that do need GB of storage though most likely handle big files as well, so the new limit should come in handy for some.

Still, it is probably about time Google upped the free storage it offers in Docs. The company could easily offer 10 GB for free which would make Docs a much more compelling option.

Interestingly enough and perhaps a sign of things to come, the move was announced by Scott Johnston, a product manager at Google Docs, on Google+.

Google has started becoming a lot more open, perhaps a bit too open, and Googlers are often making announcements or comments on Google+.

Previously, the only reliable way of communicating a change was via the numerous Google blogs, but these were reserved for slightly bigger announcements than this.

Hearing the voice of the people that actually worked on the products, writing on their personal profiles does lend a lot more credibility to Google and puts a much more human face on the company which has always struggled with these aspects. [via Google OS]