Tools and tables
Photo services compared: storage, deletion, quotas and legacy
One row per photo service: the free amount, how long deleted photos can be recovered, what happens over the storage limit or after years without use, how to get everything out, and what a legacy setting does. Every cell is the maker's own statement on the date shown.
Use it with the accounts sheet: copy each service's deletion rule onto its row, with the date you last signed in. Filter by maker with the buttons. "Not stated by the maker" means none of the maker's pages we read on 2026-10-30 says it; it does not mean the answer is no. Plans and prices change, so this table gives no prices. Product-specific
| Service | Free amount | Deleted photos kept | Over the storage limit | Account not used | Getting everything out | Keeps originals? | Location | Legacy setting | Source (fetched 2026-10-30) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iCloud Photos | 5 GB | Recently Deleted, 30 days. A deletion on one device deletes on every device using iCloud Photos. | iCloud stops updating until you make room or buy more. Deleted photos skip Recently Deleted and are removed at once. | Not stated by the maker. | iPhone: Export Unmodified Originals to Files or a drive. Mac: Download Originals to this Mac. iCloud.com: up to 1,000 at a time as Unmodified Originals. Apple's transfer to Google Photos copies only the latest edit. | Yes: original formats at full resolution. With Optimize Storage, the device holds smaller versions. | Remove from one photo: Info > Adjust Info > Adjust Location > No Location. Stop recording: Location Services > Camera > Never. | Legacy Contact: needs the access key and a death certificate; can reach iCloud Photos. | iCloud Photos, storage, downloads, location, Legacy Contact |
| Google Photos | 15 GB, shared with Gmail and Drive | Trash, 30 days. Deleting in the app deletes the phone's copy too, and on every device with backup on. | Backup stops. After 2 years over the limit, all content may be removed, with at least 3 months' notice. | Photos may be deleted after 2 years without use, with at least 3 months' notice; a Google One member in good standing is exempt. An account unused for 2 years may be deleted. | Google Takeout: .zip or .tgz, split at a size you choose (50 GB reduces splitting); ready in minutes to days; expires in about 7 days; 5 downloads each. Scheduled export every 2 months for a year. What its metadata files hold is not stated by the maker. | Only in Original quality. Storage saver resizes photos over 16 MP and may convert them to JPEG. | A location the camera recorded cannot be removed in Google Photos. Shared albums have a Share photo locations switch; partner sharing includes location. | Inactive Account Manager: up to 10 people, after a period you choose. | quality, deleting, activity, Takeout, location, Inactive Account Manager |
| OneDrive | 5 GB | Recycle bin, 30 days for personal accounts. | Read-only, no uploads. Frozen after 3 months over; after 6 months frozen Microsoft may delete the OneDrive and its files. | A Microsoft account with no sign-in for 2 years is closed. A forgotten second account (one made for a phone's gallery) can be the frozen one. | Camera backup uploads one way: deleting from the phone leaves the OneDrive copy. On Windows, online-only files are placeholders until downloaded. | Not stated by the maker for camera backup. | Not stated by the maker. | No legacy contact described. A deceased person's OneDrive is released only by subpoena or court order. | quotas, frozen accounts, activity policy, camera backup, after a death |
| Amazon Photos | 5 GB. Prime members: full-resolution photos unlimited, 5 GB for video. | Not stated in the pages we read. | No uploads. After 180 days over, files are deleted, newest uploads first, with notice. If Prime or a plan ends, the account keeps 5 GB and items over it must be removed. | Email at 18 months; after 2 years with no upload, download or sign-in, all files are deleted, with notice. | Not stated in the pages we read. | Full resolution for Prime members' photos. | Not stated in the pages we read. | Not stated in the pages we read. | what it is, storage, file retention |
| Dropbox | Not covered here | Not covered here | Not covered here | Not covered here | Camera uploads go to a Camera Uploads folder; one linked account at a time. | Not covered here | Not covered here | Not covered here | camera uploads (reference only) |
| Not a storage service | Not covered here | Not applicable | Not covered here | Export your information: choose a date range, HTML or JSON, and a media quality; ready for 4 days. Whether the highest quality is the original file is not stated by the maker. | Not stated by the maker. | Not covered here | Legacy contact: can download what you shared, if you turned that on; cannot log in or read messages. | export, legacy contacts | |
| Not a storage service | Not covered here | Not applicable | Not covered here | Export your information, with the same choices; the link can take up to 30 days and lasts 4 days. | Not stated by the maker. | Not covered here | Not covered here | Instagram Help Center, "Review and export a copy of your Instagram information" (cited by name; the page refuses link checks) | |
| Not a storage service | Not covered here | Not applicable | Not covered here | A photo looks blurry once the phone's own copy is deleted; save photos to the device to keep them. | Standard or HD quality, chosen per send; sizes not stated by the maker. | Not covered here | Not covered here | WhatsApp Help Center, "About HD photos and videos" and "Seeing blurry photos" (cited by name; the pages refuse link checks) | |
| Messages (iPhone) | Uses iCloud storage with Messages in iCloud | Recently Deleted, up to 30 days. | Not covered here | Not covered here | Keep Messages set to anything but Forever removes conversations and their attachments automatically. A conversation's photos are under its contact or group icon. | Not stated by the maker. | Not covered here | Through the Apple Legacy Contact, with Messages in iCloud. | deleting messages, Legacy Contact data |
How to read the rules
- "May" is the makers' word. Google, Amazon and Microsoft say they may delete, and that they send notice first. The notice goes to the account's email address, which is one reason an old account's address matters.
- Sign in to every account once a year. That is this manual's routine, built on the two-year rules above; it is on the routine sheet. Convention
- A paid plan changes the over-limit rules, not the sync rules. Deleting a photo in a library that syncs still deletes it everywhere; see Sync is not a backup.
- Two Amazon pages disagree on whether an over-limit account can still share: one says you can still view, download and share; the other says you cannot upload, sync or share. Both were live on 2026-10-30.
- Microsoft's after-death page says accounts are frozen after one year without use, a figure that appears on no other Microsoft page we read; the account activity policy gives two years.
Limits
This table is what each maker said on 2026-10-30, and makers change their rules: Microsoft changed its family plans on 2026-10-08. Before you rely on a cell to decide whether to delete something or close an account, open the linked page and read the current text. Access to someone else's account, including after a death, is the provider's process; Learn Funeral Planning covers it, and legal questions go to a lawyer.