Google Drive无疑是(doubt one)最好的云存储提供商之一，因为它位于 Google 高度可靠的服务器上，并为所有用户提供高达 15GB 的免费存储空间。如果您一直在使用Gmail处理电子邮件，那么您已经在使用云端硬盘(Drive)来存储电子邮件附件。
Drive提供的 15GB 免费存储空间足以满足大多数仅使用它来存储少数重要文件的用户。但是，如果您使用它的目的不止于此，并且您的很多文件恰好位于您的Google Drive 帐户(Google Drive account)中，您可能很快就会发现自己的帐户空间不足。
不过，有几种方法可以在应用时帮助您延长免费存储限制。(storage limit)这些Google 云端硬盘(Google Drive)提示和技巧可优化您帐户中已存储的内容，因此您的内容占用的空间更少，您有更多空间可用于存储其他文件。
从您的 Gmail 中删除（大）附件(Delete (Large) Attachments From Your Gmail)
许多用户认为Gmail有自己的存储配额，与(storage quota)Google Drive没有任何关系。然而，事实并非如此。您在Gmail中收到的所有电子邮件和附件实际上都计入您的云端硬盘配额(Drive quota)。
因此，删除收件箱中不再有用的附件和电子邮件非常重要。这是查找所有那些占用大量存储空间的附件的快速简便的方法。
(Access Gmail)在浏览器中访问 Gmail ，然后单击(browser and click)搜索框中(search box)的向下箭头图标。它将打开高级搜索菜单(search menu)。
在新打开的搜索菜单(search menu)中，选中显示有附件(Has attachment)的框。它将确保只搜索带有附件的电子邮件。在大小(Size)框中，选择大于(greater than)X MB，其中 X 是附件大小。您可以尝试 5 到 10 MB 之间的任何空间。然后点击搜索(Search)。
您现在将看到所有附件大于您上面指定的电子邮件。选中(Checkmark)要删除的电子邮件，然后单击顶部的删除选项。(Delete)
确保(Make sure)也从垃圾箱(Trash)中删除电子邮件，您将释放您的Google Drive 存储(Google Drive storage)空间。
将 Microsoft Office Docs 转换为 Google Docs 格式(Convert Microsoft Office Docs To Google Docs Format)
除非您一直生活在困境中，否则您会知道Google拥有自己的在线办公套件(online office suite)，称为Google Docs。与传统的MS Office 套件(MS Office suite)一样，Google Docs 可让您创建类似 Word 的文档(Google Docs lets you create Word-like documents)、类似 Excel 的电子表格和类似 PowerPoint 的演示文稿。
此外，使用Google 文档(Google Docs don)创建的所有文件都不会计入您的云端硬盘存储空间(Drive storage)。因此，如果您的存储中有MS Office或任何其他办公文件，是时候将它们转换为这种格式以节省存储空间(storage space)。
在这里，我们将看看如何将MS Excel 电子表格(MS Excel spreadsheet)转换为Google 表格(Google Sheet)：
在浏览器中打开Google Drive，找到要转换的文件，右键单击该文件，然后选择Open with ，然后选择Google Sheets。
文件打开后，单击顶部的文件菜单并选择(File)另存为 Google 表格(Save as Google Sheets)。
它会快速转换并启动您的电子表格的Google 文档版本(Google Docs version)。
原始文档中的大部分项目都将保持原样。但是，可能有一些特性在转换过程中没有被继承。保留原始文件，除非您已验证并确保转换后的版本包含所有内容。
在 Google 照片上以高品质上传照片和视频(Upload Photos & Videos In High-Quality On Google Photos)
Google 相册(Google Photos)可让您上传、整理照片并将其保存在云端。只要您的照片和视频质量(photo and video quality)设置为高质量而不是原始质量，您上传的文件就不会计入您的云端硬盘配额(Drive quota)。
前往Google Photos 网站并点击(website and click)汉堡包图标(hamburger icon)，然后点击Settings。
在以下屏幕上，启用高质量(High quality)选项。单击恢复存储(Recover storage)按钮以将现有照片和视频转换为高质量。
在 Google 文档中保留不受支持的对象(Keep Unsupported Objects In Google Docs)
Google Drive只为少数几种文件类型(file type)提供免费的无限存储空间。如果您的文件恰好不是受支持的文件类型(file type)之一，您可以将其与受支持的文件类型(file type)组合以获得免费的无限存储空间。
例如，如果您有一张不想修改的图片，您可以创建一个Google Docs 文档(Google Docs document)并将该图片放入其中。由于Google Docs 文档(Google Docs document)可以获得免费存储空间，因此您在文档中的图像也将获得相同的权限。
从您的 Google 帐户中删除应用程序数据(Delete Apps Data From Your Google Account)
如果您已将任何应用程序连接到您的Google Drive 帐户(Google Drive account)，则它们可能正在使用您的某些Drive 存储空间(Drive storage)。这些应用程序数据通常是隐藏的，但您可以通过某种方式从您的帐户中删除这些数据。
在Google Drive 网站上(Google Drive site)，点击顶部的齿轮图标并选择设置(Settings)。
单击以下屏幕左侧边栏中的管理应用程序(Manage Apps)以查看您的应用程序。单击(Click)您认为正在使用存储空间的任何应用程序的选项选项，(Options)然后选择(storage and select) 删除隐藏的应用程序数据(Delete hidden app data)。
清空 Google 云端硬盘回收站(Empty The Google Drive Trash)
如果您还不知道，即使您从Google 云端硬盘帐户(Google Drive account)中删除的文件也会计入您的存储空间。当您删除文件时，它通常会被移至回收站(Trash)并且不会被永久删除。
要真正重新获得您删除的文件占用的空间，您需要清空垃圾箱，如下所示(you need to empty the Trash as below)。
访问您的Google Drive 帐户，然后单击(Google Drive account and click)左侧边栏中的垃圾箱(Trash)。
单击顶部的垃圾箱标题，您会找到一个选项，即(Trash)Empty垃圾箱(Empty trash)。点击它。
您的 G Drive 废纸篓将被清空。
结论(Conclusion)
了解其中一些优化技巧将使您不再购买付费存储计划，因为免费的存储计划将通过一些巧妙的实施为您持续一生。
How To Optimize Your Google Drive Storage
Google Drive is no doubt one of the best cloud storage providers available as it sits on Google’s highly-reliable servers and offers up to 15GB of free storage to all the users. If you’ve been using Gmail for your emails, you’re already using Drive to store your email attachments.
The 15GB free storage offered by the Drive is sufficient for most users who only use it to store their few important files. However, if you use it for more than that and a lot of your files happen to be in your Google Drive account, you’ll likely find yourself running out of space in your account soon.
There are a few ways though, that when applied, help you make your free storage limit last a bit longer for you. These Google Drive tips and tricks optimize the already-stored content in your account, so your content consumes less space and you have more space available to store other files.
Delete (Large) Attachments From Your Gmail
Many users think that Gmail has its own storage quota and that it doesn’t have anything to do with Google Drive. However, that’s not the case. All the emails and attachments you receive in your Gmail are actually counted towards your Drive quota.
Therefore, it’s important that you get rid of the attachments and emails that you no longer find useful in your inbox. Here’s a quick and easy way to find all those storage-hogging attachments.
Access Gmail in your browser and click on the down-arrow icon in the search box. It’ll open the advanced search menu.
In the newly opened search menu, checkmark the box that says Has attachment. It’ll make sure only the emails with attachments are searched. In the Size box, select greater than X MB where X is the attachment size. You may try anywhere between 5 to 10 MB. Then hit Search.
You’ll now see all the emails that have attachments larger than what you specified above. Checkmark the emails you want to get rid of and click on the Delete option at the top.
Make sure to delete the emails from the Trash as well and you’ll have freed up your Google Drive storage space.
Convert Microsoft Office Docs To Google Docs Format
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know Google has its own online office suite called Google Docs. Like the traditional MS Office suite, Google Docs lets you create Word-like documents, Excel-like spreadsheets, and PowerPoint-like presentations.
What’s more, all the files created with Google Docs don’t count towards your Drive storage. So if you have your MS Office or any other office files sitting around in your storage, it’s time you get them converted to this format to save on your storage space.
Here we will take a look at how to convert an MS Excel spreadsheet to a Google Sheet:
Open Google Drive in a browser, find the file you want to convert, right-click on the file, and select Open with followed by Google Sheets.
When the file opens, click on the File menu at the top and select Save as Google Sheets.
It’ll quickly convert and launch the Google Docs version of your spreadsheet.
Most of the items of your original document will be intact. However, there may be some features that are not carried over during conversion. Keep the original file with you until and unless you’ve verified and ensured the converted version has it all.
Upload Photos & Videos In High-Quality On Google Photos
Google Photos lets you upload, organize, and keep your photos on the cloud. As long as your photo and video quality is set to high-quality rather than original quality, your uploaded files won’t count towards your Drive quota.
Head over to the Google Photos website and click on the hamburger icon followed by Settings.
On the following screen, enable the High quality option. Click on the Recover storage button to convert your existing photos and videos to high-quality.
Keep Unsupported Objects In Google Docs
Google Drive only provides free unlimited storage for a handful of file types. If yours doesn’t happen to be one of the supported file types, you can combine it with a supported file type to get free unlimited storage.
For instance, if you have an image that you don’t want to modify, you can create a Google Docs document and put the image in there. Since Google Docs documents get free storage, your image inside the document will also get the same privilege.
Delete Apps Data From Your Google Account
If you’ve connected any apps to your Google Drive account, they may be using some of your Drive storage. These apps data is usually hidden but there’s a way you can delete this data from your account.
While on the Google Drive site, click on the gear icon at the top and select Settings.
Click on Manage Apps in the left sidebar on the following screen to view your apps. Click on the Options option for any app you think is using your storage and select Delete hidden app data.
Empty The Google Drive Trash
If you don’t already know, even the files that you’ve deleted from your Google Drive account are counted towards your storage. When you delete a file, it’s usually moved to the Trash and doesn’t get permanently deleted.
To actually regain the space that the files you deleted had occupied, you need to empty the Trash as below.
Access your Google Drive account and click on Trash in the left sidebar.
Click on the Trash title at the top and you’ll find an option saying Empty trash. Click on it.
Your G Drive Trash will be emptied.
Conclusion
Knowing some of these optimization tips will keep you from buying the paid storage plans, as the free one will last for a lifetime for you with some clever implementations.
