The bar at the bottom of the left rail: how much you have used, of how much, across how many files.
What counts
| Counts | Does not count |
|---|---|
| Files you uploaded | Linked files from Google Drive or Dropbox — the bytes are not ours |
| Every version you kept | Folders themselves |
| Files in the trash |
The trash counts. Deleting a large file frees nothing until the trash is emptied. If the bar has not moved after a clear-out, that is why.
Versions count too
Keeping history has a cost. A 40 MB design file replaced weekly is not 40 MB after a year — it is two gigabytes.
That is usually a price worth paying, but it is worth knowing where the space went before assuming something is wrong.
When it fills
- Empty the trash. Almost always the quickest win.
- Find the largest files — sort by size.
- Link the big working files rather than uploading them. Google Drive and Dropbox cost nothing extra: they are integrations, free on every plan with Documents.
- Ask whether you need every version of the things that change constantly.
- Then, and only then, consider a larger plan.
What to keep here and what not to
- Yes: contracts, certificates, signed documents, templates, policies, anything statutory.
- Yes: anything that must survive a laptop dying or somebody leaving.
- Link instead: raw video, design source files, big working folders.
- No: personal files. It is a company store and an administrator can read everything in it.
Finding where it went
- Sort by size, biggest first. The answer is usually in the top ten rows.
- Look in the trash — it counts, and it is the quickest thing to clear.
- Check anything with a lot of versions. Fifty versions of a 40 MB file is two gigabytes.
- Look for things that should have been linked rather than uploaded — video, design sources, raw photography.
What belongs here, and what does not
| Upload it | Link it | Keep it out |
|---|---|---|
| Contracts and certificates | Raw video and design sources | Personal files |
| Signed documents | Big working folders a team edits daily | Anything an administrator should not read |
| Templates and policies | Archives you rarely open | Copies of things already attached to records |
The middle column matters for cost as much as for space: a linked file is not counted against your plan at all, because the bytes are not ours.
Anything you might have to produce to somebody official should be uploaded, not linked. A link depends on an account, a token and somebody else’s drive still existing. A GST certificate should not.
Where to go next
Something missing or wrong here? Tell us. A question that needed asking usually means a page that needed writing.