📧 Search Gmail by date: Pull up emails from a specific time frame using the search bar. For example, type: after:2025/08/01 before:2025/10/01 to see emails from Aug. 1 through Sept. 30, 2025.
Free cloud storage: What you really get and what to do when it runs out
Bing Image Creator
You set your phone to back up photos, turn on file sync, and next thing you know, you get a message: “Storage full.” Wait, what the heck happened?
Let’s clear up your cloud storage confusion.
🎁 What you get for free
- Google (Drive, Gmail, Photos) → 15 GB
Shared across your Gmail inbox, Drive files and Google Photos. That’s enough for a few thousand photos and emails. But once it’s full, Gmail might stop working.- To see how much space you are using, go to Google Drive > Storage.
- Price: 100 GB for $1.99/month or $19.99/year.
- Apple iCloud → 5 GB
Shared across your iPhone backups, photos, files, email and more. For most people, a single phone backup eats up 3–4 GB. Add a couple hundred photos, and boom, you’re over the limit.- Price: 50 GB for $0.99/month.
- To see how much space you are using, go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Storage.
- Amazon Photos → Unlimited full-resolution photo storage
But only if you’re a Prime member. Videos are limited to 5 GB unless you pay. If you have Prime, this hidden gem is worth using.
📸 How fast does it go?
I want you to have an idea of how much space your stuff takes.
- 1 minute of HD video = ~100 MB
- 1,000 photos = ~2–3 GB
- iPhone backup = 3–6 GB
- Gmail inbox = 1–10 GB over a few years
So if your monthly costs for iCloud or Google storage are higher than you want, get in there and start removing duplicates, screenshots, old backups and movies. I was guilty of having a bad Nicolas Cage movie in my backups so I could watch it offline. Why, I have no idea.
🧠 The smart approach
You want to sync what matters and vault the rest. Keep only the essentials on iCloud or Google so you stay under their free limits, or get on an affordable plan. This way, you can use iCloud or Google to sync your everyday stuff like contacts, calendars, emails and device backups.
I pay for iCloud+ and save money by using Apple’s Family Sharing plan, which lets me share cloud storage with up to five other people all without anyone losing privacy or access to their own data. It’s a smart way to avoid each person paying for separate plans, especially if you have lots of photos, videos or device backups.
Google offers a similar setup through Google One, which also allows family sharing for their cloud storage tiers. Both services make it easy to manage storage across multiple accounts, and the shared plans are typically more affordable than buying individual subscriptions.
📚 Make Kindle pages cleaner: Ever notice a faint imprint of the last page after you turn? Fix it by forcing a full refresh each time. Go to All Settings > Home and Library > Reading Options > Page Refresh. FYI: It may nibble a bit more battery, but you’ll barely notice.
Chromebook slow? Press Search + Escape to open Task Manager to see apps and tabs eating up memory or CPU. Click one and hit End Process to close it. Next, in Chrome browser, tap the Extensions icon (top right) > Manage Extensions and Remove any you don’t use anymore.
📧 Split view in Gmail: Tired of bouncing between your inbox and an open email? You can split the screen so your inbox stays on one side while the message you’re reading shows on the other. Go to Settings, scroll down to Reading pane, and choose Right of inbox (side by side) or Below inbox (stacked). Wunderbar!
🔍 Make Chrome easier to read: If text feels too small, open the three-dot menu > Settings > Appearance. Under Font size, set it to Large, and under Page zoom, bump it up to 125% (or more). You can also use Customize fonts to choose a style that’s friendlier on your eyes.
📝 Take note: Looking for a free note-taking app that won’t smack you with ads or sell your data? Try Notesnook. You can jot things down, make to-do lists, attach files and organize with tags or pins. It also works offline, syncs later and runs cross-platform, so you can pick up anywhere. Nice one, right?
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Want page numbers in Google Docs? Go to Insert > Page elements > Page numbers and choose the position. Docs update them automatically.
📄 Type faster in Google Docs: Instead of retyping long phrases, create shortcuts that expand into full text. Go to Tools > Preferences > Substitutions and tick Automatic substitution. To add your own, type “YTV” under Replace and “YouTube video” under With, then hit OK. Next time you type YTV, it auto-changes to YouTube video. Nice.
⚙️ Reset your browser: If Chrome or Firefox is running slow, faulty settings or extensions may be the issue. In Chrome, go to Settings > Reset settings > Restore settings to their original defaults. On Firefox, open Menu > Help > More Troubleshooting Information, then click Refresh Firefox and confirm.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: In Chrome, right-click any tab and select Duplicate. It opens the same page in a new tab. Handy when you want to compare two sections side by side.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Trying to close an app fast? Press Alt + F4 on Windows or Cmd + Q on Mac. It shuts the whole program. I use it when I’m stuck on a loading screen.
📶 Check your internet speed: Strong Wi-Fi doesn’t always mean fast internet. Run a test and check your download speed. For 4K Netflix, you’ll need 15 to 25 Mbps down. If the whole family’s streaming, gaming and scrolling, 100 Mbps or more will keep the peace. Upload should be at least 10 Mbps, too.
🔍 Track down contact info: Type “Jane Doe” with keywords like “email, phone or profile” into Google. If you know where they work, narrow it down with “Jane Doe” site:company.com. For social media, try site:linkedin.com Jane Doe, site:facebook.com Jane Doe or site:instagram.com Jane Doe. Still nothing? Reverse image search.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: In Gmail on desktop, you can change how closely emails are spaced in your inbox. Go to Settings > Density and choose Default, Comfortable or Compact.
📚 Reading help on Kindle: Struggling with long pages? Kindle has a special font that makes words easier to follow. Open any book, tap near the top and select the Aa icon. Under Font > Font Family, choose OpenDyslexic. FYI: You can also adjust Boldness and Size here to suit your eyes. Cool, right?
✍️ Add a signature in Gmail: Go to Settings > See all settings > General > Signature. Click Create new, give it a name and type in details like your contact info and job title. You can also insert an image of your real signature. Then choose whether it appears on new emails, replies or both. Scroll down and hit Save Changes.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: In Chrome, quickly mute a noisy tab by right-clicking it and selecting Mute site. Saves your ears from those annoying autoplay videos that pop up out of nowhere. You’re welcome.