Storage and quotas
Two independent limits can affect you: how much cloud storage you've used, and, on some plans, how many designs you can keep at once. Both are tracked in real time and shown before you hit them, not discovered after the fact.
Quick overview
- Watch the storage meter as you upload.
- Free space or upgrade if you approach the cloud storage limit.
- Keep an eye on the design quota banner if your plan caps design count.
- Compare what each plan tier includes in Billing.
Storage quota
Every plan includes a free cloud storage pool (a 1 GB floor on the free tier, raised by paid tiers), tracked as you upload images, video, and audio. The meter and its banners track this cloud pool specifically, which is exactly what the upload gate enforces.
| State | Threshold | What you'll notice |
|---|---|---|
| OK | Under 80% | No warning |
| Near the limit | 80% and up | A warning appears on the usage meter |
| Almost full | 95% and up | A banner appears across the top of every page in the workspace |
| Full | 100% | New uploads to cloud storage are paused until you free space, upgrade, or route them to a local folder |
The storage banner is treated as a critical notice, like a security warning, so it is not silenced by muting notifications. It carries a "manage storage" link straight to your storage settings, and it clears itself once usage drops back under 95%.
One upload right at the edge is never split: a single file may cross into a small grace band (up to about 105% of the limit) so it completes, but once your usage is at or over 100% the next upload is blocked. That grace is one file by construction, not a way to keep going past full.
Free space by deleting media you no longer need and emptying the trash. Deleted items still take up room until the trash is actually emptied or its retention period runs out.
A local folder is a separate pool, not a bigger cloud limit
Connecting a local folder in Storage and integrations adds storage that sits outside your cloud pool entirely. When the cloud is full, new uploads are routed to that folder automatically, and you can start using it before you ever hit the cloud cap. It does not lower your cloud usage number, it just gives new files somewhere else to land.
Automatic image compression
Images are compressed in your browser, before they upload, so they take up far less of your storage pool and upload faster, with no visible quality loss at the default setting. It runs everywhere you add an image: the media library, the editor, drag-and-drop, and folder imports.
Because the work happens on your own device and off the main thread, dropping in hundreds of photos at once won't freeze the page. They're compressed a few at a time and upload as each one finishes.
Choosing the intensity
Open Settings > Storage > Performance:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Automatic compression | On by default. Turn it off to upload originals untouched. |
| Light | Near-lossless. Only shrinks oversized images (longest side up to 2560px). |
| Balanced (recommended) | The default. Best size-to-quality trade-off (up to 1920px). |
| Maximum | Smallest files (up to 1280px); a slight quality drop visible only on close inspection. |
Advanced options let you skip files under a chosen size and keep the original format instead of converting to WebP.
What stays untouched
Animated GIFs, SVGs, and already-small images are never re-encoded, and transparent PNGs keep their transparency. Turning compression off uploads every file byte-for-byte.
Stock photos you add from the stock library are sized to match the same setting on our servers (they never reach your browser at full resolution), so they benefit too.
Design quota
Some plans cap how many designs you can own at once. Whether that cap is actively enforced depends on your plan and a workspace-wide setting, when it isn't enforced, you won't see a design quota warning even if a number is listed on your plan.
| State | Threshold | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| OK | Under 90% of your limit | No message |
| Near the cap | 90% and up | A banner appears prompting you to upgrade |
| At the cap | Used equals your limit | Creating a new design is blocked until you delete one or upgrade |
Plans marked unlimited never show this banner, no matter how many designs you have. Hitting the cap doesn't touch designs you already have, it only blocks creating a new one, and the block returns the same error from every entry point: the dashboard format tiles, the command palette's New design, and the brand profile's create button all run the same check, so there's no shortcut that skips it. When you're blocked, the message links straight to your plan so you can upgrade without hunting for the right settings screen. The banner recalculates itself right after you create or delete a design, so it appears and clears without a reload.
The two limits are independent
Being over one limit has no effect on the other. You can be well under your design cap while your storage is full, or comfortably under your storage limit while at your design cap. Each is checked and shown on its own.
Both the storage banner and the design quota banner behave the same way: they stay hidden entirely until there's a real warning to show, there's no loading flicker while they check, and nothing appears at all if you're comfortably under both limits.
Storage vs design quota
| Storage quota | Design quota | |
|---|---|---|
| Measures | Bytes used by images, video, and audio in your cloud pool | Number of designs you own |
| Warns at | 80% (meter), 95% (banner) | 90% (banner) |
| Blocks at | 100% (new cloud uploads pause) | 100% (creating a new design is blocked) |
| Manage it from | Storage and integrations | Works hub, or Billing to upgrade |
| Does a local folder help | Yes, adds a separate pool | No, design count is independent of where media lives |
Step by step
Check how close you are to your plan's design limit before starting new work
- The design quota banner only warns once you cross 90%, so under that you will not see a number at the top.
- To check proactively at any level, open Billing (or the Plan section in Account settings), where your designs used against your limit is shown directly.
- If you are close, delete unneeded projects from the works hub before you start, or upgrade so the new work does not hit the cap mid-flow.
Free up cloud storage when the banner appears
- When the top-of-page storage banner shows, click manage storage on it to open your storage settings.
- Reduce usage the durable way: delete media you no longer need in the media library, then empty the trash, because trashed items keep counting until they are purged.
- If you need headroom immediately, connect a local folder so new uploads route there, or upgrade to a tier with a larger pool.
Route new uploads to a local folder before you fill the cloud
- Go to Storage and integrations and connect a local folder.
- New uploads that would overflow the cloud pool are written to that folder automatically; you do not have to wait until you are full.
- Note that the folder is a separate pool, so your cloud meter stays where it is, the folder simply catches the overflow.
Keep uploads small automatically
- Open Settings > Storage > Performance.
- Leave Automatic compression on and pick Balanced for the best size-to-quality trade-off, or Maximum to stretch the pool further.
- Add images as usual; they are compressed in your browser before upload, so each one uses less of the pool without a separate step.
Common tasks
- See exact design usage: open Billing or the Plan section in Account.
- Make room in the cloud: delete media, then empty the trash.
- Get instant headroom: connect a local folder in Storage and integrations.
- Shrink new uploads: set compression to Balanced or Maximum under Settings > Storage > Performance.
- Lift both limits at once: upgrade your plan in Billing.
Troubleshooting
"Cloud storage is full" and uploads stopped
You are at 100% of the cloud pool. Free space (delete media, then empty trash), connect a local folder so uploads route there, or upgrade. A single file may have completed in the small grace band just above the limit, but the next one is blocked until usage drops.
- I am at my design limit but can still edit. The cap only blocks creating new designs; everything you already own stays fully editable. Delete a project or upgrade to create more.
- My plan lists a design number but I never see a quota banner. Enforcement is gated and off by default, so unless it is switched on for the workspace (or an admin set an override on your account), you are neither warned nor blocked even near that number.
- I deleted media but my storage did not drop. Trashed items keep occupying the pool until the trash is emptied or its retention period auto-purges them. Empty the trash to reclaim the space.
- I connected a local folder but the cloud meter did not go down. The folder is a separate pool. It gives new uploads somewhere else to go; it does not move or reduce what is already counted in the cloud.
- A file uploaded even though I was almost full. One file at the edge is allowed to finish inside a roughly 105% grace band so it is never split. Once you are at or over 100%, the following upload is blocked.
- The storage banner will not go away. It is a critical notice and cannot be muted; it clears on its own once usage falls back below 95%.
- The meter and the sidebar show different storage numbers. The meter and both banners track the cloud pool that the upload gate actually enforces, while the sidebar can show your combined cloud-plus-local-folder headroom. They are measuring different things on purpose.
How plan tier changes your limits
Your specific storage and design limits come from your plan tier, defined in one place so what you see in Billing matches what's enforced elsewhere. Upgrading raises both limits together, there's no separate purchase for just storage or just design count.
Managing your limits
- Review your plan and what it includes in Billing.
- Reduce storage by clearing unused media and emptying trash.
- Connect your own storage folder in Storage and integrations.
- Reduce your design count by deleting designs you no longer need from the works hub or its trash.
For how plans and limits work overall, see Plans and limits.