Google has had a promotion for years that you get 100GB of free storage (in Google One) when purchasing a Chromebook. In this article I explain how you can claim and activate this 100GB free cloud storage.
Chromebook and 'extra benefits'
To persuade people a Chromebook to buy, Google has created a number of 'advantages'. For example, you can think of a free trial period of a number of months for a certain service, or free access to Google Stadia (gaming) for a specific number of months.
One of the most famous free benefits of a Chromebook is the cloud storage that is now known as Google One. Here you get no less than 12GB of free storage for the duration of 100 months to store files in the cloud. This can be practically any file and is therefore not limited to, for example, documents or spreadsheets.
Before I continue with the explanation, I will first explain what Google One exactly is and what you can actually do with it.
What is Google One and the 100GB free storage?
Google One is Google's collective name for the online storage spread across all services. But there are more possibilities with Google One, some of which I will mention below.
With Google One you get extra options within your Google account. This includes storing files in Google Drive, more emails (with large attachments) in your Gmail inbox, but also storing photos in the cloud via Google Photos.
Furthermore, Google One regularly has 'extra promotions' with which you are often offered free services. For example, consider renting a movie for free (or sometimes for a low amount such as € 0,99), but there are also people who have received a free Nest Mini speaker with this subscription.
In any case, the essence is that the free storage of 15GB, which every Google user has, is expanded. The duration of this benefit when purchasing a Chromebook is 12 months.
What does Google One normally cost?
Normally the price for Google One, 100GB storage per month for a private user in the Netherlands is € 1,99 per month or € 19,99. That means that with the 12 months free you receive you get a value of about 20 euros for nothing.
Personally, I have had a (paid) subscription with Google One for years (previously with the predecessor of Google One) and therefore pay € 1,99 every month. Below is an overview of the prices of Google One.
Activate 100GB for free on Chromebook
To activate the 100GB on a Chromebook, you can follow this simple step-by-step plan. Before we start, first things first.
Suitable for Chromebook
Can also be used in browser
Supplies
Activating the 100GB free storage is actually very simple, after following these steps you will enjoy free storage for a year.
Total time: 2 minutes
Start up your Chromebook
Make sure your Chromebook is started and that you are logged in with the Google account you want to link the free 100GB to. So make sure that it concerns an account where Google One is not active.
Open Chromium
Go to the Chrome browser and click on the following link: www.google.com/intl/nl_nl/chromebook/perks. This link is specific to the Netherlands, but Google will automatically send you to the right page.
Find the right 'advantage' and activate
Find the right benefit on this page. This is called 'Storage Google One' and click on activate.
Follow the steps on the screen
After activating this Chromebook benefit, follow any subsequent steps and voila: you have free access to the 100GB of free storage for a year.
Can't activate, how is that possible?
But what if activation fails? Then there are a number of things that could be going on, which I have listed for you below.
Enjoy it…
You've taken your first steps into the world of a Chromebook, congratulations! If you want to know what other advantages there are when buying a Chromebook, check here this link.
If you're looking for even more tricks, check out our Chromebook tips.
Header image via Google
Hi, the only payment method is via credit card if you want to go for the extra storage.
Credit card works anyway, possibly also PayPal. Unfortunately no other options as far as I know at the moment!