507 Insufficient Storage: what it means and what to do
A 507 means exactly what it says: the server ran out of room. Defined for WebDAV in RFC 4918, it indicates that the server is unable to store the representation needed to successfully complete the request. It turns up wherever files are uploaded or synced through WebDAV and similar services: cloud drives, file servers, backup tools, and calendars storing attachments. Either the disk is genuinely full, or the account's quota is, and the two causes need different responses.
If you ran into this while uploading or syncing
- Check your account quota first. On cloud storage and hosted file services, the limit is usually your plan's quota, not the provider's disk. Delete or move files, empty the trash (deleted files often still count), and retry.
- Make the upload smaller or split it. If you are just under a quota edge, a large file can be the straw. Compress it or send it in parts if the service allows.
- Wait and retry if it is a shared or work server. Someone else may have filled a shared volume, and the fix is an administrator freeing space, not anything you can do from your desk.
- Ask the administrator if it persists. A server-side full disk is invisible to users. Reporting the exact time and what you were uploading helps them find it fast.
If you run the server or service
- Check both free space and quotas. The disk can have terabytes free while the user's quota is exhausted, or the reverse. A 507 fires on whichever wall the write hits.
- Look for the usual space eaters. Runaway logs, orphaned temporary upload chunks, and old backups are the classic fillers on file servers.
- Alert before the wall, not at it. Monitoring free space and quota consumption turns 507s from user reports into scheduled maintenance.
- Return 507, not a generic 500, when storage is the cause. Clients and sync tools can surface a full quota intelligibly to users when the code is honest.
Visitors: free up space in your own quota before assuming the service is down. Owners: a 507 is your monitoring introducing itself late, check disks and quotas together.
Common questions
Is 507 about my device's storage or the server's? The server's. A 507 is a response from the server saying it could not store what you sent, because its disk or your account quota on it is full. Your phone or computer can have plenty of free space and you will still see it.
Why does emptying the trash matter for quota? Many storage services keep deleted files in a trash or recycle area that still counts against your quota until it is emptied. Deleting a large file without emptying the trash changes nothing the server can measure.
Related errors