How do I unlink my gmail from icloud so that I can continue to receive and send out emails but not pay a monthly fee?

Gmail has nothing to do with iCloud. You may use a gmail as your AppleID but that does not mean Apple or iCloud has anything to do with your gmail email service.

Gmail is a service by Google. Your gmail is handled by and lives on their servers and has nothing to do with iCloud, nor with Apple.

If your iCloud storage is getting full, that is not because of gmail, since those emails are not stored in iCloud. Gmail emails are stored on Google’s hardware.

iclouduser1011 Said:

"How do I unlink my gmail from icloud so that I can continue to receive and send out emails but not pay a monthly fee?"

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Export All of iCloud:

iCloud nothing of Google's. So, try downloading all of iCloud, if you want to save the space. Yes. All would be lost, if it is not downloaded to your device itself. So, export all of iCloud, and all of iCloud would be backed up and down to zero storage. Use my User Tip: Getting a Quick and Direct "iCloud Drive-to-External Hard Drive" Download - Apple Support