Google Drive - Storage.....

[countrykid]

I've recently been uploading lots of photos from my laptop to Google photos - selecting High Quite so they don't eat into the free 15Gb storage.
I'm aware Google rules change on June 1st, when anything uploaded even in High Quality will count towards that limit.

I'm also aware Google Photos ceased backing up to Google Drive in 2019. Current I have photos from years 2016 - 2019 backed up and as far as I'm aware they don't count towards the 15gb limit but I'm not 100% on that.

Now for the key question. My storage currently shows I've used up 5.15Gb of 15Gb. When I click to show what is using up that storage it shows a myriad of photos and videos and assorted pdf files in file size order, ranging from 2016 when I began using a smart phone for photos right up to the present day. Given the Google Photos ceased backing up to Drive in 2019, how have all these photos/videos since 2019 ended up in Drive? I haven't manually put them there. These same photos etc are already in Google Photos - which is the only place I need them to be in.

I know I can go through and delete each one from Drive - slow process!!, but I'd like to stop them being saved to Drive in the first place. Any help appreciated.