Google Drive Files Become Unavailable 180 Days After Owner’s Account Is Suspended

When colleagues leave Stanford, their Google Drive accounts are suspended, but files they’ve shared may still be an important part of your work. 

Starting in May 2027, some of those files will no longer be available. We want to help you understand what’s changing and prepare so you can keep the files you need.

What's changing

Under a new policy, files owned by accounts suspended on or after Nov. 5, 2026, will become unavailable in Google Drive once the account has been suspended for 180 days. The first files won’t be affected until May 4, 2027. Files from accounts suspended before Nov. 5, 2026, aren’t affected for now. When we know more, we’ll share a separate plan for them well in advance.

What this means for accessing files

In May 2026, we introduced visual indicators to help you find files owned by people who have left Stanford. The next step in our Google lifecycle policy is called Soft Delete, which begins after an account has been suspended for 180 days.

Once a file is in Soft Delete, it no longer appears in Google Drive, and links to it stop working, even if the file was shared with you directly.

The file isn’t erased during Soft Delete, but no one can access it.

Why this change is being made

When people leave Stanford, files they own often remain widely shared. This update reduces the risk of unmanaged access and encourages teams to keep important files in Google shared drives, where they stay available even as team members change roles or leave the university.

It also supports our ongoing efforts to manage storage more efficiently and make Stanford’s Google Workspace more sustainable.

What you can do

You have time to prepare, and we encourage you to start now to avoid any interruption to your work.

• Find affected files. Look for the [Suspended] tag next to the owner’s name and the “Account Suspended” label on their files.
• Move the files you need. Follow the steps outlined in our guide, How to Retain Google Drive Files After Collaborators Leave the University.
• Act early. You won’t receive a notice before a specific file becomes unavailable, so treat these tags and labels as your cue to act. This also applies to files from accounts suspended before Nov. 5. Moving them now means you won’t need to do it later.

If you lose access to a file you need

To restore access to a file in Soft Delete, you can sponsor the owning account’s SUNet ID at the full-service level. Files become available again once the sponsorship is processed.

Planning ahead

• Leverage shared drives for collaboration. A shared drive can help keep important files available as colleagues and roles change. Learn more in Shared Drives for Business Continuity.
• Leaving Stanford? Before your last day, move work files to a shared drive or transfer ownership to a colleague. For details about how long your account stays active after you leave, visit the guide for students and graduates or faculty and staff.

Get support

For questions or assistance, please submit a Help request to the Google Drive team.