Preparing for the next era of Google Workspace
Update effective Sept. 1, 2024: The enforcement of any storage limit for Google My Drive and shared drives will begin no sooner than March 1, 2025, with billing deferred accordingly. During this extended grace period, drives will remain fully functional and will not switch to “read-only.” We will update the information on this page when a new enforcement date is finalized.
Google will no longer provide higher education institutions with unlimited, free storage. To adapt to this change, the university is introducing new policies to optimize our storage solutions.
The Google Workspace Optimization Project is a multi-year initiative to prepare the university for a sustainable, "next-era" Google Workspace. The project team continues to gather input from IT leaders, campus advisory groups, high-storage users, and other stakeholders to identify potential solutions to support our transition to a service that's no longer free.
Rest assured, Google Workspace will remain a preferred collaboration tool and you’ll continue to have access to My Drive; shared drives; Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides; and all the other Google services you currently use.
While most of us can keep using the free base Google Workspace service without moving data or buying more storage, some individuals will need to take action due to these changes:
Here's how to know if the storage limit will impact you and what actions you'll need to take.
Explore your My Drive storage use and plan to take action if you're storing more than 500 GB of data.
Explore the storage use of a shared drive that you manage and plan to take action if you are storing more than 500 GB of data.
If your storage use in My Drive or a shared drive you manage is over 490 GB, you should have received an email with information about next steps and support. Use the resources in the Storage Management Guide to start planning.
Even if you're not exceeding the storage limit, you're encouraged to explore what's contributing to your usage and clean up your data.
Use these tips to find large, redundant, or unused files you may no longer need.
There are a few ways to clean up shared drives you manage to reduce storage and increase efficiency.
Know the people who are involved in this project and submit a form if you have feedback, need help, or would like to request a consultation.
Support is available if you need it.
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