Google Workspace Optimization Project

Overview

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.

What to know about upcoming changes

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:

A 50 Gigabyte (GB) storage limit will be applied to My Drive and each shared drive effective Sept. 1, 2024.
A grace period until Sept. 1, 2025, will automatically be granted for My Drive and each shared drive storing between 50 and 500 GB of data.
Additional Stanford Google storage may be purchased at the rate of $0.15 per GB per year in Fiscal Year 2025 starting Aug. 1, 2024. (You will be charged for the purchased storage starting Sept. 1, 2024.)
For drives that continue to exceed the storage limit after the deadline (Sept. 1, 2024, for > 500 GB; Sept. 1, 2025, for > 50 GB), a PTA must be submitted to pay for “over-limit” storage. Otherwise, the drive will become “read-only” until storage is reduced or more storage is purchased. (More information will be shared soon.)

Questions? Visit the FAQs

What you need to do to prepare

Here's how to know if the storage limit will impact you, and what actions you'll need to take.

Check your My Drive storage use

View how much content you're storing in My Drive and refer to these guidelines:

If your storage use is under 50 GB, there's no action for you to take.
If your storage use is between 50 and 500 GB, plan to reduce storage or purchase more by Sept. 1, 2025, when the grace period ends.
If your storage use is more than 500 GB, plan to reduce storage or purchase more by Sept. 1, 2024.

View your My Drive usage

Check your shared drives storage use

Explore how much storage your shared drives use and consider that:

For shared drives under 50 GB, there's no action to take.
Each shared drive over 50 GB will be subject to the same storage limits as My Drive. This includes an automatic grace period extended to any shared drive with 50-500 GB.
Content stored in a shared drive (even if you are the creator) doesn't count towards your My Drive limit.

View your shared drive usage

If you're over the storage limit ...

If applicable, start thinking about budget requests or explore alternative storage platforms.

If your storage use is over 500 GB, look for an email with more information about available support options.

Use the resources in the new Storage Options guide to explore your options and take the net steps.

Explore the Storage Options Guide

Review and clean up your data

You're encouraged to explore what's contributing to your usage and clean up your data — even if you're not exceeding the storage limit.

1. Understand your storage usage

Review your total storage footprint to understand what items drive increased storage.

Review your storage footprint

2. Clean up your Google Drive

Clean up your Google Drive files and folders to reduce storage and stay organized.

Tips for cleaning up your account

3. Move any personal data

Remember, personal files should not be stored in your Stanford University Google Workspace account.

Copy content to another account

Meet the teams or get support

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.

Core project team

Armand Capote
Brad Immanuel
Dani Aivazian
Doug Chalmers
Folatunde Orenuga
Jan Morrill
Joshua Barnett
Lily Lee
Molly Sharp
Nan McKenna
Nelia Lanets
Sam Steinhardt
Shriram Krishnan
Sriram Krovvidi
Tom Cramer

Get support

Support is available if you need it.

If you have feedback for the project team, please use this form to reach out.
If you need support, please submit a Help request.
If you would like a storage consultation related to the changes in Google Workspace, please submit a Storage consulation request.

Share feedback Submit a Help request Submit a Storage consultation request

Google Workspace Optimization Project

Overview

What to know about upcoming changes