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Google Workspace Storage Limit FAQs

Google Workspace has a storage limit of 5 TB. Below is a list of common questions on topics related to the storage limit for My Drive and shared drive. 

Overview

Can I move data from Stanford Google My Drive or shared drives to a personal or non-Stanford account or external storage device?

Any files stored in your Stanford Google account that are institutional should remain in a storage platform offered by Stanford. Loading professional content into your personal account(s) or keeping it on your personal hardware, such as an external hard drive, may put university data at risk. For more information, refer to a position paper from Stanford's Information Security Office. 

Where can I find information about Stanford’s record retention policy?

Refer to the Admin Guide for general policy for administrative content, and the Research Handbook for research data. Relevant Stanford policies include:

What happens if I reach or exceed the new storage limit?

Any drive exceeding 5 TB will switch to read-only mode when the storage limit starts. You will still be able to view and download your files, but certain functionalities will be restricted until you either reduce usage below the limit or opt in to the premium option.

How do I know if I'm affected by the Google storage limits?

If you are approaching or exceed the storage limit, you'll see an alert within the app.

Are limits different for individual accounts vs. group accounts?

Storage quotas are the same for My Drive and each individual shared drive. 

Am I able to purchase for additional storage over the 5 TB limit?

Yes, refer to "How to Purchase Storage on Stanford Google Workspace" to learn more. Please note that a PTA is required. Students can refer to the student guide for more details.

What options do I have to offload data?

The university supports a variety of storage technologies — one of which may be better suited to your unique requirements. Refer to the Storage Options guide to learn more.

Storage use

How do I check my current My Drive storage use?

To check your current My Drive storage use, go to https://drive.google.com/drive/quota. You'll see your files in descending order of file size.

What counts toward storage use?

The following count toward file storage:

  • Google Drive
    • Most files in Google Drive, including PDFs, images, and videos
    • Files created or edited after May 2, 2022, in collaborative content apps such as Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, and Forms
    • Content stored in shared drives (Items in shared drive do not count toward your My Drive usage; however, each shared drive will have a storage limit applied.)
    • Items in your “Trash” that haven’t been permanently deleted
  • Gmail
    • Messages and attachments, including items in Spam and Trash folders
  • Google Photos

What doesn't count toward storage use?

The following doesn't count toward file storage

  • Files in "Shared with me." Shared files are counted only for the file owner's storage, not for the users the file is shared with
  • Google sites
  • Drive shortcuts
  • Content created with My Maps
  • Version history for files created in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, unless the you explicitly decide to keep older versions

How do I manage my storage by deleting content?

When managing your storage use, you may want to start by reviewing items that use the most amount of storage space. Items that commonly utilize more storage space include large files (videos, music, software installers, etc.), high resolution or raw photos, and docs/sheets/slides with images embedded.

For tips on how to review your Google Drive and delete content, visit How to Clean Up Google Drive. For information specific to shared drives, visit How to Clean Up or Delete a Shared Drive.

Please be aware of any collaborators on files/folders you own if you choose to delete them, as you may cause data loss for those accessing that content.

I deleted several large files, so why hasn’t my storage use changed?

  • When you first delete content, it is moved to the "trash"  and automatically and permanently deleted after 30 days. Before the 30-day window closes, you can restore your files.
  • To permanently delete your Google Drive files and make space available, you must move them to “trash”  and empty your bin. Until permanently deleted, items in trash count against your storage use.  
  • As a reminder, when files are added or deleted, it may take up to 48 hours for the changes to be updated in your account.
  • Remember, items that are permanently deleted from trash are irrecoverable. 

Is there a way to see the storage usage of my group (lab, department, etc)?

The project team has developed a dashboard tool that tracks the total count of shared drives and their collective storage usage for your school or unit. If this information would be helpful to you, contact your local IT support team. 

Shared drives

How do I check my shared drive usage?

To check your current storage usage, navigate to the shared drive and click the information "i" icon in the top right corner of the page. In the sidebar that appears, you will find the drive's storage usage under Drive details > Storage used.

What does or doesn't count towards storage in shared drives?

The same storage limit that will apply to My Drive will apply to each shared drive. Managers of a shared drive should monitor storage usage.

Please note:

  • Files and folders created and stored in shared drive don’t count as usage on any single person’s My Drive storage limit.
  • Items in the Trash of a shared drive count towards the shared drive’s storage usage until they are permanently deleted.

Can I move my data from My Drive to a shared drive?

Yes, refer to How to Move Files Within Google Drive.  Remember, each shared drive has a 5 TB quota. The dates for enforcement for shared drives is the same as for My Drive.  

My shared drive is over the limit. As a solution, can I split the content into separate shared drives?

To understand when to move content to a shared drive, refer to Shared drives for business continuity.

What happens if my shared drive exceeds the storage limit?

If you exceed the storage limit allocated to your Stanford Google My Drive account or a shared drive, the drive will become "read-only." Although you’ll still be able to sign in and view, download, and share files with collaborators, your experience will change until you either reduce storage or purchase more storage. Learn more about "read-only."​

 I only need to view my content. Can I allow my shared drive to remain “read-only”?

If you allow your content to remain in “read-only” for an extended period of time, at some point you’ll receive a notification that you must take action to prevent the content in your drive from being deleted. 

How do I delete a shared drive if the shared drive and its content is no longer relevant to any groups at Stanford?

You can delete the shared drive if you are assigned to the Manager role for the files, folders, and drive to be deleted and have the authority to do so. 

It's not possible to delete a non-empty shared drive or non-empty folders within a shared drive. Therefore, to delete a shared drive, you must first delete all files within each folder and then delete all empty folders. 


Once the shared drive is empty, you can follow these instructions to delete the shared drive.

Learn more

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