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Google Workspace: Storage Management Guide

How to take action if a My Drive or shared drive exceeds the storage limit

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Storage Options Guide
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Purchase Google Drive Storage

Effective Sept. 1, 2025, Google Workspace has a storage limit of 5 terabytes (TB). To learn more, refer to What to Know About Upcoming Google Storage Limits.

Before you begin

If you need to manage or reduce storage in your My Drive or a shared drive, here are some points to consider.

Remember to prioritize security

Institutional files stored in your Stanford accounts should remain in a Stanford-approved solution. Moving Stanford data to a personal storage account or purchasing local data storage significantly increases risk.

Read the Information Security Office's guidance »

Think My Drive vs. shared drive

Consider whether institutional files should be stored in My Drive or shared drive. My Drive is your personal storage space, while shared drives are designed for team collaboration and support business continuity.

Learn about storing data in shared drive »

Know that help is available

Your local IT team can help you understand which drives are impacted and how to navigate your options. If you need more help exploring Stanford storage solutions, submit a request to meet with UIT's dedicated storage consulting team.

Request a meeting with the storage team »

Ready to start? Explore your options

Act promptly if your My Drive or shared drive is nearing the storage limit. Otherwise, the drive may become "read-only," allowing you and your colleagues to access the drive and download data but not create or edit files. 

Reduce usage

If you aim to reduce your usage to under the limit — or just to ensure you're not paying to store files you don't need — these tips will help.

See tips to clean up Google Drive » View your My Drive storage »

Move data to another storage solution

Google Workspace is just one storage option available at the university. If you don't need real-time collaboration features, consider other Stanford storage solutions.

Learn more about storage alternatives »

Purchase more Google Workspace Storage

If your Google Workspace storage needs exceed the storage limit, you can submit a PTA to purchase more through the university. Monthly billing will be based on actual usage.

Learn how to purchase Google Drive storage »

Special considerations for shared drives

As a manager of a shared drive, there are a few actions you can take specific to shared drives. Be sure to collaborate with colleagues before making decisions that may affect content accessibility.

Check shared drive storage

Learn how to see the storage used by a specific drive. 

View the storage use of a shared drive » Submit a storage consulting request »

Clean up your shared drive

Learn how to organize and manage a shared drive to increase efficiency or delete a shared drive that's not needed.

View shared drive tips »

Manage access and permissions

If you are no longer responsible for the shared drive, you can assign a new manager and remove yourself from the drive.

Change roles and access levels »

Additional resources

Questions or support

Please read carefully, as the best way to get help depends upon the nature of the request: 

  • If you have questions about where to store content currently in Google Workspace, or need help identifying which shared drive(s) is impacted by the storage limit, please submit a storage consulting request.
  • If you need technical support, please submit a Help request.
  • If you have feedback for the project team or are unsure who your designated Campus Partner ambassador is, please use this form to reach out to the project team.

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