Google Move: Reduce Google Workspace Storage

Overview

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Google’s terms of service have changed and have announced a substantial change to its services that will stop offering unlimited storage for academic institutions. Due to this change, all FAU Google users will have a 5 GB quota enforced on their account beginning November 18, 2022. Google Workspace (FAU Owl Apps) storage is shared across Google Drive, Gmail, Google Photos, and the other Google Apps. When your account reaches its storage limit, you will not be able to create, edit or store new files. This change also impacts Google’s Shared Drives. While this new quota is limiting, alternatives are available.

The information below will guide you on how to check your storage and offer tips on how to reduce it. All current FAU users are provided storage through Microsoft’s OneDrive. Microsoft Teams is another option for shared file space and collaboration. Check out the various way available to transfer your information to the many storage alternatives available to you. Quotas are now being placed for new and select accounts. By the end of August, all accounts will have the 5 GB quota placed and users will begin to receive warnings. However, storage limits will not be enforced until November 18, 2022.

We also encourage you to take advantage of Microsoft's training sessions to help you ease into this transition!

 

User Type	Details
Students	If you are over the 5 GB limit, you need to take steps to reduce the storage in your Gmail/Google Workspace account to meet the new quota. See the How to Prepare section for tips on how to reduce your Google storage. Effective November 16, 2022, Newly admitted students will be using Outlook 365. More information on the timeline and transition plan is available at our Student Email Moving to Microsoft webpage. To further prepare for this transition, Microsoft will be providing student training sessions. Reserve your sport!
Alumni	If you are over the 5 GB limit, you need to take steps to reduce the storage in your Gmail/Google Workspace account to meet the new quota. Additionally, for the security of alumni and the institution, Alumni Google accounts will be disabled, and removed after 6 months of inactivity. To continue to have your account marked active, please ensure you log in periodically to your OwlMail account at https://mail.google.com/a/fau.edu using for your FAU credentials for your account to continue to be marked as active. For more information on actions Alumni can take, please go to the What does this mean for Alumni webpage.
Faculty & Staff	You will continue to have access to Google Apps, however, a 5 GB quota will be in place and enforced on November 18, 2022. Because students rely on Google services for their official University communications, we are asking faculty and staff to limit their use of Google and to remove as much data as possible from Google. This will help ensure that our students don’t lose access to official University communications. If you need to continue to use Google services, see the How to Prepare section for tips on how to reduce your Google storage and Alternative Storage Options. We also have tips for Instructors managing Canvas links. See our Canvas OneDrive Integration section. To help ease into this transition, Microsoft will be providing faculty/staff training sessions.

 

Date	Details
July 21, 2022	5 GB quotas are now being placed on new Google Workspace accounts as well as current Google accounts under 4 GB of storage. This affects all students, faculty, and staff who use any Google service such as Gmail, Drive, Photos, etc.
September 12, 2022	5 GB quotas will be imposed on all remaining Google Workspace accounts. At this time, all users should start to receive quota warning notices.
October 17, 2022	FAU will discontinue the ability to create shared drives in Google.
November 16, 2022	Newly admitted students will be using Outlook 365.
November 18, 2022	All accounts still over quota will not be able to create, edit or store new files.
January-May 2023	Students are prompted to select a migration date. By end of May, all current students will be switched to Outlook 365 email.

 

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To avoid service disruption of your FAU Google Workspace (FAU Owl Apps) account, if your total Google storage exceeds 5 GB, you should review your current storage usage and delete any unnecessary files in Drive, Shared Drives, Gmail, and Photos. Complete the following steps to reduce your storage usage:

1. Confirm your personal data usage in Google Drive Storage Settings.
2. Review and delete large or unnecessary files from your Google Drive.
3. Review and delete files from shared drives.
4. Move personal files to your own storage (e.g., a personal Google account).
5. FAU Gmail (Owl Mail) users should use Google's manage files in your Drive storage guide to search for and delete unnecessary or large emails.
6. After the transfer is complete and you have confirmed its success in OneDrive, return to your Google Drive to remove and delete files to ensure you are under the 5 GB quota.
7. Still need more space? Move files to any of the alternative storage options available.

 

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Below are three options to help you migrate your content.

Please Note: The options below only transfer files in your Google Drive located in the "My Drive" section to OneDrive. This does not include Google Photos, Sites, Forms, Slides, etc. although those do count towards your quota. If you have files in the "Shared with Me" section that you would like to transfer, you will first need to save a copy in your own Google Drive before using any of the self-migration tools. Also note that any sharing permissions will not transfer, and you will need to re-share files within OneDrive. Click to read our instructions on how to share files in OneDrive.

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We recognize this is a big change! To ease into this transition, Microsoft will be providing training classes later this month. You can sign up for them at the links below.

 

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Function	Google Tool	Microsoft Tool
Documents Create and edit documents.	Docs	Word
Cloud Storage Store files in the cloud, share files, and collaborate with others.	Drive	OneDrive
Spreadsheets Create and edit spreadsheets.	Sheets	Excel
Presentations Create and edit presentations.	Slides	PowerPoint
Instant Messaging + Video Conferencing Chat with classmates and teammates, collaborate on shared files, schedule virtual meetings, and host video chats.	Hangouts	Teams
Surveying Survey others and receive feedback.	Forms	Forms
Note Taking Take notes on the go.	Keep	OneNote

 

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