Google Workspace Storage Limit Policy

Storage quotas, pertaining to Google Drive, Photos, and Gmail, have been implemented in the university's Google Workspace to balance and efficiently manage our digital resources. This initiative addresses the growing challenge of data proliferation, ensuring equitable access to storage for all. By adopting this measure, we encourage better data management and organization, fostering a more disciplined approach to digital storage. It's not just about conserving space; it's also crucial for maintaining a secure and reliable digital environment conducive to academic pursuits. Additionally, this strategy allows us to allocate our resources more effectively, enhancing overall academic services and educational tools. Essentially, it's a step towards a more organized, fair, and sustainable digital ecosystem within our university community. See below for the details of changes. 

Change Matrix

Changes for SU Faculty and Instructors Storage (01/03/23)

Beginning January 3, 2023 Faculty and Instructor Google Workspace users, will have Google Drive (aka My Drive) storage limits applied.  My Drive storage limits, for Faculty and Instructors, will be a 60 GB quota per user. Faculty and Instructors currently using storage over this 60GB quota, will granted extended storage quotas to accommodate current needs. The higher storage limits will be time limited (available until the beginning of Fall 2024 semester) providing minimal disruption, to activities, during the transition to new storage solution(s). Faculty and Instructors will continue to have the ability to request and manage Shared Drives, which does not count against an individual user's My Drive storage use. 

The form for Faculty to request Shared Drives can be found at: https://su-jsm.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/22/group/365/create/763

Local IT support should be consulted for more information and assistance in identifying and employing available ITS storage solutions. 

Changes for SU Student (and others) Storage (01/03/23)

Beginning January 3, 2023 additional Google Workspace users, including:

• SU Students

• ESF Students

• ESF Employees

• Additional users not having an allowed active affiliation (exceptions).

will have Google Drive (My Drive) storage quotas applied and will not be able to create Shared Drives within Syracuse University's Google Workspace. My Drive storage quota for all Google Workspace users, other than SU Faculty and Instructors, will be 10 GB per user. Users over the quota will be presented with a warning and be able to view, export, and remove files to bring their My Drive storage consumption under the storage quota. While users exceed the storage quota, they will be prevented from creating, uploading, and modifying files within their My Drive.

These changes are being made in order to allow more equitable use of storage for the purpose of teaching and learning.  Google Workspace administrators will be able to better manage the limited pooled storage (shared) allocated to our Google Workspace domain.  These changes are to take effect on January 3 , 2023 (except for SU Staff which began on November 1, 2023).

All Google Workspace users that are over storage quotas should  delete or export their data from their g.syr.edu accounts. The recommended option for migrating your data over to another Google Workspace account would be through Google's migration tool, Google Takeout. This process is recommended by Google. The tool is provided by Google and due to its intricacies is not supported by Syracuse University ITS.  For further instructions please visit our page on Google Takeout.

SU/ESF students requiring group-based shared drives, for course related activities, should request project space through their course instructor. 

Changes for SU Staff Storage (11/01/23)

Beginning November 1, 2023 SU Staff will have Google Drive (My Drive) storage quotas applied and will not be able to create Shared Drives within Syracuse University's Google Workspace. My Drive storage quota for SU-Staff will be 10 GB per user. Users over the quota will be presented with a warning and be able to view, export, and remove files to bring their My Drive storage consumption under the storage quota. While users exceed the storage quota, they will be prevented from creating, uploading, and modifying files within their My Drive.

These changes are being made in order to allow more equitable use of storage for the purpose of teaching and learning.  Google Workspace administrators will be able to better manage the limited pooled storage (shared) allocated to our Google Workspace domain.  These changes are to take effect on November 1, 2023.

SU Staff that are over storage quotas should  delete or export their data from their g.syr.edu accounts. The recommended option for migrating your data over to another Google Workspace account would be through Google's migration tool, Google Takeout. This process is recommended by Google. The tool is provided by Google and due to its intricacies is not supported by Syracuse University ITS.  For further instructions please visit our page on Google Takeout.

Staff desiring to create and manage group-based shared drives should consult with their IT support for available shared group storage solutions. 

If You Are Over Quota...

When a user exceeds the set storage limit in Google Workspace for Education, they are impacted in the following ways:

• They can’t upload new files or images to Google Drive.

• They can’t create new files in collaborative content creation apps like Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, and Jamboard. Until they reduce storage usage, nobody can edit or copy their affected files or submit forms owned by the user.

• They can't back up any photos and videos to Google Photos.

• They can’t record new meetings in Google Meet.

• They can still sign into and access their Google Workspace for Education account, view and download their files, and send and receive emails.

If you are over quota, see the Additional Resources section below for help on migrating your data to your Syracuse University OneDrive, clearing space, and/or exporting an archive of your My Drive. 

Shared Drives for Non University Affiliated Users

As of September 3, 2024 Syracuse University will no longer host Google Shared Drives that are not managed by a university affiliated user with an active g.syr.edu email address. Shared drives that only list non g.syr.edu addresses as the drive managers will be removed after 10/11/2024. Affiliated g.syr.edu accounts can be added to these shared drives to avoid loss of this data. Any shared drives that are not affiliated with an active g.syr.edu account will be removed and the data will not be recoverable.

This unaffiliated shared data should be exported as soon as possible to avoid data loss. Google Takeout instructions can be found here: Google Takeout

Shared Drives for Faculty & Instructors

Shared drives are now only permitted for academic use. Shared Drives may be requested by Faculty or on behalf of Faculty by IT Support Staff, for academic use only. Information that is gathered includes the class name, semester and an expiration date of when the drive can be removed from use.

To request a shared drive use the Google Workspace Shared Drive Request Form

Additional Resources

• Migrating from Google Drive to OneDrive: Migrating Google Drive to OneDrive

• Manage files in your Google Drive storage: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/6374270

• Checking how much storage you have:  https://www.google.com/settings/storage

• How to clear space: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/6374270?sjid=12512729021663042203-NA#how-to-clear-space

• Google's migration tool:  Google Takeout