On January 3, 2024 Syracuse University will stop use of Google Photos as a supported app in Google Workspace. Before this application is discontinued, users should make an effort to migrate photos to a personal Google account or download them to a personally owned device.
There is no way for the university Google admins to manage or control space usage that is allocated in Google Photos. Many universities have already disabled this application and this action is also recommended by the Google Workspace account team.
Photo files can still be stored in a user’s personal drive space and shared like any other file within the current terms of use. Disabling the Google Photos application is necessary to prevent mobile device photo backup to the Google Photos mobile app using a g.syr.edu Google Workspace account.
It is critical that you delete your photos once you've moved them. Unwanted photos that are not moved could count against your allocated Syracuse University Google Drive space.
Backup your Google Photos from the Google Photos Application
Google Photos should be copied to a local hard drive, a portable hard drive, or your Syracuse University OneDrive storage. It is also important to stop any mobile devices from syncing photos to your Syracuse University g.syr.edu Google account.
- Go to https://photos.google.com and login with your Syracuse University Google Workspace Account (g.syr.edu)
- Photos can be found under Photos in the left hand navigation menu
- Videos can be found under Categories > Videos in the left side navigation menu
- Click on photos or video files that you want to save. In the action menu for each item, choose download. This will copy the files from the Google Photos Application to your local storage disk.
- After you backup the files that you want, click the delete icon and choose Move to Trash
Empty the Trash
After you are finished and have verified that the photos are saved to the new location, make sure to empty the trash in your Syracuse University Google Workspace account.
- On the left hand navigation menu, click Trash then choose Empty Trash