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Google Storage

Updated Storage Policy: In July 2022, Google announced a change to its storage policy for Google Workspace for Education. Where previously, Education partners were granted unlimited storage across Gmail, Google Drive, and Photos, Google will begin implementing storage limits on these accounts. As such, Georgia Southern, along with other Google Education partners, will be required to implement storage limitations on student, faculty, and staff accounts beginning December 15, 2022. The information below reflects this new policy.

Google Storage at Georgia Southern

Georgia Southern is a Google partner, which gives our students, faculty, and staff access to Google Workspace for Education–a suite of services that includes Google Drive and other storage options. Keep reading to learn more about Google storage options.

Storage Availability

Account holders at Georgia Southern have access to storage options based on their roles. Use the chart below to determine how much storage you have access to:

Account Role	Quota Per User
Student	50 GB
Faculty/Staff	50 GB
Student Worker	5 GB
Departmental Accounts	50 GB
Shared Drives	200 GB
Secure Shared Drives	200 GB
Secure Individual Drives	20 GB

Your Storage Usage

Not sure how much storage you’re using? You can be proactive in ensuring that you have enough space to store new files in your Google account. Review your current storage utilization and delete any unnecessary files in Google Workspace including Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos.

Storage Management Tips

Ensure that you are logged into your University account, not a personal Gmail account, and then:

Check your data storage: drive.google.com/settings/storage.
Identify and delete large, unnecessary files: drive.google.com/drive/quota.
Check the content in your shared drives: drive.google.com/drive/shared-drives.
Move files you wish to keep to an appropriate alternate storage solution.
- If you have a personal Google account, Google has a tool to transfer email and Drive files.
In the email and Google Drive search fields, look for files ending in .iso, .mp4, .mov and .wav to find large items.
To perform a bulk deletion in email, select the square at the far left to select all.” Then choose the option below to select all conversations that match this search and select “delete” from the trash can icon above. You will be asked to “Confirm Bulk Action”—select OK.
Remember to empty the trash to free up space.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the changes Google is imposing on Georgia Southern?

Previously, Google Workspace for Education was a free service provided to qualified education institutions. It offered unlimited storage and access to their various offerings including Gmail and Drive (Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc.) as well as other Google services. As of 2021, Google has announced that it will be implementing a storage limit on all higher education institutions.

Google is expecting Georgia Southern to reduce our storage over 20% of the amount we are currently using.

How much storage is Georgia Southern currently using?

As an institution, we currently utilize over 870 terabytes of storage at Google. The majority of our storage is contained in Google Drive. In December 2022, Georgia Southern will be limited to 730TB of total storage.

Why can’t Georgia Southern pay for more storage?

As of now, Google has not provided a way to purchase additional storage and has stated that this is not something they will be looking to offer for some time.

What Google apps are affected by the new storage limits?

Google is limiting storage for the entire university which will impact Gmail, Drive, Shared Drives, Photos, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Drawings, and Jamboard files. Each of these Google apps consumes Google storage in some capacity.

Currently, Drive is the number one app with the most storage utilized across the university with Gmail coming in second.

What are Shared Drives?

Shared drives are special folders in Google Drive that you can use to store, search, and access files with a team. Shared drive files belong to the team instead of an individual. Even if members leave, the files stay in the shared drive so your team can keep sharing information and work anywhere, from any device.

What are Departmental Accounts?

In the past, departmental accounts were a recommended method for ensuring critical files were never deleted when employees left GS. With the release and maturity of Shared Drives, this is not a recommended method for storing files anymore. Departmental accounts are useful for a central email account for a department. In cases where an area needs to be able to send and receive email, departmental accounts are recommended.

What happens if I exceed my storage quota?

For users who exceed the storage threshold of 50GB, you will still be able to use gmail, but you will not be able to make changes to Google Drive and Photos files or store new files until you make storage space available.

Last updated: 7/24/2023