Google has announced a new storage policy that ends free unlimited storage for the academic community.

Christopher Newport University has provided Google Workspace for Education (formerly known as G Suite for Education) accounts to students, faculty, staff, and alumni with unlimited storage for Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. The change in Google’s service to a paid offering with more limited storage requires the University to shift these practices. Please remember that file storage in the Google Workspace is provided only for work and learning purposes. Personal files unrelated to coursework or University business should be stored elsewhere.

New CNU Google Workspace Account Guidelines

Christopher Newport University is implementing a 50 GB storage limit on all University Google Drive shared drives.

Current shared drive users who exceed the 50 GB limit will need to reduce the number and size of files stored in the shared folder by March 1, 2023, in order to continue using it. 

Christopher Newport University will implement storage quotas on individual accounts in the future and will make announcements at a later date with details. 

Tips for Google Workspace storage management

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.
  • You can sort by largest file size by clicking on the Storage Used column.
• Check the content in your shared drives: drive.google.com/drive/shared-drives.
• More methods to download your data: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3024190?fl=1
• Move the files you wish to keep to an appropriate alternate storage solution.
• 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 complete the process of freeing up space.

Exceptions

Exceptions to the shared drive quota may be granted after careful consideration of the academic or administrative need of the requestor, as well as available shared pool storage in Google. Please contact the ITS Helpdesk to submit a work order requesting an increased quota to get started. (Please note: submitting a request does not guarantee an increase in quota).