'Ohana Google@UH Storage Policy and Quotas

This AskUs article applies specifically to Google@UH Storage Limitations and Quotas for our 'Ohana users (users who are no longer active students, staff, faculty, or other affiliates). If you are an active student, staff, faculty, or affiliate, please visit https://hawaii.edu/askus/1882 for relevant information on your Google@UH Storage Limitations and Quotas.

 

In 2021, Google announced a new storage policy which will move our Google domain from unlimited storage to pooled storage across all Google@UH accounts. This means that each Google@UH account’s use of Gmail, Drive, and Photos, in addition to all Google@UH shared drives, will collectively count towards our Google domain’s pooled storage. Should our collective storage use exceed our allotted pooled storage amount, some Google@UH services may be limited. In response to Google’s announcement, we reviewed storage use for all Google@UH accounts and shared drives and identified some inappropriate use of the storage for Google@UH services.

 

As a result of Google’s change to pooled storage, as well as the discovery of some misuse of Google@UH resources, storage quotas are being instituted for all Google@UH accounts based on an individual’s affiliation with UH.

 

'Ohana user accounts (those users who are no longer an active student, staff, faculty, or other affiliate) have a 7.5 GB storage quota.

 

On Monday, January 29, 2024, storage enforcement began, with service impact for ‘Ohana user accounts whose storage usage exceeds their 7.5 GB storage quota. Ohana users over their quota will notice an impact to their Google@UH account and may have their UH Username disabled and all data stored within their Google@UH account deleted (including emails stored in Gmail, documents stored in Drive, calendar and contacts data, etc.). We are notifying ‘Ohana users in advance of this change to provide impacted users with time to bring their Google@UH storage usage within their 7.5 GB storage quota before enforcement begins.

 

FAQs

Can I keep my UH username and Google@UH account?

Once the UH Identity Management System detects that you are no longer affiliated with the University of Hawaii (i.e. you are no longer an active student, staff, faculty, or other affiliate), your UH Username will be given a grace period of 180 days during which time you can enroll in Online Services for 'Ohana to maintain access to your UH Username and Google@UH account.

Enrollment in Online Services for 'Ohana must be renewed anually in order to maintain access to your UH Username.

Furthermore, 'Ohana users who exceed their allotted 7.5 GB Google@UH storage quota may have their UH Usernames disabled and data stored within their Google@UH accounts deleted.

 

As 'Ohana, what is my storage quota?

As an 'Ohana user, your storage quota is 7.5 GB.

 

How long will I have to reduce my storage usage and bring my usage within my allotted 7.5 GB quota when I leave UH?

You will have 180 days after leaving UH to bring your usage within your allotted 7.5 GB quota. This 180 day period is referred to as your grace period. During your grace period, you will also continue to have full access to basic online services until your account expires or unless you enroll into our Ohana online services. To find your grace period's end date, please review the email(s) that were sent to you upon entering your grace period titled "Important Notice - End of access to UH Online Services" or "Confirmation of your UH Ohana request" (for users who had pre-opted into Ohana online services).

 

What counts towards my storage quota?

Gmail

  • Messages and attachments including items in your Spam and Trash

Drive

  • Most files in your "My Drive," including PDFs, images, videos, and items in your Trash.
  • Files created or edited after May 2, 2022 in collaborative content creation apps like Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, Recorder, and Jamboard.

Google Photos (available for users enrolled in Google@UH Consumer Apps)

  • Original quality photos and videos backed up to Google Photos.
  • "High quality" (now named "Storage saver quality") and "Express quality" photos and videos backed up to Google Photos after June 1, 2021.

 

How do I check my current storage use?

You can check your current storage usage by logging in at https://drive.google.com/drive/quota.

 

What happens if I exceed my individual 7.5 GB storage quota?

'Ohana users within their 180-day grace period will see the following Google@UH service impacts should their storage quota be exceeded:

  • You will not be able to upload new files or images to Google Drive.
  • You will not be able to create files in collaborative content creation apps, such as Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, and Jamboard. Until you reduce your storage usage, you will not be able to edit or copy affected files or submit forms.
  • You will not be able to back up any photos or videos to Google Photos.
  • You will not be able to record new meetings in Google Meet.
  • You will not be able to create assignments with new files, export grades to Google sheets, or make copies of Assignments in Google Classroom.
  • You will still be able to sign in.
  • You will still be able to send and receive emails.
  • You will still be able to view and download files stored on Google Drive.
  • You will still be able to view and download photos stored on Google Photos.

'Ohana users who are no longer within their 180-day grace period will see the above Google@UH service impacts, and may have their UH Usernames disabled and all data stored within their Google@UH accounts deleted (including emails stored in Gmail, documents stored in Drive, calendar and contacts data, etc.).

 

How do I manage my storage use by deleting emails, files, and photos?

You can find instructions and tips for finding and deleting emails, files, and photos that are taking up your storage here: https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/11448771.

When managing your storage use, it is recommended to review items that are using the most amount of storage space first and work your way down to items using less storage space. Items that commonly utilize more storage space include large files (videos, music, software installers, etc.), high resolution or raw photos, docs/sheets/slides with images embedded, and emails with large attachments. In general, individual emails without attachments and small docs/sheets/slides without images utilize comparatively little storage space.

 

I deleted emails, files, or photos but my storage use has not decreased. Am I doing something wrong?

When you first delete an email, file, or photo it will be moved to the "trash". Gmail, Drive, and Photos all have their own trash. Emails, files, or photos in trash still count against your storage use. Storage in use by items in trash will be reclaimed once the items are permanently deleted. Items in trash are automatically and permanently deleted after 30 days. While in your trash, items can be recovered before the 30-day time window. You can also choose to manually and permanently delete items in your trash at any time by navigating to the "trash" folder and clicking either "Empty Trash" to remove all items in trash or by selecting individual items and selecting "Delete Forever". 

Please note that emails, files, and photos that are permanently deleted from trash are irrecoverable. This applies whether they were manually deleted from the trash or automatically deleted after the 30-day time window. If you choose to manually delete emails, files, or photos from trash, please be absolutely certain that you no longer need them.

If you delete, restore, or permanently delete a large number of files or folders at once, it might take time for the changes to be processed.

 

I have emails, files, photos that I want to keep but I still need to lower my storage use. What options are available to me?

You can download a copy of emails, files, and photos prior to deleting them. Once you have a copy stored on your local computer, external storage media, or another cloud storage account you can delete the emails, files, or photos from your Google@UH account to free up storage space. Google Takeout offers an easy way to obtain a copy of Gmail, Drive, and Photo data but you must be enrolled in Google@UH Consumer Apps to access Takeout.

Gmail

Drive

Photos

  • Google Takeout (available for users enrolled in Google@UH Consumer Apps)
  • Download files from the web (https://photos.google.com/) to your local computer, external storage media, or another cloud storage account
  • Set up Partner Sharing to transfer Google Photos to a personal Google account. After setting up Partner Sharing, follow Google's instructions in the "Save your partner's photos" section to create a copy of photos in your personal account. Then, delete the photos from your hawaii.edu account. Remember, you need to empty your Google Photos' Trash in order to reclaim storage space used by deleted photos.

 

Can I transfer my data directly to a personal Google account?

You can transfer emails from Gmail and most Drive files to a personal Google account using Google Takeout Transfer. One benefit of transfering data to a personal Google account is that Google offers personal @gmail.com users 15 GB of storage for free. Doubling the storage allotted to your Google@UH account.

If you plan to use Google Takeout Transfer, keep in mind the following:

  • You will need to enroll in Google@UH Consumer Apps
  • You may need to purchase a Google One plan if you need storage beyond the 15 GB provided with to a free personal Google account.
  • After the transfer is complete you will still need to delete data from your Google@UH account in order to reduce your storage use.

Refer to the Google guide Copy content from your school account to another account for detailed instructions on performing the Takeout Transfer.

Note, you cannot directly transfer Google Photos to a personal Google account using Takeout Transfer. Instead, refer to one of the options listed above to transfer photos: use Takeout to download a copy of Photos, download Photos directly from the web, or set up Partner Sharing.

 

Does Shared Drive storage count against my individual storage quota?

No, Shared Drives have their own storage quotas and storage used by a Shared Drive does not count towards an individual's storage quota. Storage used by Shared Drives does, however, count towards our Google domain's total pooled storage limit. See below for information on changing the manager of a Shared Drive.

'Ohana users (and those in the 180 day grace period) who are managers of a Shared Drive should transfer managership of Shared Drive to an active faculty, staff, student, or other affiliate, as Shared Drives that are not managed by an active faculty, staff, student, or other affiliate may be deleted.

How do I delete a Shared Drive?

You must have manager access and the shared drive has to be empty. (You must delete the files first or move them to "my drive")

  1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
  2. On the left, click Shared drives.
  3. Right-click the shared drive you want to delete.
  4. Click Delete shared drive.

 

How do I transfer manager of a Shared Drive?

First navigate to the list of Shared Drives that you manage or are a member of by visiting https://drive.google.com/drive/shared-drives. Next, click once to select the Shared Drive you'd like to check the membership of. After selecting a Shared Drive, click on the  "View details" icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. In the "details pane" that appears click on "Manage access" to view the membership of the Shared Drive.

For each drive you are a Manager of, add a new manager by entering their email address in the "Add people and groups" and clicking on the email address. Use the drop down box to select the Manager role and optionally enter a Message. Click on Send to complete the process.

 

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Article ID: 1891
Created: Wed, 17 May 2023 1:13pm
Modified: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 12:07pm