Both Google and Microsoft have announced storage limits for all Google Workspace and M365 customers. All UD members must take steps to stay within storage limits in their Google and M365 accounts. Effective data management benefits UD and members of the UD Community by:
- Avoiding additional storage costs
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Preventing unexpected data loss
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Helping to keep accounts and data secure
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Allowing for effective and efficient workflows
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Reducing UD’s carbon footprint
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Google and M365 accounts at UD
Faculty, staff, and students are assigned individual M365 and Google Workspace accounts that have a limited storage space. Depending on your status after leaving UD, you may be permitted to keep your Google UD account (storage limit reductions may apply), but your M365 account will be removed.
Data stored in these M365 and Google Workspace entities count towards your individual storage limit.
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M365
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Google Workspace
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Individual Microsoft Exchange accounts
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GMail, calendar, and contacts
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Microsoft OneDrive
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Some Google Photos
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My Drive documents, including those that you share
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UD also has an institutional storage limit for M365 and Google Workspace. Shared entities in M365 and Google Workspace do not count towards individual storage limits, but they do count towards UD's institutional storage limit, have been assigned storage limits, and must be managed.
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M365
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Google Workspace
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Exchange shared and resource mailboxes
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Google shared drives
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Team, SharePoint, and Bookings sites
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Google sites
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Top
Minimize your data storage in Google and M365
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Media files take up lots of space. Avoid storing video, music, and image files in M365 or Google Workspace, including
Google photos.
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When possible, zip up large numbers of files, both to reduce total storage size and the total number of files that will be stored.
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Use compression utilities to reduce the size of large files.
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Do not set up personally owned devices that require a Google account login (such as Chromebooks and Android phones) with your @udel.edu account as the sole account on the device. Do not allow your @udel.edu account to sync or as a backup account in any app.
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On personal macOS and iOS devices, do not use your @udel.edu as the Apple ID used to set up your device, because doing so may increase data usage.
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On personally owned Windows computers, do not set your @udel.edu as the sole account on your computer, because this may increase your data usage, and you will lose access to the device when you leave UD.
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Do not use Google Drive for data backups.
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Check the photos app on your devices to make sure they don’t sync or back up to OneDrive or Google Photos. Only use Google photos to store photos related to work or class. Check your accounts for personal photos and remove them.
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If you use the Google Drive desktop client, do not add additional files and folders on your computer to Google Drive.
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Check for 3rd party apps that may back up your device to UD Google Drive.
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Use appropriate methods to back up your devices
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UD owned computers
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If you run a server that you currently backup to Google Workspace or M365, contact the
IT Support Center for options.
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Stop apps that store personal information, or apps that are connected to personal accounts from synchronizing with your Google and M365 accounts.
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In M365, use archiving solutions and retention policies when available, to help manage your storage usage.
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Manage your mailbox size in GMail and Exchange email.
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Locate and delete large email messages.
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Delete messages with attachments that have been saved to your computer.
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Use online archives and retention policies in Exchange email, if applicable. You can also drag and drop messages to your online archive.
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Use Microsoft and Google native mobile apps (Outlook and Gmail) to manage your email. Other apps are not supported and do no have the email management features as the native apps.
Store data appropriately
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Only store work and class related data in your UD M365 and Google Workspace accounts.
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Store personal, non-UD data in non-UD accounts. Move personal data to external accounts. Free Microsoft and Google accounts are available.
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Do not store shared data in individual accounts. Instead, store shared data in Google shared drives, Microsoft Team sites, and SharePoint sites.
Share your data the right way
Follow proper sharing practices to minimize data loss and loss of data access.
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Store shared data in Shared drives (Google) or in Teams or SharePoint sites (M365).
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Share files (presentations, spreadsheets, etc.) by storing them in a shared storage location and emailing the link. Emailing attachments makes multiple copies of the same file.
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In a shared drive, do not add a shortcut to files that are in someone's individual Google account.
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Do not share data to ‘anyone with this link’ (Microsoft) or ‘Anyone with the link’ (Google) unless you expect this information to be publicly available.
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Do not allow external accounts to own or manage data that “belongs” to the University of Delaware.
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UD data should only be shared from UD accounts.
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If someone has an @udel.edu email address and also has external email accounts, UD data should only be shared with that person's @udel.edu account.
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Give people only the level of access that is needed. For example, do not assign manager permissions to someone who only needs to edit documents. Do not assign editor permissions to someone who only needs to view documents. Granting people more permissions than necessary can easily lead to unexpected and non-recoverable data loss.
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When granting edit access to shared data, consider turning off that person’s ability to share the data. This will prevent your data from being inappropriately shared.
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For individuals and groups collaborating with non-UD individuals and groups, the party that owns the data should store the data.
Continually monitor your data storage
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M365
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To check your Exchange account storage, go to
https://outlook.office.com. Click
settings (wheel icon) then
General, and then
Storage.
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To check storage for Teams and SharePoint sites, type this line in a web browser:
https://udwinprod.sharepoint.com/sites/<TEAM NAME>/_layouts/15/storman.aspx. You must substitute the name of your Team or SharePoint site for <TEAM NAME> in the link.
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If your Team site name has a space, you may need to remove the spaces from the link before it will open. For example, if your Team site is called Team-Super Cool Site, change https://udwinprod.sharepoint.com/sites/Team-Super Cool Site/_layouts/15/storman.aspx to:
https://udwinprod.sharepoint.com/sites/Team-SuperCoolSite/_layouts/15/storman.aspx
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To check OneDrive usage, type this line in a web browser:
https://udwinprod-my.sharepoint.com/personal/<YOURALPHANAME>_udel_edu/_layouts/15/storman.aspx - you must substitute your username for YOURALPHANAME. For example,
personab@udel.edu would type https://udwinprod-my.sharepoint.com/personal/
personab_udel_edu/_layouts/15/storman.aspx.
Alternatively, you can log in to
https://office.com. Then click OneDrive from the waffle menu (dots icon). Select the OneDrive icon. Click on the
gear icon. Then click
OneDrive settings -
More Settings -
Storage Metrics.
Clean up your UD Google and M365 accounts
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Delete data you no longer need.
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Delete or move personal data from UD accounts.
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Delete personal data from your M365 account.
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Delete existing backups in Google Drive and OneDrive, and turn off the process that created the backup.
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If need be, empty your trash or recycle bin (available space does not increase unless account data is fully deleted).
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Google - files in the trash count against your storage limit. They are automatically removed from the trash after 30 days. If you are over your storage limit, you may need to manually empty the trash to quickly retrieve space.
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In M365 files and items in the Recycle Bin (OneDrive/Teams/SharePoint) and Deleted Items folders (Exchange) count against your storage limit.
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In Exchange email, items older than 30 days are removed from the deleted items folder each night. These items can still be recovered using the "Recover Deleted Items" option for another 14 days. If you are over your storage limit, you may need to manually empty the Deleted Items folder to recover space quickly.
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In OneDrive, Teams, and SharePoint, items older than 93 days are automatically removed from the Recycle Bin . If you are over your storage limit, you may need to manually empty the Recycle Bin to recover space quickly.
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Remove large files from your accounts.
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In Google Drive, check for and consider deleting files that may be hidden from your view (lost files). You can locate these “lost” files by typing 'is:unorganized owner:me' in the Google drive filter.
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Find and delete duplicate data.
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Third party apps that are connected to your Google account may store large of amounts of data in your account. Unfortunately, the amount of space that the third party apps use is not reported in the user interface. One scenario that indicates third party data usage is present is when the amount of "findable" data in Google drive is less than Google's reported data usage. For example, John Smith can see a total of 120 files and folders that add up to about 76GB of data in his Google drive. Google shows that John Smith is using 1.4TB of data. John Smith should check to see whether third party apps may be storing data in his Google Workspace account. To disconnect an app from your Google account,
- Use a web browser and navigate to Google Drive,
- Select settings (wheel icon), and choose Manage apps.
- Navigate to the third-party apps you would like to disconnect, select Options, and then Disconnect from Drive.
- Once the steps are complete, wait up to 24 hours to account for any propagation delays.
Request deletion of Google and Microsoft accounts that are no longer needed.
Deleting accounts that are no longer needed reduces storage costs and helps keep you and UD secure. Depending on the account type you want to delete, UDIT may need to assist. Contact the
UDIT Support Center for more information.
Individual M365 and Google Workspace accounts for active faculty, staff, and students cannot be deleted.
Prepare for changes to your UD status
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Student to alumnus
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Student or alumnus to faculty or staff
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Staff to retiree
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Google
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The storage limit for faculty and staff accounts will be set to 50GB upon retirement. If necessary, steps should be taken to meet the new storage limit prior to retiring.
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If you share documents from My Drive, transfer them to a shared drive prior to retirement.
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M365
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Download any data you need prior to losing access to M365.
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If you store documents in OneDrive that others need, move them to a Team or SharePoint site prior to retirement.
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You can request your Exchange email be migrated to Google, however please consider requesting that your email simply be redirected to Google instead of migrating your email to Google. If you want to migrate, you will need to make sure that your UD Google account has enough available space to accommodate your migrated account.
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Retiree to faculty, staff, or student
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While you are working as faculty, staff, or student, your Google and M365 accounts and storage options will follow the limits for your active role. Be aware that when your faculty, staff, or student status ends, your accounts will again have the retirement storage limits.
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Leaving UD without retiring or without graduating
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If you are faculty or staff and also an alumnus, follow the steps under student to alumnus.
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If you are a student, download data you need from your M365 and Google accounts prior to leaving.
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Some termination processes may modify your ability to perform these steps.
Get help if you need it
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Request a consultation to help you understand what’s taking up space in your accounts and how to reduce your storage usage.
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Send a request to the
IT Support Center for assistance in deleting large amounts of data or moving large amounts of data to a shared Google Drive.