Google Workspace Services

UCSC provides all faculty, staff, and students access to use a set of core Google Workspace applications.

Core applications include Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Team Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Sites, Groups, Hangouts, Forms, Classroom, and Tasks.   Read more...

Service Changes: Google Announces Storage Limits

Google's new storage model discontinues free, unlimited storage for all educational institutions. Campuses, including ours, must align their usage of Google services with the new storage quota.

Information on Storage Limits by Affiliation

Please choose your primary university affiliation* for a detailed explanation of how you are affected by the new Google storage limits and the steps you should take.

*Those with multiple affiliations will be assigned their quota based on their primary affiliation, which is set in the following order: faculty (including emeriti), staff, students, sundry accounts, alumni.

We strongly recommend a Google Shared Drive for collaborative content. Those who maintain collaborative content in individual Google Drives or even in independent departmental “functional” accounts are at risk of losing content when contributors leave the university. Shared Drives are the gold standard for collaborative content.

Google Shared Drives for departments, divisions, institutes, research groups or other large collaborative entities have a 300 GB storage limit. To request a departmental Shared Drive, open an online support ticket, email help@ucsc.edu, or call (831) 459-4357.

What if our group requires more than 300 GB?

Departments, divisions, institutes, research groups, etc. may purchase additional Google Shared Drive storage. The cost is currently $144/TB/year. To request information about purchasing additional storage, please open an online support ticket, email help@ucsc.edu, or call (831) 459-4357.

ITS encourages faculty and staff to target usage at or below 20 GB in your UCSC Google account. Most content should reside in a departmental Google Shared Drive.

Steps to take:

  1. Review your storage totals and discard inactive, duplicate, or personal content from your UCSC Gmail and Google Drive (My Drive).
  2. Google Photos has been discontinued for UCSC. All photos must be deleted. Learn how to safely delete Google Photos without removing them from your phone. If you currently use Google Photos for university business and cannot find an alternative, open an online support ticket, by email help@ucsc.edu, or call (831) 459-4357.
  3. Learn how to reduce your Google storage. Everyone can participate in good data hygiene and help reduce our overall storage footprint.

What if you need more than 20 GB?

Some faculty and staff have work products that require higher storage.

During the transition to storage limits, faculty and staff who were using between 20 GB and 150 GB were automatically given expanded storage limits that met their current needs and allowed for modest growth.

Those who need more storage than currently allocated may request additional storage up to a maximum of 150 GB by opening an online support ticket, by emailing help@ucsc.edu, or by calling (831) 459-4357.

An important note about collaborative content:

If you are storing content that is collaborative in nature, especially content for a department, division, institute, research group, etc., we strongly recommend using a Google Shared Drive rather than using your individual Google Drive. Google Shared Drives are the gold standard for collaborative content and reduce the risk of data loss when contributors leave the university. Google Shared Drives for departments, divisions, institutes, research groups or other large collaborative entities have a 300 GB storage limit, but additional storage can be purchased for $144/TB/year. You can request a Google Shared Drive by opening an online support ticket, by emailing help@ucsc.edu, or by calling (831) 459-4357.

UCSC student Google accounts will remain active with a 10 GB storage maximum for a one-year grace period after leaving UCSC.

Steps to take:

Keeping your UCSC Email beyond the 1-Year Grace Period

Keep an eye on your UCSC email inbox because 3 months before your Google account expires, you'll receive detailed instructions explaining how to request to keep your UCSC Gmail-only account active beyond one year. Note that extended Gmail service is limited to 500 MB so we recommend transitioning to a personal email account, even if you plan to keep your UCSC account longer.

Undergraduate students have a 10 GB storage limit in their Google account. Check your storage.

Steps to take:

The default Google storage quota for Graduate Students is 10 GB in their UCSC Google account. Check your storage.

Steps to take:

What if you need more than 10 GB?

Some graduate students may require more than 10 GB of storage.

During the transition to storage limits, grad students who were using between 10 GB and 50 GB were automatically given expanded storage limits that met their current needs and allowed for modest growth.

Requesting additional storage

Graduate students can request an increase up to the maximums below by opening an online support ticket, by emailing help@ucsc.edu, or by calling (831) 459-4357.

  • Masters Students: 50 GB maximum
  • Ph.D. Students: 150 GB maximum

Alumni have a one-year grace period after leaving UCSC during which Google Services continue to be available. The storage limit for all accounts during the grace-period is 10 GB. Please see Google Services for Alumni for more information about alumni accounts and how to transfer or export content to your personal account.

One year after departure, UCSC Google accounts will be closed, although alumni may request to keep their UCSC email (see below). Students in non-degree granting programs (e.g. Summer Session students) do not qualify for the one-year grace period.

Steps to take:

  • If you are using Google Photos, delete all photos from your UCSC Google account as this service is being discontinued. Learn how to safely delete Google Photos without removing them from your phone.
  • Check storage: If your storage exceeds 10 GB, you must reduce your storage immediately or your account will be closed. If your storage is under 10 GB, you may continue to utilize your account for one year after your departure from UCSC.
  • If your storage exceeds 10 GB, you must reduce your storage immediately or your account will be closed. If your storage is under 10 GB, you may continue to utilize your account for one year after your departure from UCSC.

Gmail beyond the 1-Year Grace period

Alumni have the option to keep their existing @ucsc.edu Gmail with a 500 MB storage limit beyond the one-year grace period by request only.

Keep an eye on your UCSC email inbox because 2-3 months before your Google account expires, you'll receive detailed instructions explaining how to request to keep your UCSC Gmail-only account beyond the one-year grace period. Note that extended Gmail service is limited to 500 MB so we recommend using this year to transition to a personal email account, even if you plan to keep your UCSC account longer.

The storage limit for sponsored accounts is 20 GB.

Steps to take:

What if you need more than 20 GB?

Functional accounts associated with departments, divisions, research groups, or institutes may request additional storage up to a 150 GB maximum by opening an online support ticket, by emailing help@ucsc.edu, or by calling (831) 459-4357. It is advisable to consider using a Google Shared Drive instead of individual functional accounts if possible. Shared Drives provide the best protection against data loss that can occur when collaborators leave the university.

Contractors with a business need for expanded storage should ask their account sponsor to request additional storage by opening an online support ticket, by emailing help@ucsc.edu, or by calling (831) 459-4357.

Retirees who have an ongoing need for a UCSC account must maintain their account below the 20 GB maximum.

If you have questions, don't hesitate to contact Information Technology Services (ITS) by opening an online support ticket, by emailing help@ucsc.edu, or by calling (831) 459-4357.