Alumni Email Changes

Changes to Berkeley’s Alumni Email Service Announced

March 6, 2024
On Mar 6, 2024, alumni who have an active @berkeley.edu Google account were sent the following notification about the changes coming to email services they receive as a Berkeley alum including the steps they will need to take to retain uninterrupted access to their @berkeley.edu Google account.

Change Timeline

October 15, 2024 - Final Storage Reduction

Alumni accounts that have not Renewed AND Reduced by October 15 will be scheduled for deletion.  Eligible alumni who renew after October 15 will receive a new account with 5 GB of available storage if their original account has already been deleted.

August 1, 2024 - Accounts will be limited

Alumni account will be limited and scheduled for deletion. Email will be limited to send and receive from only @berkeley.edu accounts. Alumni will not be able to upload or edit Google docs.

July 24, 2024 - Storage Reduction Deadline

Alumni will be encouraged and supported to reduce their total Google storage used to below the 5 GB limit set for alumni accounts.  Anyone still over 5 GB on July 24 will not be able to create or add new files until they reduce below 5 GB. Email will continue to operate normally.

April 15, 2024 - Renewal Deadline

Alumni can still renew after April 15, but they will not be able to create or add new files and will lose the ability to send or receive email outside of berkeley.edu until they renew.  Email sent to alumni who have not renewed will be returned or "bounced" back to the sender with a warning message. Email sent to alumni who have not renewed is not saved and will be returned or "bounced" back to the sender with a warning message.

March 6, 2024 - Announcement

Notify the campus community and existing alumni who have email about the changes coming to alumni email.

Eligible Alumni Can Renew Today

Eligible Alumni include:

  1. Alumni who have a pre-existing active @berkeley.edu Google account and an active CalNetID and passphrase; and/or
  2. Recent graduates (whose grace period ended after September 2023) who are alumni or former attendees of full-time UC Berkeley undergraduate or graduate degree programs with more than 12 completed course hours.

Steps to Renew:

  1. Review new Berkeley Alumni Email Service Level Agreement for 2024

  2. Renew your alumni email account (Must login using @berkeley.edu Google account using CalNet ID & passphrase)

NOTE: The "Renew your alumni email account" form is NOT intended for ACTIVE students, faculty, or staff who are also alumni.  This renewal ONLY applies to people who have no other eligibility for email services other than as an alum.

What address do I use to login when I renew?

  1. Login to Google using the email address provided in the To: field of messages sent to you about this change.
  2. Enter your CalNet ID and Passphrase when presented with the CalNet Authentication Service page.
    1. The part before the @ symbol in the To: field of this message is your CalNet ID
    2. You can Reset Passphrase if you can no longer remember it.
  3. Check the Email section of your Google profile to see all of your alternate email addresses.

Reduce your use of Google Storage by July 24, 2024

Check how much storage you are using

To know how much space you are using, go to https://drive.google.com/drive/quota. Your storage usage includes your email, Google Photos, and Drive.

Prevent loss of data or files! 

To prevent any unintended loss of your institutional data, we urge you to review the content stored in your Google Drive. Identify any critical documents and follow the steps outlined on the guide found here to ensure continued access and protection.

Reduce your content quickly

The top 3 things you can do right now to reduce your Google account storage:

Migrate your content

Alumni will have two options for migrating content from their berkeley.edu Google account in order to reduce their use of Google storage to under 5 GB.

  • Self-Service Content Transfer Options: Using Google Takeout or Takeout Transfer (suitable for lower amounts of content, ideally 50 GB or less)

  • Full-Service Content Transfer using VaultMe.

  • Note that both of these options create and move a copy of your content. You will still need to go back to your berkeley.edu account and transfer ownership or delete your content in order to reduce your storage.