Google Storage Project

How will the storage limits work with SPAs and shared drives?

We know that SPAs and shared drives will have quotas, but have not determined the date those will be applied or what the quotas will be. We're hoping to announce more details about these quotas in August 2023. We’ll update this website when we have more information.

What are the storage limits for Berkeley Google accounts?

Current information:

The final storage limits will be applied in multiple phases.

July 5, 2023 All newly created individual accounts will have a 50 GB limit applied All individual accounts with 35 GB of content or less will have a 50 GB limit applied. All individual accounts with 36 - 150 GB of content will have a 150 GB extended limit applied. All individual accounts with more than 150 GB of content will maintain their current limit until January 24, 2024 January 24, 2024 - all remaining individual accounts...

What services do the storage limits apply to?

The quota applies to Google Drive, bMail, and Google Photos.

How do the storage limits impact email?

If you are over quota, some services such as creating a new Google Doc may cease to function, however Gmail will continue to send and receive email normally.

In Gmail, when you attach something to an email, if that item is below 25 MB it stays in Gmail and applies to the Gmail portion of your overall usage. Larger attachments are saved in Google Drive and apply to the Drive portion of your overall usage. In both cases, the usage contributes to your overall quota.

What do I need to do now to prepare for the new storage limits?

The vast majority of the community will not need to take any action at all! However, If you would like to prepare for lower quotas that will be implemented later in the project, you can review your existing content in Google Drive, Google Photos, and bMail and delete anything you are comfortable with deleting, especially backups of backups, archives, and extremely out of date records/emails. This is just a recommendation; you are responsible for determining what content you are willing to delete. For more information please check out our information on...

When are the new storage limits going to be enforced?

We will be implementing the final storage limits for individual accounts on July 5, 2023. A small portion of account holders who are over the final limit will be granted additional time, until January 23, 2024.

SPAs and Shared Drives will have changes in 2024, and we'll provide more information as we have it available.

What happens if I go over my storage limit?

You will not be able to create new documents or do any activity that adds to your storage consumption. Once you remove content so that you are below your quota your account will go back to operating normally. You can find more information about the various storage limit banners and notifications in the Knowledge Base.

Will you delete my data if I’m over the storage limit?

We always make absolutely every effort to communicate when content is at risk of deletion. Sometimes content can be automatically deleted as part of the account lifecycle, where we deactivate and then delete accounts that were used by people no longer affiliated with the university. If an account holder repeatedly ignores our attempt to contact them in order to assist with lowering usage and no engagement or reduction has occurred, we may consider deleting content in that account. It is our goal to never have to delete content on your behalf!

How do I know if I will be affected by the new storage limits?

All accounts will be given a storage limit. To find out how much storage you are currently using, go to this URL and log in with your CalNet ID: https://drive.google.com/settings/storage . As we continue to develop the quotas, if you are directly impacted we will email you.

Will you be communicating directly with departments? Can you present this project to my department?

If your department has members whose accounts hold more than 1 TB of data, we have probably already contacted your department. If you’d like us to present the details of the project to your department, just email us at google-storage-project@berkeley.edu. We'd be happy to present the project or provide a workshop for your department to develop a content management strategy.