Google Storage Usage | Information Technology Services

Managing Your Google Storage Usage

To stay within your storage limit for your Humboldt Google account, it’s important to manage your data regularly. Here are some FAQs and helpful tips for reducing storage across Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos.

FAQs

How can I tell how much storage I’m using?

At https://drive.google.com, you can see your total storage at the bottom of the navigation menu, but if you want a more detailed breakdown, you can find that here: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/quota

What will the quotas be?

When we implement temporary quotas they will be 150 GB per account for students, faculty, and staff. People with more than 150 GB will have their quota set at their current usage + ~10%. This is not indicative of the eventual permanent quotas, but will help us keep under our Google imposed institutional storage quota.

ITS is working with all of our campus partners to determine what the permanent quotas will be. There will also be campus quotas on Shared drives

How do I make a Shared drive?

At https://drive.google.com, click on Shared Drives and click + New in the upper left hand corner.

In the future, new Shared Drives will likely start with a 5GB Quota. Submit a help desk ticket if more space is needed

How can I increase my quota?

ITS is working on the process to request additional storage, but if you have specialized data needs, you can find other storage options HERE.

What should be stored on Google Drive?

Most of the day to day working files for your team or department should be stored on Google Drive, especially data shared across multiple departments or even outside institutions.

Large research data sets or media archives of photos and videos should not be stored in Google Drive

What is the difference between a Shared Drive and a shared folder?

A Shared Folder is a folder belonging to an individual, in their own Google Drive, that gets shared with other individuals.

A Shared Drive is a collaborative space that is not owned by an individual but managed by one or more collaborators.

Data in a shared folder will go away when the user separates from the University, data in a Shared Drive will not - even if all of the managers on the drive leave Cal Poly.

How can I find files in stored My Drive, but owned by others?

At https://drive.google.com/drive, make sure you’re on the Home menu on the left side of the page.

Click the search box and click Advanced Search. In the window that displays, set Owner to ‘Not owned by me’ and Location to ‘My Drive’. Hit Search in the lower right corner.

This will display all of the files stored in a folder in your Google Drive that are owned by someone else. From here, you can right-click and choose Organize, then Move to move them to a Shared Drive or ask the file owner to make you the owner.

How do I get assistance with Google storage?

For questions and more information about your Google account, please contact the ITS Technology Help Desk at (707) 826-4357 or help@humboldt.edu.

Cleaning Up ‘My Drive’

Tips to help you clean up your Google Drive and free up some storage space.

Sharing

Before deleting anything, it's a good idea to check if you've shared any files or folders you no longer need to share.

Deleting Files and Folders

There are two main ways to find files and folders to delete:

By Size:

Click this link to see your current storage usage: (link https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/quota)]

You'll see a list of your files sorted by how much space they take up.

Choose the ones you don't need anymore and click the trash can icon (looks like a regular trash can) in the top right corner.

By Date:

This is good for finding old files you might not use anymore. Go to your Google Drive here: [link to My Drive]

Click on the magnifying glass icon (search bar) and then the three dots next to it to reveal more search options.

In the "Owner" menu, choose "Owned by me".

In the "Date Modified" menu, choose how far back you want to search. You can pick options like "in the past week" or "before a specific date" (use "Custom..." for specific dates).

This will show you only the files you own that haven't been changed recently. Review the list and delete anything you no longer need.

Cleaning Up Your Google Shared Drives

Why Clean Up Shared Drives?

Even though files and folders within Shared Drives don't count against your personal storage limit, it's still a good idea to clean them up as they do count against our total institutional quota imposed by Google. Shared Drives are designed for collaborative work, like projects, group assignments, or shared research data. They're not meant for personal or private files.

Removing Non-Collaborative Data

What to Remove:

Personal Files: Documents, photos, or other files that are only for your own use.

Non-Collaborative Work: Projects or assignments that you've completed individually.

Where to Move Your Data:

If you have data that doesn't fit in a Shared Drive, consider moving it to:

Your Personal Google Drive: For individual files and documents.

[Insert link or info about storage options]: For long-term storage or specific file types.

General Guidelines

Keep Shared Drives Organized: Remove any files that aren't being actively used or shared.

Respect Collaborative Space: Use Shared Drives for their intended purpose to maintain a clean and efficient workspace.

Files Shared With You

How to Find Shared Files and Folders

In your Google Drive, you'll see a section called "Shared with me". This lists all the files and folders that others have shared with you.

Tips for Cleaning Up

Review Regularly: Check your "Shared with me" section periodically to see if there are any files or folders you no longer need.

Ask for Ownership: If you're the primary user of a shared file or folder, consider asking the owner to transfer ownership to you.

Remove Yourself: If you no longer need access to a shared file or folder, ask the owner to remove you as a collaborator.

Important Information

Check Ownership: Make sure that any files or folders you're still using are owned by someone who's still active at the university (like a current faculty member, staff member, or student).

Avoid Orphaned Files: If a file is owned by someone who is no longer with the university, it is at risk of deletion by the system.

Cleaning Up Your Gmail Inbox

Tip: If you are a screen reader user, the University of Illinois has developed a Chrome/Firefox bookmarklet to assist with the bulk deletion of mail in Gmail.

Deleting Individual Emails

Select the Email: Check the box next to the email you want to delete.

Delete: Click the trash can icon at the top of the page.

Deleting Multiple Emails

Select All: Check the box at the top of the page to select all emails on that page.

Select More: Click "Select all [number] conversations in [location]" to select all emails in your current view.

Delete: Click the trash can icon at the top of the page.

Deleting Large Emails

Search for Large Attachments: In the Gmail search bar, type has:attachment larger:10MB and press Enter. This will find emails with attachments larger than 10MB. You can adjust the number to find even larger files. Note: Google file size limit on attachments is 25 MB.

Note: if the file is one that needs to be saved, you can click the ‘Add to Google Drive’ button to make a copy in your Drive

Delete: Select the emails and delete them individually or in bulk

Deleting Old Emails

Search for Old Emails: In the Gmail search bar, type older:2023-01-01 and press Enter. This will find emails older than January 1, 2023. You can adjust the date to fit your needs.

Delete: Select the emails and delete them individually or in bulk.

Clean Up Your Google Photos

The photos and videos in your Google Photos library are separate from the photos and videos in your Google Drive. They still count against your storage limit and might need to be cleaned up. If you have personal photos and videos that aren't related to university business, it's a good idea to transfer them to a personal storage service or your own computer. Here are two methods you can use

Google Takeout

Google Takeout allows you to download your photos and videos in various formats (like ZIP or .zipx). You can then transfer these files to your personal computer or another cloud storage service.

Google Takeout: https://takeout.google.com

Partner Sharing (Google Accounts Only)

If you have a personal Google account, you can share specific albums or all your photos with it. This is a simple way to transfer photos between Google accounts.

To move your personal photos and videos to a different Google account, you can use Google's Partner Sharing feature. Here's how:

Share Your Photos:

Go to Google Photos on your Humboldt account.
Click the gear icon and select "Partner Sharing."
Choose "All photos" and enter your personal Google account's email address.
Send the invitation.

Accept the Invitation on Your Personal Account:

Open Google Photos on your personal account.
Accept the invitation from your Humboldt account.
Turn on auto-save for all photos.

Verify

Turn off the partner share between the two accounts
Verify all photos are in your Personal Photos account
Remove the photos from your Humboldt Account

Important Note:

Album Structure: Unfortunately, your album structure won't be transferred directly. You'll need to manually recreate and organize your albums in your personal account.

[a] Rebranded away from 'Google Drive' to "Google Storage"

Need Help?

Self-Service Troubleshooting

Call (707) 826-4357

Help Desk Hours

Monday - Friday 8am - 8pm

After hours emergencies:
Call UPD at 826-5555

System Status

Status	System	Est. resolution
Planned Maintenance	PeopleSoft Campus Solutions AND PeopleSoft HR systems	11-23-24 6:00pm