About Google@SAS storage quota limits

Google no longer offers unlimited free storage for Google Workspace for Education. As a consequence of this, unlimited storage is no longer available to Google@SAS accounts. Effective the week of November 13, 2023, storage quotas were applied to all Google@SAS accounts. These quotas were structured around data storage used so that at first no accounts would be over quota. On March 25, 2024. a 100GB quota will go into effect for all accounts. 

Why is SAS imposing storage quotas on Google@SAS?

Google has recently stopped offering unlimited, free storage for Google Workspace for Education. Unlimited storage is therefore no longer available on Google@SAS accounts.

What is the storage quota for Google@SAS users?

Google@sas users have a quota of 100GB.

What counts toward my Google@SAS storage quota?

The following files count toward storage:

Google Drive
  •     Items in Google Drive, which includes PDFs, images, and video files.
  •     Files created or edited after May 2, 2022 in collaborative content creation apps like Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms.
  •     Content in shared drives.
  •     Content in Trash until it's permanently deleted.

Gmail
  •     Messages and attachments, including items in your Spam and Trash folders.

The following content doesn't count toward storage:
  •     Drive shortcuts
  •     Content created with My Maps
  •     Files shared with users. Shared files are counted only for the file owner's storage, not for the users the file is shared with.
  •     Version history for files created in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, unless the user explicitly decides to keep older versions.

What happens if my Google@SAS account is over my storage quota limit?

Initial storage quotas, structured around actual usage, were put in place in November 2023, and all users were notified of the change in Google policy eliminating free data storage. The adjusted quotas were designed to give users who were storing over 100 GB of data time to delete or move their files after they were notified of the change in policy.

These adjusted quotas will end on March 25, 2024, when all quotas will be set to 100 GB. If your account has gone over your storage quota limit, you will be able to continue to send and receive email.

Once your account is over quota, you won’t be able to sync or upload new files. You will not be able to create new files in your Google@SAS account.  Until storage is reduced, owners won’t be able to edit or copy the files affected by the storage quota. Collaborators won’t be able to edit the affected files. Syncs between your computer's Google Drive folder and My Drive will stop.

What is the deadline for users to get their account under the 100GB storage quota?

March 25, 2024.

How can I tell how much storage I am currently using on Google@SAS?

You can navigate to https://drive.google.com/settings/storage to see overall storage numbers in Drive, and Gmail. This narrows the focus to the service that needs the most immediate attention.

How can I make more space in my account?

You can either delete files, or download them and then delete them.
 
To remove large or unnecessary files in Drive and Shared Drives:
  1. Go to https://drive.google.com/drive/quota
  2. Sort by ‘Storage used’ column to view your largest files
  3. Delete files as needed
  4. Files count toward the overall storage limit of the account until they are removed from Trash in 30 days. To expedite this process, navigate to ‘Trash’ on the file, right-click an individual file / folder and select Delete forever or select Empty trash in the upper right to purge all files / folders. Confirm by clicking Delete forever.

If you want to download your data before deleting it, you can download the files directly from your account to your computer or an external hard drive connected to your computer. You can also use a free trial of the Syncovery app to transfer your Google@sas data to another account or local hard drive. Finally, you can also use Google Takeout to download your Google access Drive contents as an archive. Click here for instructions.

What if I have questions about the my Google@SAS storage quota?