This is historical data.  Please refer to the Google Storage Project page for updated information.

You may remember that in 2020 Google announced that they were eliminating the “free and unlimited” nature of Google Drive.  Due to our relationship with Google, the implementation date for the tenant-level storage quota (when UCSB needs to be within our storage allocation) is early 2024.

However, Google activated per-user and Shared Drive quotas as-of Monday, January 23, 2023. Since we could not further delay the activation of storage quotas, we have taken steps to ensure that they have a minimal impact on our community.

We have taken the following steps to ensure that the changes will not impede anyone’s day-to-day activities in Google on and after Jan. 23rd:

  • All newly created accounts will receive an automatic quota of 150GB total for Google Workspace core services, including Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos.  98% of existing UCSB Google Accounts also fall under this usage level, and will be unaffected by the new quotas.
  • All newly created Shared Drives will receive an automatic quota of 50GB.
  • All existing accounts and Shared Drives will be given a “temporary containment” quota above current usage to prevent excessive growth of content in our Google accounts.  These containment quotas are constructed to allow for flexibility so that they do not disrupt your work.

What do I need to do?

You do not need to take any action to reduce your storage usage now.  If you are interested in knowing what your current Google storage is, check your usage here.


Timeline & Details
We have made the first phase of changes to the Google Workspace service on Jan. 23, 2023. These changes will not have any direct impact on your day-to-day operations.  We will be meeting with campus stakeholders over the next few months to develop the long-term quota implementation details.  Additionally, we will be contacting the users and groups with large Google storage usage in the coming weeks to discuss options.

If you have any questions, visit our FAQ, where we have provided more details and helpful information.

Need Assistance?

If you require additional help and advice for your particular needs, please submit a UCSB Messaging & Collaboration Support Ticket: ithelp.ucsb.edu