Google Workspace Storage Limits

Storage is allocated per Google Workspace account. If you have two accounts, each account is granted separate storage as determined by the account’s role. For example, if you are both a student and an employee, you will receive 10 GB in your student account and 40 GB in your employee account.

Your storage is shared across all Google Workspace applications, including Gmail, Google Photos & Google Drive. Files that are shared with you and shared drives created in Drive do not count towards your storage limit.

The following count towards your storage usage:

• Gmail: Any emails and attachments in your Gmail inbox and folders
• Archived emails still count toward your storage usage
• Google Photos: All stored photos and videos 
• Google Drive: Files you own in Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms etc.

The following do NOT count towards your usage: 

• Files owned by someone else that are shared with you
• Shared Drives: All shared drives have a separate 20 GB limit, see below for more info

Shared drives are subject to a 20 GB quota. Owners of existing Shared Drives must limit their storage levels accordingly. Fordham users are unable to create new Shared Drives. 

If your Shared Drive is over 20 GB, you will be unable to:

• Upload new files to the Shared Drive.
• Edit or copy files in the Shared Drive.

Note: Shared Drives are separate from MyDrive and do not impact your Fordham account’s overall storage usage.

After graduation, alumni can continue to access their Fordham Gmail for life, but access to Google Drive will be removed a few months after graduation.  Therefore, you will no longer be able to access or retrieve any files stored in Drive. To ensure you have access to any important files, please download and save them to your personal device or external storage before graduation. 

• Google Takeout: Download and export data from your Google Drive, Gmail, and other Google services. Select only the specific services and Drive files/folders you wish to archive, as this will help manage file size and downloads. (video tutorial) 

Google Transfer: Copy and transfer your files to another Google Account.

Individuals cannot purchase additional storage for their Fordham Google Account. 

Purchasing more Google storage is not a sustainable option for the University. The costs increase significantly with usage, and the unpredictability of these expenses makes it challenging to manage long-term. To address the demand for additional storage, we have implemented alternative solutions that are more scalable and cost-effective, such as shared storage options and other platforms. These alternatives allow us to manage resources efficiently while still meeting the community's needs. If you need assistance in exploring or accessing these options, we're happy to guide you through the process.

You can download copies of emails, files, and photos. Once copies are stored on your local computer, external storage media, or another storage method, you can delete the emails, files, or photos from your Fordham account to free up storage space. 

See our page for tips on how to export and reduce usage.

Google provides storage percentage indicators to help you manage your storage space and alert you when you are approaching your storage limit. These indicators are helpful tools to keep you informed about your Google storage usage and ensure you manage your space.

15% Indicator: This means you have 15% of your allocated storage remaining. It's a great time to review your files and organize them, ensuring you're making the most of your space for future projects and materials.

10% Indicator: This indicates you have 10% of your storage remaining. It's a friendly reminder to tidy up your digital workspace, removing any unnecessary files or emails to keep things running smoothly.

These indicators empower you to manage your storage effectively, supporting a productive and organized learning environment.

Google Drive for Desktop will allow you to choose folders in your Google Drive content and save them directly to your PC or Mac. You can copy/paste or drag/drop files to your local computer, external storage media, or another cloud storage account but you will not be able to keep the files within Google Drive for Desktop to reduce storage without removing them permanently.

If you're still over your quota after deleting files, please ensure you've emptied all of your trash bins across different Google applications (e.g., Drive, Gmail, and Photos), and then refresh your browser. Storage won’t be freed up until files are permanently deleted from each of these applications. Please note that it may take Google up to 24 hours to reflect any changes in your storage usage.

When you delete or back up Google Workspace content, it can take a long time to process and be reflected in your storage consumption summary, please be patient. 

• Email Retention Policy: Email sent or received via Fordham’s Gmail servers is retained for a period of eight years. Any messages that are over eight years old will be automatically deleted.
• Acceptable Use Policy & Data Classification and Protection Policies: University data cannot be transferred from your University Google account to any personal account. This policy is in place to safeguard the integrity and confidentiality of sensitive information. Transferring ownership of files from a secured University system to a personal system introduces significant risks. As a compliance requirement, we allow the transfer of ownership of files within Fordham but not to any outside domains.