Over the last few years, major cloud service providers have all phased out unlimited storage; this includes the three licensed by UMBC: Google, Box, and Microsoft. With unlimited storage, there was no reason to limit usage; with limits, universities across the country are implementing quotas, including UMBC. With new storage limits for Google and Microsoft, we are implementing storage quotas for all users.
Please note that every effort is being made to ensure existing users in our campus community are not adversely affected by the storage quotas. Your data is important. Existing users with a staff, faculty, or student affiliation have been provided additional space based on their current cloud storage use. New UMBC accounts will be given the default quotas below to ensure we remain under our storage limits. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through this change.
September 2026 Update Affecting Alumni: After careful evaluation and in alignment with practices at universities across the country, UMBC will be retiring Google email and storage accounts for alumni. Google has discontinued unlimited storage and free alumni accounts for higher education customers, and to ensure adequate support for active students, faculty, and staff, UMBC is beginning the process of retiring all alumni Google accounts in phases between July 2026 and July 2028. We are taking a phased approach based on the last date of account usage, beginning with inactive accounts and moving toward accounts currently in active use starting in July 2027. Recent graduates and alumni who use their Google account regularly are considered active.
We are actively collaborating with the Alumni Association to support our alumni community through this change. We will be reaching out with detailed timelines, and instructions on how to back up or migrate your data can be found on this webpage. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate these changes.
Please Note: Requests to increase quotas or reactivate accounts will not be made for alumni.
Default Storage Limits
When accounts are active, they are subject to the following default storage limits based on the user’s affiliation. Shared drives have separate allocations. In the event of a justifiable academic or business need, personal storage limits may be increased with a request and approval by the CIO.
Read all FAQs about Account Cleanup Submit a Support Ticket
Check your Google Storage
To see how much storage you’re using, click here:
Where does my Google storage number come from?
- Storage is comprised of data in Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. This includes items in your Spam and Trash!
- Google Photos, a separate service from Google Drive, is being removed for all UMBC accounts. If you have photos stored here, please migrate them by March 31, 2025. Please stay alert for future communications from DoIT regarding Google Photos and utilize the articles and FAQs on this page to help migrate your photos.
Recommended articles: How do I use Google Takeout?
How can I reduce my storage?
- Review your Data:
Review and delete any large or unnecessary files in Google Drive and clean up emails with attachments. Take some time to organize your Gmail, Google Drive, and export your Google Photos.
Recommended article: How do I clean up my trash, spam, and large documents in Google Drive? - Transfer Non-UMBC Data to a Personal Account:
Google Takeout can be used to export your data from your UMBC account and download your data in a compressed format. Consider setting up a personal cloud storage space using services like Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, or any other preferred platform. Ensure you have enough storage space for your data. Please remember to delete your data from your UMBC account once you have migrated the data.
Recommended articles: How do I use Google Takeout?, How do I copy content from my UMBC account to a personal account?
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