How is Google storage handled at Cornell?

There are storage quotas on all Cornell Google accounts. The default size for faculty, staff, and students is 15 GB. More space may be requested when needed for education, research, or Cornell business.

You can see how much storage you are currently using and how much space you have before reaching your storage cap at your Drive Storage page. If you have another Google account, such as a personal account, make sure you're looking at the Drive Storage page for your Cornell account by clicking your profile icon in the upper right. Your Cornell Google account is the one using your netid@cornell.edu email address.

Google will show a storage full notice if your use reaches the cap. See Google's guidance on how to reduce your storage. If you are Cornell faculty, student, or staff, and still need more space for your Cornell work, you can request a higher cap.

Do my students have Google accounts?

Yes. Incoming students are issued a Cornell Google account with a cap of 15 GB, which can be raised if necessary for Cornell studies, research, or business.

What changes are occurring for alumni with whom I collaborate?

Alumni who have a Cornell Gmail account are able to keep using the account with a cap of 5 GB in storage, added on a rolling basis from September 2024 - August 2025.  You are still able to share files with them through your Google Drive and they can share up to 5 GB from their account. 

What other storage services are available at Cornell?

You can also use Microsoft storage—OneDrive or Teams—for your Cornell projects. All Cornell faculty, students, and staff have storage space in OneDrive. As another option, you can use Box for collaboration and cloud storage needs. If you are planning a new project that will use a very large amount of storage, please put in a ticket with CIT Collaboration & Utility Services. Large-scale data storage options include Amazon Web Services, Azure, and Shared File Services. For more information, see Storage Options.