Student Frequently Asked Questions About Storage Changes
This article applies to: Strategic Storage Initiative
The university provides email and file storage as a privilege, and at no cost, to the Cornell community. To keep these services financially sustainable, Cornell will periodically reevaluate email and storage policies for individuals once they leave the university. Changes will be communicated to those affected.
I am a student with a Cornell Google account. How do these changes affect me?
Caps were added to Cornell faculty, staff, and student Google Drive accounts in June 2022. The caps were set above the amount stored in the account at that time.
If you had less than 15 GB stored in Google Drive, a cap of 15 gigabytes (GB) was applied. There is a good chance you have a 15 GB account. Nearly eight in ten students have only a few GB of Drive storage. Nearly nine in ten use less than 15 GB.
If you had more than 15 GB stored in Google Drive, you have a cap above the amount of storage you were using at that time.
You can see how much storage you are 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 alert if your use reaches the cap. See Google's guidance on how to reduce your storage. If you still need more space for your Cornell work, you can request it.
The November after you graduate, when your status in Cornell IT systems changes from student to alumni, your Google storage limit will become 5 GB, the amount allocated for alumni Google accounts.
For more information, see Students: Preparing for Storage Changes.
Can I keep using my Cornell email address after I become an alum?
Yes.
How can I see how much I have stored in my Cornell Google account?
You can see how much storage you are 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.
What individual plans does Google offer?
See Google's Choose a plan that works for you. If you are signed into your Cornell Google account, you will be asked to sign into a personal Google account. You can also see the information when you are completely signed out or visit using a private browser window.
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