Alumni Google Storage Migration FAQ
After a decade of free Google services, the parent company Alphabet has announced fees for all higher education institutions’ data storage for Google customers. BU’s storage is significantly over the maximum allowed in our contract, and we must mitigate this or face substantial financial penalties. With these changes, Boston University can no longer provide alumni with storage on BU Google Drive after June 1, 2024.
Your BU Gmail account access will remain unaffected, and you will maintain your BU Google Email, Calendar, and Contacts.
By June 1, 2024, you will need to remove all files from your BU-provided Google Drive, Google Shared Drive and Google Photos.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I determine how much information I have stored in my BU Google Drive?
Click on the link below and login with your BU credentials. You should see the BU logo next to your name. https://drive.google.com/drive/quota
How do I transfer ownership of Google Drive files to a personal account?
You may have try opening an incognito window before navigating to the takeout site.
Open the Google Transfer page in a Chrome browser where your private Gmail account is already signed.
- “Signed in” here means to any google website (gmail, drive, etc). To check which is the signed-in account, go to gmail.com and look at the icon in the top-right. BU’s Gmail is branded with our logo (what we want to see), private Gmail is not (this will cause errors).
- How to open a private window in Chrome: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95464?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop
- If the data in your BU Google account is too large, you may also get an error you’re your private Gmail does not have enough space and the transfer will not work. If that happens, you can simply download the data by going to https://takeout.google.com and initiate a “Takeout” which will create .zip files you can download with all of her data.
Will I still have access to my BU Google email account?
Yes! All alumni email accounts will remain active. We can accommodate the storage in the mailboxes, though we may be asking those with extra-large mailboxes to archive some mail, but that will come later. It is their Drive, Shared Drive, and Photos that alumni will no longer have access to. They will need to move these files out of BU Google.
Are there alternative options to store my data taken from Google Drive?
Your Google data can be stored in several different ways.
Local data download: You can download your data locally to your Mac or PC. Please click here for instructions to download your files directly to your computer.
You can also choose another online storage platform and either pay for a subscription or use their free options (depending on the amount of data you have). You will still need to download the data and then upload the information to this new provider.
- Box: Box’s cloud storage ensures you always have an online backup handy and can access data from anywhere. https://www.box.com/pricing
- Dropbox: Back up files in the cloud, share photos and videos, and more. Make life easier with Dropbox. https://www.dropbox.com/plans *Dropbox offers a “From Google” migration tool to facilitate moving your data over.
- OneDrive / Office 365: Use OneDrive to save documents, photos, and other files in the cloud, share them with friends, and even collaborate on content. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/onedrive/compare-onedrive-plans
- Personal Google Drive: Store, share, and collaborate on files and folders from your mobile device, tablet, or computer. https://one.google.com/about/plans
- iCloud: iCloud helps you keep your most important information—like your photos, files, and backups—secure, up to date, and available across all your devices. iCloud also makes it easy to share photos, files, notes, and more with friends and family. https://support.apple.com/en-us/
I have an @bu.edu account, but I can’t remember my password. Can you send it to me?
No, we don’t keep your password on file. Please email ITHelp@bu.edu for password reset instructions.
Are there any exceptions for maintaining my data on my BU Google Drive?
No, all alumni Google Drive storage must be moved by June 1, 2024.
Can I pay for additional storage for my BU Google Drive account?
No, unfortunately BU is significantly over the maximum allowed storage in our contract with Google services.
Can BU help me move my data to another data storage option?
No, BU cannot access your personal drive data to assist in moving it out of your BU Google Drive.
What if I am an alum and current faculty/staff/student?
Current faculty, staff, and student storage limits can be found at IS&T’s Google Storage FAQs page, and take precedent over your affiliation as an alum.
How do I reset my BU alumni account password?
To reset your password, please follow the steps below.
- Direct your browser to https://www.bu.edu/mybuaccount
- Select “Reset Forgotten Password” and click the [Next] button.
- Enter your BU Login or Web Account Name. A BU login is a BU email address without the @bu.edu.
- Enter your Date of Birth. (Format is MM/DD/YYYY) and click the [Next] button.
- Authenticate with DUO on the next page, you can choose where and how to receive the verification, and click the [Submit] button.
- Choose a new password and enter it in both fields. *Make sure to note all the conditions to be met for the required new password.
* If successful, you should get the message “Your request has been submitted successfully. You will receive an email notification when the request is completed.”
* The email comes from ithelp@bu.edu and should go to your Boston University email as well as your personal email on file. It will read:
Password has been changed for the following BU account by LAST NAME, FIRST NAME via Self Service. Name: BU Login:
If you have any questions or need assistance or did not complete this password change, please contact:ithelp@bu.edu or 617-353-4357 (HELP)
Please remember to update all devices that have your email, BU Wireless access and VPN with the new password (and login name for login name changes).
Additional support and help pages are available for you at BU IS&T Google Storage FAQs.