Inactive Google Workspace accounts to begin being deleted in July

To: All students, faculty and staff

On March 3, we shared information about a new 0 terabyte (TB) Google Workspace storage quota being implemented on inactive student, faculty and staff accounts (opens in new window) . With this change, collaborators were restricted from making edits to files owned by inactive accounts and were encouraged to make copies of these files or request a transfer of ownership.

On a rolling basis in July and August, CCS will start to delete:

• student accounts that have been inactive for over one year;
• employee accounts inactive for three or more years;
• any files on Google Drive owned by these accounts.

Once an inactive account is deleted, all files owned by the account will also be deleted and cannot be recovered.

Files with inactive owners now appear with red labels in Google Workspace

In an effort to make it easier for community members to identify files owned by inactive accounts, red labels are being applied to files in Google Drive owned by inactive accounts. This is in addition to the previously introduced Google Workspace warning banner informing users that a Google Workspace file could no longer be modified due to it being owned by an inactive account.

Please note that when previewing a non-Google file type like a PDF, image or video owned by an inactive account in Google Drive, the red label will automatically appear. However, if you download a non-Google file or open it in another application like Adobe Acrobat or Microsoft Office, the red label will not be displayed.

Identify all files shared with you owned by an inactive account

With the introduction of the new red label, it is now possible for employees to search all files shared with them owned by an inactive account. We encourage employees to do this prior to July to ensure they continue to have access to any required files owned by inactive accounts scheduled for deletion. To search for files owned by an inactive account:

1. Open Google Drive and click the Advanced search button to the right of the search field
2. In the Labels search field, type TMU system label
3. A dropdown menu will appear. Select TMU system label
4. Two additional dropdown menus will appear. In the second new dropdown menu, select To be deleted (file owner is inactive) and click Search
5. You will be directed to a new screen populated with all files owned by inactive accounts shared with you

Retain access to files owned by inactive accounts

If you need to retain access to a file owned by an inactive account, you can make a copy of the file or employees can submit a request to transfer ownership of the file (opens in new window) .

Additional instructions and strategies for retaining access to these files is available on the Google Workspace storage for inactive accounts page (opens in new window) .

Inactive accounts will begin to be deleted in July

On a rolling basis, CCS will begin to delete inactive student accounts and the files they own in July, with inactive employee accounts and their files scheduled for deletion beginning in August. CCS will begin this process with accounts that have been inactive for the longest period of time, with accounts inactive prior to 2016 deleted first.

Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact the Computing and Communications Services (CCS) Help Desk via the IT Help portal, help@torontomu.ca or 416-979-5000, ext. 556840 (students) or ext. 556806 (employees).