Alumni - Changes to Microsoft and Google Access

Per the terms of the university’s contract with Microsoft, we are not permitted to provide Microsoft services, beyond Outlook on the web, to non-working, non-volunteer faculty, staff, retirees or alumni.

Google is instituting strict storage quotas impacting file storage (Google Drive, Shared Drives, Photos) and email. Access to the significantly reduced amounts of storage must be prioritized for active students, faculty (including emeritus faculty), staff (including working retirees) and those who need access to these tools to perform volunteer duties for the university.  

Alumni no longer have access to the following IT services through CU Boulder:

• Microsoft 365 desktop applications
• Microsoft 365 online applications with the exception of Outlook on the web 
• Microsoft OneDrive file storage
• Google Workspace for Education applications including Docs, Sheets, Shared Drives, etc.
• Gmail
• Google Photos
• Google Drive file storage
• CU Boulder-provided versions of the Outlook desktop application

Yes, these changes affect all current alumni. We will communicate separately to future alumni to ensure they have sufficient notice to manage the transition before their access to these services changes. Alumni will be given 120 days after their graduation date to remove their files.

Google offers a free personal Google One plan, which provides the Google applications you’ve been using, Google Drive storage, and Google Photos. The free plan offers 15GB of storage. Learn more about Google One plans.

We are unable to grant exceptions. Google has chosen to end unlimited storage and the university has a finite amount of storage to share amongst its entire population. Google is not currently offering a way for individuals to pay for additional storage.

You can create a personal account on Microsoft’s website to use Office Online for free. You can also sign up for 5GB of free OneDrive storage.

For access to Microsoft 365 desktop applications and more OneDrive storage capacity, Microsoft offers individual and family plans at approximately $70-100/year. 

Since alumni will no longer have a Google account after they are moved to Microsoft Exchange, the "Sign in with Google" feature will no longer function. Check what accounts are linked to your Colorado Google account.

Please note: If you are signed in to a personal Google account in your browser, you may need to switch accounts to view the accounts linked to your Colorado Google account rather than your personal one.

Yes. As an alum, you will be able to use your @colorado.edu email account through Outlook on the web.

No. Your @colorado.edu email will be migrated from Google to Microsoft and you will be able to access it using Microsoft’s Outlook on the web. Learn more about Outlook on the web.

No, all of your email and folders, in its existing folder structure, will be moved to Outlook on the web at the same time your account is transitioned. 

Eventually yes. OIT is in the process of rolling out multi-factor authentication (MFA) across Microsoft services. Students who graduated since December 2022, have been enrolled. Those who graduated previous to December 2022, should stay tuned for more information from OIT when we enable it for alumni.

Your Exchange mailbox will have a capacity of 50GB.

OIT communicated many times with you in 2022 that your files would be removed on January 1, 2023. File acecss was removed shortly after that date. OIT is not able to provide those files to you.

Your files will no longer be available to you. 

If you have personal documents in your CU Boulder Google Drive and/or Microsoft OneDrive that you would like to retain access to after the 120 day post-graduation deadline, it is critical that you download files to store them in an alternate location, such as a personal Google or OneDrive account, or a personal external hard drive. After the deadline, OIT will not be able to assist you with recovering any personal files that you have not downloaded and stored in an alternative location. Refer to the email you received from OIT for the specific date.

Please see the following FAQ for information about alternate storage options: What are my options if I still need to access Microsoft Office 365 applications and OneDrive? Also, see our FAQs addressing Google Drive shared files and Microsoft OneDrive shared files access.

It depends on the number of files you will be downloading. The process of downloading files, especially when done over a residential internet connection, can take a considerable amount of time depending on the size of the files. We encourage you to not wait until the last minute to complete this process.

Yes. Google provides a Takeout Transfer service that allows to you to move to another Google account things like email in Gmail, documents you own, and in some circumstances, documents in your "Shared with me" folder. Please note that OIT cannot provide support for this transfer process and so you should read and closely follow the instructions Google provides for using Takeout Transfer.

Active faculty, staff, POIs with the type Security Access, and students will continue to have access to those files that you shared with them until they are removed 120 days after your graduation date. Refer to the email you received from OIT for the specific date.

If you’d like to transfer ownership of the files, follow Google’s instructions on ownership transfer.

Active faculty, staff, POIs with the type Security Access, and students will continue to have access to those files that you shared with them until they are removed 120 days after your graduation date. Refer to the email you received from OIT for the specific date.

If you’d like to transfer folders in OneDrive to a CU Boulder faculty or staff, follow these instructions:  

1. Open a web browser and navigate to your OneDrive file library.
2. Right-click the name of the folder you wish to transfer.
3. Click Manage Access.
4. Find the Direct access section and click the + button.
5. In Enter names or email addresses… field, search for the person to whom you want to assign permissions, then click on their name to select it.
6. Click the pencil icon and select Can edit. 
7. Optional: Enter a personal message explaining why you are sharing the folder.
8. Click Grant Access.
9. The new editor will now see the folder in their own OneDrive file library under the Shared tab on the left-hand menu.
10. Ask the new editor to download the contents of your folder and transfer those contents to a new folder that they create within their own OneDrive account.
11. Ask the new editor to share their new folder with the same people who had access to your folder.