Why not keep everything?

In the coming months, Google changed file storage policy will apply to Texas Woman's users. Additionally, old files eat up storage space in your Google account, cost TWU money, and make it difficult to find important files. Below are ways to find and delete old or unneeded files. Please adhere to University Records Retention schedules and standards.

How much storage am I using today?

You can find this by visiting: https://www.google.com/settings/storage

Storage in Google is divided among Gmail, Drive (including Shared drives), and Photos. Below are tips on helping with these three areas.

Helpful tips for file management

1. Don't Use Email for Storage. Most of what we store in email is operational, planning, or communication, not necessarily records. Make a habit of tagging or filing emails that you know you need to keep (because it's a record or because you need it for later reference). Then go back at a regular interval and delete whatever isn't a record. Move your records/important files into storage and out of email. Print email or website to pdf and then save in the new storage system you’ll create
2. Don't Use Email. Practice record avoidance by taking advantage of newer tools like Google Chat, RingCentral Message, RingCentral Text, or Teams. Obviously, if it should be a record, use a channel or mode that makes it easy to manage, but if it's deciding where to host the holiday party or what size shirt people need, try chatting about it outside of email.
3. Keep Personal Separate. TWU Computer & Software Acceptable Use Policy clearly states, "Members of the University community should strive for the most responsible use of the institution's resources." This includes using TWU technology for business purposes only.
4. Dispose. These types of files can be disposed of without a specific retention period: Document Errors, Drafts, and Duplicates.

5. Share with Care. Want to forward the meeting recording or slide show to the team? Consider saving the file(s) to X:\, Google Drive, or OneDrive and then sending the link/location to the team, rather than sending an attachment that will be downloaded and/or saved by numerous individuals, proliferating duplicate files and wasted storage space. This is a team practice that will take time.

6. Desktop is Dangerous. You might be tempted to save or archive files on your hard drive (e.g. C:\, My Documents, Downloads, Desktop, etc.), but your hard drive isn't backed up, and if your computer goes out of service, you won't have access to those files. Ways to declutter your desktop and find files quickly:

   1. Windows: File Explorer > Quick Access and Recent Files

   2. Apple: Finder > Recent Items / Preview > File > Open Recent / Smart Groups

   3. Google Drive > Priority, Workspaces, Recent, Star

   4. Pin programs to taskbar, rather than use shortcuts

Getting Started with Storage Management

1. Identify Records & Follow Records Retention Plan
   • Mark folders for Records Retention as read-only or change the settings on Google Drive
2. Project or Team files > Communicate and make a plan
3. Clear away the trash
4. Use folders
5. File as you go
6. Develop a naming convention
7. Remove duplicates
8. Make time to manage > Archive, move to completed, or mark for records retention

Getting Started with File Management and Records Retention: a comprehensive guide from the University of Washington is a great reference!

Gmail/Email

Deleting individual or multiple emails

Visit Google's support article. Please adhere to University Records Retention schedules and standards.

Finding large emails to delete

To find large emails that take up space, in the Gmail search bar type:

has:attachment larger:5M

and press Enter. This will identify emails with large attachments that can be deleted. Please adhere to University Records Retention schedules and standards.

Identify and remove old messages

To find old messages you may no longer need, in the Gmail search bar type:

older: 2019-01-01

and press Enter. This will identify messages older than January 1, 2019. You can change this date to be sooner or later, or add additional filters, like a specific folder. Please adhere to University Records Retention schedules and standards.

Empty Gmail Trash

Once you've deleted all the emails you no longer need, empty your Trash. To do this:

1. On the left side of the page, click More.
2. Scroll to Trash.
3. Check the box next to messages you want to permanently delete, then click Delete forever.
   Note: The Delete forever option is only available in the Trash. You won’t be able to delete items forever from the Search result view.
4. To delete all messages in your trash, click Empty Trash now.

Note: You may need to empty your Trash several times if there are many old messages to delete. Simply choose Empty Trash now until no message remain.

Please adhere to University Records Retention schedules and standards.

Drive

Identifying your largest files in Drive

Finding and deleting your largest files is a good starting place to free up space. In Drive, click in the bottom-left corner under Storage:

You'll see a list of files sorted by the amount of storage space used. Deleting large files you no longer need will free up space in your account. Please adhere to University Records Retention schedules and standards.

Identify and remove old files

You can find your oldest files by clicking on the Last modified column and change from Relevance to Last modified:

Once selected, clicking on Last modified again to show an up arrow which will sort by the oldest files first:

To find old files you may not need after a certain date, type into the search bar:

before:2015-01-01

This will identify files created before January 1, 2015. To get older or newer files, change the date. Please adhere to University Records Retention schedules and standards.

Knowing if a file is shared

It's helpful to tell if a file is shared prior to deleting it. To tell if it's shared, look for the double person icon:

Right-click and select Share to display who the file is shared with.

You'll want to reach out to anyone with whom you share files to proactively communicate if you plan to delete the file. Please adhere to University Records Retention schedules and standards.

Deleting multiple files

If you store files in a folder, simply delete the folder and the contents will be deleted, too. Alternatively, hold the Ctrl key, select multiple files, and choose the Delete icon to delete multiple files at once. Please adhere to University Records Retention schedules and standards.

Checking the last time a file was used/modified

When reviewing files to delete, it's helpful to know when they were last edited or accessed. To do this:

1. Find the file in Google Drive.
2. Right-click on it and choose "View details":
   
   or click on the "i" with a circle in the top-right corner:
   
3. The last Modified, Opened, and Created dates will be displayed in a panel on the right:
   

Empty Google Drive Trash

Once all of your files have been deleted, they will be sent to the Trash. To empty the Trash, click on Trash on the left side of the page and choose "Empty trash." Once emptied, your storage space used should decrease in about 24 hours depending on how much was deleted. See Google's support article for additional details. Please adhere to University Records Retention schedules and standards.

Note: You'll need to check all Shared drives, as well as My Drive.

 

Photos

View Google's recommendations on freeing up space in Google Photos. Please adhere to University Records Retention schedules and standards.

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