Don't Lose Content Shared with You on Berkeley Google Drive

Opportunity and Risk

When someone leaves UC Berkeley, Google Drive content that they own might be deleted. If that is content they shared with you and you and/or your team will continue to need it, you must take action to ensure you retain access to it before it is deleted when that person’s account is disabled or otherwise restricted.

Examples:

• A student collected data and shared it with a team, e.g. a research group. The student is now an alumni and either does not retain their Berkeley Google account or is storing more than 5 GB of content in their Berkeley Google account and must remove content to bring their storage to below 5 GB. The content they shared could be deleted.

• An employee has left Berkeley. During their employment, they created documents that their old team needs for the future. After their grace period ends, their Berkeley Google account will be closed and any content they own will be deleted, even if they had already shared that content with their team.

• You created and shared a Google Drive folder with others so they could add content for your team to access and use. People did add content to the shared folder as requested. However, that content is owned by the person who created and put it in the shared folder and now that person has left Berkeley - that content is subject to the same deletion risks as described in the examples above.

Overview: How to find and save content at risk of deletion

1. Search for content scheduled for deletion that has been shared with you.

   1. Visit this URL to see a list of content shared with you but owned by former faculty and staff.

   2. Visit this URL to see a list of content shared with you but owned by former students. 

   3. You can also find this content by using the Advanced Search feature. There is a video showing how to use your Advanced Search to find content at risk here. 

1. Review the content to identify files for which you would like to retain access.

   1. We suggest you do this with your team so that you agree on what can be ignored, what should be saved and where it should be saved.

2. Move the content for which you want to retain access to one or more of these locations:

   1. Best Practice: A Shared Drive

      1. If you don’t already have a Shared Drive you can create one by following these instructions. 

         • You must be a Manager on the Shared Drive

         • Try to move folders (only a couple at a time) to transfer ownership more quickly.

         • Learn more about moving content into a Shared Drive and potential limitations.

      2. If the amount of content you need to save is more than 25 GB you need a special, large shared drive. To obtain one, contact the Google storage team.

   2. Copy the content to your My Drive only for content that no one else will need. 

3. Visit this page for more detailed guidance including how to determine whether you can move the file or whether you will need to copy the file instead.

4. If you have already lost access to institutional content that you need, we can recover the content if it was deleted in the past 25 days. Please complete this form to get started.

Details

Search for items that are at risk of deletion

The following are direct links to Google Drive advanced search results you can do at any time:

• Click to review content owned by alumni. When you open a Google document, you will see the following label. (Note: non-Google documents will not display a label but will be included in your search results.)

• Click to review content owned by former employees or expired accounts. When you open a Google document, you will see the following label. (Note: non-Google documents will not display a label but will be included in your search results.)

Review content and save what you need to keep

If you (ideally with your team) see content you need to keep, choose from the following options to obtain ownership. Learn more about advanced Google Drive searching and using labels by watching  this video tutorial.

Move the content if owner is inactive: 

• Move your content into a Shared Drive.

• You must be a Manager on the Shared Drive

• Try to move folders (only a couple at a time) to transfer ownership more quickly.

• Learn more about moving content into a Shared Drive and potential limitations.

Make A Copy 

• If none of the above is possible, make a copy of the file and, if appropriate, move it to a different location.

More Information and Help 

• We’ve made detailed video tutorials to help you with this and other issues.

• Watch a recording of a webinar held on Tuesday September 10th, 2024 that will walk you through the process in detail. There were dozens of questions asked during the webinar which we've saved since they might be helpful. Topics covered in the video include:

  • Preventing data loss when your team members or former students change or leave

  • When to use My Drive vs. Shared Drives vs. Shared with Me

  • Moving content from an individual account to a Shared Drive

  • Understanding Shared Drive membership roles and permissions

  • Best practices for external collaboration

• If you run into errors or you are unable to move content learn more on this Google help doc.

• Helpful How-To’s

• Contact the ITCS Service Desk if you have questions or need additional help