Downtown Kent Depot view with blue sky and American Flag in foreground

Digital Storage Changes for Alumni and Previous Students, Staff, and Faculty

All who are ALUMNI or PREVIOUSLY attended classes or were employed by the university have the following steps to complete to prepare for Kent State's digital storage changes.

Why is my storage changing? Related Change: Kent State's email for life program is ending in September 2025.

My Four Steps as a Degreed Alumnus

1. Download shared files from people no longer at Kent State

What Happens When the Owner of a Shared File Leaves Kent State University?

Soon after leaving Kent State University, all accounts and their related data tied to the exiting person will be deleted. This will happen in bulk on ____DATE??____. After this mass deletion of non-entitled users (former students, staff, and faculty who are no longer tied to the university), this will happen on a rolling basis soon after each departure from the university.

It is crucial that you examine your files to ensure continued access after non-entitled accounts are deleted.

If a file has been shared with you by someone no longer with the university, you will lose access to that document unless you download or move it to your own account.

Accessing Your "Shared with Me" Files

Log into your Kent State Google account at email.kent.edu.
Select Google Drive from the list of applications represented by a square of dots in the upper right hand corner. (Fig. 1)
From the side bar on the left of the screen, select the Shared with me option. This will show you all of the files that have been shared with your Kent State Google account. (Fig. 2)

2. Remove all photos in your Kent State Google account

Ensure You Are Using Your Kent State University Google Account

Since you can sign into multiple Google accounts in one browsing session, it's important to know how to swap between the two. This will avoid accidentally requesting access for something with a personal account or storing a file in the wrong Google Drive.
Your Kent State University Google account will have the Kent State University logo next to your profile icon. (fig.1)

How to Change Accounts

Locate the circle in the upper right hand corner of your Google, Gmail, or Drive page and select it.
You will then see a drop-down menu that will show all the Google accounts you are signed into. The Google account listed at the top is the account you are currently viewing. To swap between accounts, select the other account.

I'M LOGGED IN TO GOOGLE PHOTOS: WHAT NEXT?

If the Google Photos page is empty when you are logged in with your Kent State credentials, there is no further action required.
If there are photos you want to retain personal use of, you need to download them and/or move to iCloud, a personal Google account, or a photo storing service of your choosing. Google Takeout is the recommended method of exporting or downloading Google photos. *Instructions on using Google Takeout are in the next section.

Using Google Takeout to Download Photos or Other Data

Visit Google Account Data and Privacy.

Scroll down until you find the Download or delete your data section.
Click Download your data.

Scroll through the first section labeled Select data to include and choose which products you want to download.

You may have issues if the total photo content is over 100 GB. If you experience difficulties, try downloading the data directly.
To help ensure the best transfer, it is also recommended that you delete any unwanted files first to limit the amount of data you are trying to export.
Also, ensure that you are not downloading business data to a personal account as it may contain sensitive information.
Once you have made your selections, click Next step.
Select your preferred Delivery Method, Frequency, and File Type & Size. We recommend choosing the file size of 10 GB.
Click Create Export.

Choose file type, frequency and destination

This process can take up to several days if exporting large amounts of photos.

A box will appear labeled Export Progress, allowing you to cancel the export or create another one.
You will receive an email when the process is complete.

After all needed photos have been removed from your Kent State Google account, you must delete all remaining photos so that Google Photos is empty.

3. Reduce your total data in Google Drive to _____ GB.

4. Reduce your total data in Microsoft OneDrive to ____ GB.

My Steps as a Previous Student, Staff, or Faculty (not alumnus)

Depending on how long it has been since you accessed your account, you may or may not still be able to login. Try accessing your Office 365 mailbox at https://mail.kent.edu. If you're able to login and see account contents, check for any email, calendar, or contact information that you may need in the future. Refer to any of the above steps if needed. You will permanently lose access on or before _________.