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Graduating Students' Access to UMBC Cloud Storage Services

A guide for new alumni on their cloud storage access

Congratulations on making it this far in your academic career! You've put a lot of hard work into getting this far, and it's almost time to graduate, but before you move on to the next chapter of your career, make sure you take the next steps to ensure you keep any important records from UMBC!


Once you become an alumnus of UMBC, there will be changes to what services you can have access to, primarily Google Suite, Microsoft Suite, and Box. With Microsoft Suite and Box, your access to these services expires 30-90 days after graduation. This means any documents or files you had stored in OneDrive, Office 365, and Box will be deleted if they are not copied or moved to another storage device. 


To maintain access to your UMBC Google Suite, which includes your Google Drive and UMBC Gmail, you will need to sign into your myUMBC account at least once every 12 months.


Note: We strongly recommend that you migrate any important data and have your UMBC mail forwarded to a personal account.


  • Storage: Your Google storage will be restricted to a total of 5GB os space. Please review the resources below to help cut down on you storage usage and assess what should stay on the UMBC cloud before your account is adjusted to the alumni quota limit

  • Migration: For long-term accessibility and data security, please migrate any critical files a personal cloud or storage space


To see how much storage you're using, click here:

Check my Google Storage Usage


Below you will find many resources on how to cut down on cloud storage and manage your files going forward. 


Your Digital Transition: UMBC Alumni Tech Guide


Tips and Best Practices for Managing Your Cloud Storage


Take Control of Your Google Drive: A Guide to Freeing Up Space


Declutter Your Inbox: A Guide to Cleaning Up Your Email


Cloud Storage Quotas & Changes - UMBC FAQs   

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Posted: November 17, 2025, 10:37 AM

Read Original Post in myUMBC
A yellow, Maryland flag patterned background with black and grey lines near the bottom left and top right corners. Descending diagonally are words reading "Notice for Graduating Students"

Tips and Best Practices for Managing your Cloud Storage

Learn ways to better manage space on your cloud!

Want to learn how to manage your Google Drive storage better? We have 5 steps for you! These tips can generally be applied to other cloud services such as Box and OneDrive.

What are the benefits of managing your storage?

  • Better security by reducing data breaches and minimizing the number of files that contain sensitive information
  • Freeing up your storage so that you don't have a bunch of old, unnecessary files taking up space
  • Decluttering your storage so it's easier to find files
  • Makes transitions easier if you leave the university (graduate, new job, etc.)

5 Steps for Cloud Storage Management


Below are some steps you can implement to help manage your cloud storage usage over time.


1. Yearly or monthly clean-ups 

  • Look through your files on your UMBC Drive and look at the last time that file was accessed. If the file was last accessed over a year ago, consider deleting it. If you believe that you may need the file at some point down the line, consider transferring it to a flash drive or somewhere not on UMBC cloud services while considering the sensitivity of the data and protecting it appropriately.
  • If you want to hold onto work from previous semesters, consider consolidating them into a compressed folder and downloading them to your hard drive or an external drive.

2. What should be prioritized on your UMBC Google Drive

  • Your UMBC Google Drive and other cloud storage options provided by the university should be prioritized for storing UMBC files.
UMBC Cloud Storage
  • Documents, spreadsheets, and presentations for classes, UMBC work
  • UMBC-related documents
  • UMBC Research documents
  • Collaborative Files
Personal Cloud Storage, Hard Drive, External Drive
  • Personal documents
  • Personal photos and videos
  • Personal Computer Backups
  • Personal projects
  • Long-term files not used regularly

3. Remember to empty the Trash bin!

  • After deleting any files, clear out your trash bin so that storage space is freed up on your drive

4. Create a folder structure or naming convention for files

  • Having your files organized in a consistent system of folders and names that you understand can make your life easier in the long run. When it comes to finding files and when you may need to delete those files later
  • Consider asking Google Gemini for help creating a folder structure

5. File as you go

  • Organize your files once you create or download them. Making this a habit will make it so you don't have to worry about a backlog of unsorted files later


Do you want to learn more? 

Here are some helpful links and resources

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Posted: September 24, 2025, 10:31 AM

Read Original Post in myUMBC
A graphic of the UMBC shield in front of a black Maryland flag pattern with yellow graphics in the corners. The icons include a cloud upload icon (top left), stacked storage bins (top right), a folder (bottom left), and a trash can (bottom right).

Take Control of Your Google Drive: A Guide to Freeing Up Space

Declutter your cloud storage and make room for new projects

Is your Google Drive running out of space? Don't worry, you're not alone. With a few simple steps, you can free up valuable storage and get organized for future documents and projects. These tips can also be applied to other UMBC cloud services like Box and OneDrive.

Check your Google Storage
To see how much storage you’re using, click here:

1. Find and Delete Your Largest Files

The fastest way to free up space is to target the largest files.
  • In Google Drive, click on the Storage tab in the left-hand menu. Your files will automatically be sorted by size, from largest to smallest.
  • Review this list and delete any files you no longer need. This is where you'll find space-consuming files like video files (.MP4, .MOV), large presentations, and audio recordings (.WAV). 
A screenshot taken from Google Drive of the left side tabs, including “Home”, “Activity”, “Workspace”, “MyDrive”, “Shared Drives”, “Recent”, “Starred”, “Spam”, “Trash”, and “Storage” with “Storage” being highlighted.

2. Clean Up Files You No Longer Need

If you're not sure which files to delete, consider looking at their last accessed date.
  • Use Google Drive's advanced search feature to find old files. Click the slider icon at the end of the search bar to open advanced search options.
  • You can search for files by type, owner, and date. For example, search for "Last modified: Before [Date]" to find all files you haven't touched in over a year.
A screenshot taken from Google Drive of a slider icon, which has text below it reading “Advanced search”

Advanced Search can be accessed by clicking the slider icon at the end of the search bar


3. Address Shared and Duplicate Files

  • Remove yourself from shared folders no longer in use: Removing yourself from a shared folder doesn't reclaim your storage space (the files still belong to the owner), but it's an excellent way to reduce clutter in your drive.
  • Identify and delete duplicate files: It's easy to create unnecessary copies of documents. Regularly search for and delete duplicate files to free up space.

4. Empty the Trash

This is the most critical step! When you delete a file, it's sent to the trash bin and continues to count toward your storage limit for 30 days. To immediately reclaim that space, you must manually empty your trash.
  • Navigate to the Trash tab in the left-hand menu.
  • Review the contents and click Empty Trash to permanently delete the files and free up your storage.

5. Consider Archiving Old Projects

For files you want to keep but don't need daily access to, consider archiving them.
  • Download them to a hard drive or an external storage device.
  • You can also compress multiple files into a single .zip folder for easier downloading and storage.

Do you want to learn more? 


Here are some Frequently Asked Questions and Resources

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Posted: September 10, 2025, 10:38 AM

Read Original Post in myUMBC
A graphic of the Google Drive logo in front of a black Maryland flag pattern with yellow graphics in the corners. The icons include a copied document icon (top left), a trash can (top right), a computer monitor (bottom left), and a shared folder icon (bottom right)

Declutter Your Inbox: A Guide to Cleaning Up Your Email

Free up space, reduce stress, and find what you need faster!

Is your Google Drive nearing its storage limit? Feeling overwhelmed by a cluttered inbox? Cleaning up your Gmail can help with both! Follow these simple steps to free up storage space and make it easier to find the emails that matter.

Check Your Google Storage
To see how much storage you’re using, click here: Check my Google Storage Usage

1. Tackle Emails with Large Attachments 

Attachments in emails are often the biggest culprits for using up your cloud storage. You can quickly find all emails with attachments by using Gmail's search function. Just type has:attachment into the search bar. Review the results and delete any emails you no longer need.

  • Pro-tip: If an attachment is important, download and save it to your computer or a more permanent cloud service before deleting the email.

2. Unsubscribe from Unwanted Mailing Lists 

Subscription emails from mailing lists can flood your inbox and contribute significantly to clutter and storage usage. If you're no longer interested in a newsletter or promotional emails, look for the "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom of the email. Unsubscribing stops the emails entirely, saving you the hassle of deleting them one by one.

3. Delete Old and Unnecessary Emails 

While large attachments are the main culprits, a large volume of old emails also adds up. Take some time to search for and delete emails you no longer need. You can use search terms like before:YYYY/MM/DD to find emails from a specific date range (e.g., before:2024/01/01 to find emails from last year).
A screenshot taken from the Gmail homepage of a slider icon, which has text below it reading "Show search options"

Advanced Search can also be accessed by clicking the slider icon at the end of the search bar

4. Clear Out Your Spam Folder 

While Gmail automatically empties your spam folder every 30 days, it's a good habit to clear it out more frequently, especially if you receive a lot of spam. This is a quick and easy way to reclaim a small amount of storage space.

5. Empty the Trash Bin 

This is a critical final step! Remember that moving emails to the trash doesn't delete them permanently—they still take up storage space. Make sure you empty your trash folder regularly after deleting emails to fully recover your storage.


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Posted: September 3, 2025, 10:33 AM

Read Original Post in myUMBC
A graphic of the Gmail logo in front of a black Maryland flag pattern with yellow graphics in the corners. The icons include an envelope icon (top left), an attachment icon (top right), a trash can (bottom left), and an icon of copied documents (bottom right)

New Box Experience Now Available For UMBC Users

Box now has sidebar navigation, improved search, and more

Box, an online file sharing system that allows you to access your files from multiple devices and collaborate with others, recently released an update to its web interface. Some of the new changes include a brand new sidebar for navigation, improved search, an improved tile view for files, along with a few other minor changes. 

New Sidebar
A new, persistent sidebar creates easier access to all your files. Now, the sidebar is always with you wherever you navigate to on Box so things like your ‘Favorites’ are just a click away. You can also now change your landing page to ‘Favorites’ rather than All Files allowing for greater customization as to which files appear when you first open Box. You can change your landing page by going into your account settings. Additionally, ‘Notifications’ have been renamed to ‘Messages’.

Screenshot of sidebar navigation in the new box experience. 

New Improved Search  
Previously advanced search options were only accessible after completing a simple keyword search. Now, search results can include content filters to narrow down results and can search by metadata.  

Screenshot shows the new Box experience search bar. Easily switch between your content filters or Metadata.

Other Changes
The new Box experience has a lot of smaller changes as well. Single clicking an item selects it, while double clicking an item or clicking the name opens it. You can now switch between list view or an enhanced thumbnail view for rich previews easier too. Box has also added several new keyboard shortcuts:

Use Ctrl + click to multi select items
Ctrl + C shortcut to copy selected items
Ctrl + X shortcut to cut selected items
Ctrl + V shortcut to paste selected items

3D and 360º images, as well as HD and 360º video can now be viewed in Box without the need of downloading the file. Options to “Invite Collaborators” and “Get [a] Shared Link” are now consolidated under the “Share this Folder” button. 

If you want to revert back to the old Box experience, you can do so by clicking on the question icon at the top of the page. At a later date, the new Box experience will be enabled for all users and you will be unable to revert back to the old interface. 


Follow the DoIT myUMBC group for more news and updates.
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Posted: May 2, 2017, 8:11 AM

Read Original Post in myUMBC