2026 Graduates: Managing Your Google Workspace Email, Documents, and Photos

Your Google Workspace email account, Google Drive documents, and images and videos stored in Google Photo will be deleted on March 31, 2027, approximately 300 days post-graduation. Please act now to save any items you need. You may also choose to set up your Northwestern alumni email account. This article guides you through the steps you must take prior to 3/31/2027.  

Best Practices 

• Please save any content from your student account well in advance of when it will be deleted; if you encounter trouble, you will have more time to seek assistance. Also, the Google Takeout and Transfer processes may take longer than you anticipate, ranging from hours to days depending on the amount and type of data.  

• Larger amounts of data are harder to move with Google Takeout. It’s best to transfer Google Drive documents separately from the transfer of Google Photos.  

• Regardless of how you transfer files, photos, and videos, please carefully verify they are accessible in their new location in advance of March 31, 2027 when your account will be removed.  

1. Remove Files from Google Drive and Google Photos 

There are two ways to move content from Drive and Photos – use the Google Takeout tool or download content to an external media drive.  

Transfer Content Using Google Takeout 

"Google Takeout” is the preferred tool to move the contents from Google Drive and Google Photos elsewhere. Large file transfers are more problematic – please don’t try to relocate your Drive and Photos content at the same time.  

1. Open a private browser window, then log into your @u.northwestern.edu account. (You will not be able to access the Takeout tool through a private Gmail account.) 

2. Go to Google Takeout. 

3. Select Data to Include: Click “Deselect all” and then scroll down to check all content you wish to move. 

4. Choose Export Settings: Click “Next step”. 

5. Select Delivery Method: Choose how you want to receive your data (e.g., via email link, add to Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, or Box). 

6. Create Export: Click “Create export”. This may take some time depending on the amount of data. 

7. Download Data: Once the export is ready, download the file from the link provided. 

8. Upload to New Account: Log in to your new Google account and upload the downloaded files to Google Drive. 

9. Delete Data from Student Account: After verifying your content has been successfully transferred to the location you selected, please delete the content from your student account.  

Transfer Content to External Media Drive 

You can also download all the files in your drive to an external media drive.  

1. Go to your browser settings 

2. Change your file download location to an external media drive  

3. Select all your files in your drive, and select “download.” 

4. Confirm data has been successfully transferred to external media drive 

5. Once confirmed, move on to process to delete Photos 

Delete Photos from Google Photos 

1. Go to Photos section or navigate to photos.google.com (verify that you are logged into your Northwestern account).    

2. Proceed to select the Photos that are to be deleted by leveraging the following methods: 

• Initial Selection: Hover over the first photo or video you want to delete. A checkmark will appear in the top-left corner. Click the checkmark to select the item. 

• Batch Selection (Shift Key): Hold down the Shiftkey while clicking on another photo or video. This will select all items between the first selection and the second selection. This is the most efficient method for selecting contiguous blocks of photos. 

• Individual Selection (Ctrl/Cmd Key): Hold down the Ctrlkey (Windows) or Cmdkey (macOS) while clicking on individual photos or videos to add or remove them from the selection. 

• Deletion: Once all desired photos and videos are selected, click the “Delete” (trash can icon) button located in the top-right corner of the screen. 

• Confirmation: A confirmation dialog box will appear. Review the number of items to be deleted and click “Move to trash.” 

2. Remove Contents of Google Gmail 

Using Google Takeout Transfer 

Start this process in your School account 

1. Go to  Transfer your content 

2. Enter a destination account email address 

3. Follow the prompts to verify your destination account 

4. Go Back to the transfer page and follow the prompts to verify 

5. Select content to copy and transfer 

6. Start Transfer 

Note- When moving Gmail via Google Takeout, it creates an Mbox archive.    It is recommended to use Google Takeout Transfer process instead and to also turn forwarding on the account after the initial transfer so to capture any new emails until the account is removed. 

3. Optional: Create Your Alumni Email Account 

You can create a new alumni email account by going to Our Northwestern Account. You can specify this account as a destination when transferring the contents of your student Gmail you wish to save.  

4. Transfer Ownership of Shared (Organizational) Google Email Accounts 

If you are the owner of an @u.northwestern.edu organizational account for a student group, you can transfer account ownership before leaving the University by emailing consultant@northwestern.edu.  

 After ownership has been transferred, make sure that the new account owner changes the organization account password by visiting the @u Organizational Account Password Reset page. 

Getting Help 

For answers to commonly asked questions, please review this FAQ. If you need further assistance, please email Northwestern’s IT Service Desk at consultant@northwestern.edu.