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Removed Google Accounts May Block Your Shared File Access

May 22, 2026

Now is the time to take action if you access or rely on the files of colleagues who are no longer employed by the university. The University of Alaska, in an effort to reduce costs and risks associated with online storage, is moving forward with plans to remove Google Workspace accounts, files, and documents that have been inactive for three or more years.

If you rely on a document that you can no longer access, you will need to contact your helpdesk. They have the ability to retrieve and restore documents from disabled accounts. All removed documents that are not retrieved will be permanently deleted.

Why This Matters

When someone leaves the university, files stored in their personal Å®Óźϼ¯ Google Drive don't automatically transfer to anyone else. If you've been accessing a spreadsheet, report, or project document through a link shared directly from a former coworker's personal Å®Óźϼ¯ Google Drive account — not from a departmental or shared drive — that access and the file itself will be lost once their account is removed.

Use Your Departmental Shared Drive

One excellent way to protect against this kind of disruption is to move important shared files into a departmental shared drive, as soon as possible.

Unlike files stored in an individual's personal Å®Óźϼ¯ Google Drive, files in a shared drive belong to the team. That means the whole department retains access regardless of staff changes — no single person's departure will remove access to critical documents. As an added benefit, files stored in a shared drive don't count against any individual's personal storage allotment.

Shared drives give departments a central place to store documents, collaborate on projects, and manage files collectively. They're especially valuable for reports, operational documents, and any files that an entire team relies on.

Steps You Can Take Now

Å®Óźϼ¯ recommends taking a few straightforward steps to get organized:

• Move team files out of personal drives. If a file is owned by one person but used by a group, relocate it to the department's shared drive. If the file is owned by a former employee but still accessed by your team, copy it to a shared drive as soon as possible.
  
  

  

   

• Locate files owned by former employees. Search your Google Drive and your team's Shared Drive for files owned by colleagues whose accounts have been — or will soon be — inaccessible. Copy and move those files, or delete them now if they are no longer needed.
  
• Search for files shared with you
  

• Review and clean up existing shared drives. Remove drives that are no longer active, consolidate redundant ones, and delete outdated or duplicate files.
  
  
• Audit access and permissions. Review files to make sure the right people have access — and that former employees no longer do.

Get Help

Staff and department heads who need assistance reviewing shared drives, reorganizing files, or locating files shared by former employees can contact their campus IT help desk: -   - .