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Clone of Storage and Email Transformation Project

Digital storage and email at Ohio State have evolved over the past 25 years to keep pace with technology and the way people use these services. We regularly update email and storage to ensure smooth performance, and updated these significantly beginning in 2024, through 2026. This page will be continuously updated so you can easily find the latest information about any changes or planned adjustments.

Why Services are Changing

OTDI is committed to providing all users with contemporary, high-quality technology services. While updates can feel disruptive, we limited email and storage changes to those that are necessary due to third-party email security updates and Microsoft's pricing changes for email and storage services.

Upcoming Changes to Storage

While we are NOT enforcing hard storage quotas, we are implementing benchmark usage limits to encourage responsible data management, as storage costs are shared by all departments. If your usage approaches or exceeds these limits, a member of our IT team may reach out to assist you with storage cleanup, guidance, or alternative solutions. All email on the University E-mail Service and files in OneDrive and Teams are university records, subject to the policies and guidelines of the university and your unit. 

Changes to Email

Beginning in 2024 Ohio State updated its email services to reflect evolving usage patterns and to uphold our commitment to responsible fiscal stewardship as cost changes impact our offerings. Reasons for these changes included: 

  • Vendor changes to the cost structure of email and storage
  • New security by third-party email providers (Google, Yahoo!, etc.) blocking emails
  • Changes in how users manage emails; many users no longer want multiple accounts
  • General security concerns, which continue to change and grow 

The ability to automatically forward all messages from Ohio State-issued email accounts to a third-party email service (including but not limited to Google, Yahoo!, etc.) ended for all users on Dec. 31, 2024. Lifetime Email Forwarding and BuckeyeMail for Life were sunset in 2025.

While most changes to email have been completed, discussions about transitioning to a single account system are ongoing. If implemented, this new system would streamline student email so they have only one account instead both of a lastname.#@osu.edu account and a lastname.#@ buckcyemail.osu.edu account.

Outlook and OneDrive Storage Targets for Peak Performance

The limits listed here enable us to stay within the storage limits alloted by our Microsoft contract. Exceeding them increases costs for all departments, so everyone is responsible for manageing storage to enable the university to maintain fiscal responsibility.

Current Students
  • 100GB BuckeyeMail/Outlook email storage
  • ​​​200GB OneDrive storage  
Current University Employees - Faculty and Staff
  • 100GB Outlook email storage
  • 1TB Online email archive storage
  • 1TB OneDrive storage
  • 5TB Teams storage
Current COTC Employees - Faculty and Staff
  • 100GB Outlook email storage
  • 1TB Online email archive storage
  • 1TB OneDrive storage   
  • 5TB Teams storage
Sponsored Guests
  • 50GB Outlook email storage
  • 50GB Online email archive storage
  • 100GB OneDrive storage  

Began on Feb. 1, 2024.

Current Medical Center Employees OSU Account - Faculty and Staff
  • 50GB Outlook email storage for @osu.edu accounts
  • 50GB  Online email archive storage for @osu.edu accounts 

Began on Feb. 1, 2024.

Dual Appointment University/OSUMC Faculty and Staff
  • 50GB Outlook email storage for @osu.edu account
  • 50GB Online email archive storage for @osu.edu account
  • 50GB OneDrive storage  

Began on Feb. 1, 2024.

Online Resources to Help Manage Storage

Ohio State University encourages Buckeyes to follow best practices in storage, retention, and disposition of institutional data and university records. The suggested limits listed on this page enable us to keep within the storage alloted in our contract with Microsoft. If we exceed these allotments, the increased storage costs are shared by every department across the university. Every individual plays a vital role in responsibly managing their own usage to promote fiscal responsibility.

For detailed guidance contact University Records Manager Pari Swift and the Ohio State Records Management team. For general informaiton, the following resources can help ensure your data is stored safely and appropriately: 

Email Access and Account Management

At Ohio State, email addresses are issued based on your university role, and we are working to streamline account management to reduce the number of email identities users must maintain:

  • Students currently receive lastname.#@buckeyemail.osu.edu and lastname.#@osu.edu, though a plan is in development to move toward one primary address.
    • Current students retain access to BuckeyeMail for two years after graduating by logging in directly.
    • During this two-year period alumni and former students may not automatically forward their BuckeyeMail accounts to third-party services but may continue to access email by signing in.
    • Students who withdraw or do not graduate lose access to Ohio State email accounts after two years.
  • Current employees and emeritus faculty have lastname.#@osu.edu accounts and retain access until they leave the university when the roll off process is complete.
  • Wexner Medical Center employees may forward messages to firstname.lastname@osumc.edu or firstname.lastname@nationwidechildrens.org.
  • Health Sciences accounts with forwarding to firstname.lastname@nationwidechildrens.org will retain that forwarding.

If you plan to leave the university, be sure you have a personal email account set up, inform your contacts, and ensure all social media and accounts are updated with your personal email. This includes updating your address for Ohio State athletic events if you currently use your Ohio State email address.

If you are a faculty or staff member in a department that regularly emails students, you should be aware that an interdepartmental advisory group is considering the best way to streamline student email. Once we have determined a clear direction and timeline, we will notify you here.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I find out how much storage I am using?

To see how much mailbox storage you've used in Outlook:

  1. Log on to Outlook for the Web
  2. Click on the Settings menu (the gear icon) at the top of the page
  3. Select Settings > Account > Storage.

Microsoft has online instructions for checking your OneDrive storage numbers online.

The Administrative Resource Center (ARC) has instructions you can use to see how much storage you are using in Teams.

I am an employee or sponsored guest, and my accounts are not currently over the limit – why should I archive emails and set retention tags?  

Archiving emails and setting retention tags will not only ensure you are a good steward of university resources, but also prevent you from having to do so later if you do exceed limits at some point during your time at Ohio State. Developing good habits now, will save you time in the future. Here are three great reasons to observe retention schedules;  

  1. Ensure you keep what you should keep: A records retention schedule is a legally mandated tool that classifies records created, sent or received by the university, and provides instruction for records retention and disposition. Retention schedules cover records on any media format, including paper and electronic.
  2. Ensure you discard what you no longer need: Because not all records are equal in value or retention period, the retention period for each message is based upon the content and informational value of the message.  The key to effectively managing emails and electronic messages is to be proactive. University Libraries has extensive information about managing emails. Information about retention requirements that is presented here was drawn from University Libraries’ existing documentation.  
  3. Manage Storage Responsibly: Using retention tags will enable you to follow Ohio State’s retention policies and will remove records that you no longer are required to save, reducing the overall number of messages you have stored. By doing so, you will increase storage space in your account to make room for messages that are helpful related to work on current projects.  
How do I archive emails and set retention tags appropriately? 

University Libraries maintain both a General Retention Schedule and a Unique Retention Schedules that contains record series that are unique to a particular unit’s operations.  

Microsoft Outlook enables you to use Default Retention Tags, Retention Policy Tags, and Personal tags to adhere to university retention recommendations for email records. Based on Ohio State’s retention policies, the university has set up several recommended tags in Outlook for you to use: 1 month, 1 week, 1 year, 10 years, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years, 6 months, and 6 years. 

We have posted how-to articles in the Administrative Resource Center so you can learn to use retention tags in the Outlook Web App, in Outlook for Windows and in Outlook for Mac. These articles also provide instructions for using your online archive in any of these apps.   

While retention tags can be applied to individual emails, they work most efficiently when applied at the folder level using a functional filing structure. Visit University Libraries to learn how to create functional filing structure and other tips.

By doing this, retention tags can be applied to a high-level parent folder and is then inherited by the child folders. You should also know that the retention period for the tag runs based on the date of the email. Tags work best with retention periods beginning with a specific Creation Date (CR) or records that are transient. For retention periods that begin with ACT, which stands for “active,” it might be necessary to increase retention time by a year or two on the retention label to ensure you wait long enough for the active period and the retention period to expire.  

As an employee or sponsored guest, what can I do to manage email in addition to setting retention tags?

In addition to setting retention tags, here are some things you can do to manage storage:  

  • Set retention on sent items in your online archive.
  • Archive regularly to establish good habits, even if you are not close to or above storage limits,
  • Empty the Conflicts, Sync Issues, and other folders.
  • Ensure the Deleted Items folder is emptied.
  • Send links to files stored in OneDrive instead of the file itself to save space. 
Are there best practices for employees and students to keep their OneDrive storage in check?

If you use your Ohio State OneDrive storage only for coursework and Ohio State projects, that will help you stay below the storage limit. Other best practices to manage storage include: 

  • Store files in the appropriate place: Use OneDrive to store your individual work, such as files that include private info. Use Teams for collaborative work, and any resources that should be owned by the business or group even if you leave the organization.
  • Declutter regularly: Set aside time periodically to review and delete files you no longer need. This could be monthly, quarterly, or annually, depending on your workflow.
  • Organize files efficiently: Create a clear folder structure that makes sense to you. Use broad categories with subfolders as needed. This will make it easier to locate files and reduce the temptation to save everything in one place.
  • Use descriptive file names: Choose file names that are descriptive and meaningful. This will make it easier to identify files at a glance and reduce the need to keep multiple versions of the same document.
  • Backup and archive old files: For files you don't need to access regularly but want to keep for reference, consider archiving them onto an external hard drive or cloud storage. This keeps them accessible while freeing up space on your main device.
  • Avoid duplicates: Be mindful of creating duplicate files. Instead of saving multiple copies of the same document, consider using version control or saving revisions within the same file. Use software tools or built-in features in your operating system to scan for and remove duplicate files. This can help streamline your storage and reduce clutter.
  • Be selective about downloads: Before downloading files from the internet, ask yourself if you really need them, as this can quickly lead to clutter. If you regularly download shared files, take a moment to consider if you really need your own copy, or if the shared file is sufficient for your needs.