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Digital Spring Cleaning Challenge

Spring has finally sprung, and Information Technology Services would like to thank the campus community for participating in the Digital Spring-Cleaning Challenge. Over the course of one month, UWindsor was able to reduce its excess storage by 201 TB.

While progress has been made, there is still time to clean your files and commit to the Digital Spring-Cleaning Challenge for a chance to win a $50 UWinCash gift card.

“Every little bit helps,” says Ericka Greenham, director of client services in IT Services. “To date, our collective efforts to remove and delete files and emails we no longer need have added up to more than $100,000 in annual storage savings.”

IT Services encourages the campus to continue their digital decluttering efforts and suggests incorporating good file management habits into their daily work routines.

Habits you can incorporate for your Outlook mailbox include creating and using folders to organize important emails, setting reminders to review your inbox regularly, and deleting unnecessary emails after reading them. Be sure to empty the “Deleted” and “Junk” folders, as these emails still count against your storage. This will help you keep your mailbox within storage limits and prevent it from becoming overloaded.

You can also use Outlook’s sorting tools to find and delete old emails by date or locate emails with large attachments. Consider deleting full email conversations or using the “Archive” feature for important but infrequently needed emails.

By taking some time now to clean up both OneDrive and Outlook, you’ll ensure your storage stays manageable and avoid hitting storage limits.

Refer to the Microsoft Storage Knowledge-Base articles to learn more about how to clean up your digital storage.

As a reminder, the following storage limits will be implemented:

Microsoft App

Employee
(Faculty/Staff/Sessional)

Student

Retiree

Alumni

OneDrive

20 GB

5 GB

1 GB

N/A

Outlook Mailbox

10 GB

5 GB

10 GB

5 GB

In addition, Teams and SharePoint sites will be limited to 25 GB of storage, and shared mailboxes will be limited to 20 GB.

If you are currently using more than the allotted storage amounts for your account type listed above, you will need to reduce duplicate and redundant data in your UWindsor Outlook email account and OneDrive to stay below the threshold. Users who may require more than the allotted quota for work, academic, or research purposes can submit a request to IT Services for review.

Spring Cleaning Challenge

Information Technology Services reminds campus users of the Digital Spring-Cleaning Challenge to clear up UWindsor OneDrive and Outlook accounts in advance of the upcoming Microsoft storage changes.

Looking to make a dent in your digital files? To reduce large files in your OneDrive, try using the sort by size filter.

You can sort your OneDrive folders and files by size to identify large files such as old class or lecture recordings, photos, videos, or ZIP files that you no longer need. If any large files are duplicated or no longer necessary, delete them. Be sure to also clear out your Downloads folder if it’s stored on OneDrive.

Refer to the Microsoft Storage Knowledge-Base articles for more information on how to clean up your digital storage.

Don’t forget to sign up for the Digital Spring-Cleaning Challenge for a chance to win a $50 UWinCash gift card.

As a reminder, beginning April 7, the following storage limits will be implemented:

Microsoft App

Employee
(Faculty/Staff/Sessional)

Student

Retiree

Alumni

OneDrive

20 GB

5 GB

10 GB

N/A

Outlook Mailbox

10 GB

5 GB

1 GB

5 GB

In addition, Teams and SharePoint sites will also be limited to 25 GB of storage and shared mailboxes will be limited to 20GB.

If you are currently using more than the allotted storage amounts for your account type listed above, you will need to start reducing duplicate and redundant data in your UWindsor Outlook email account and OneDrive to get below the threshold. Users who may require more than the allotted quota for work, academic, or research purposes can submit a request to IT Services for review.

digital spring cleaning

Information Technology Services is counting down the days until spring with a Digital Spring-Cleaning Challenge to clear up UWindsor OneDrives and Outlook accounts in advance of the upcoming Microsoft storage changes.

One way to reduce storage is to review your OneDrive for personal files. Look for files such as photos, videos, screenshot, and large documents; if they are not used for professional and academic matters move them to external hard drives or personal cloud storage like Google Drive or iCloud. If they are no longer relevant, delete them.

Refer to the Microsoft Storage Knowledge-Base articles for more information on how to clean up digital storage.

Be sure to sign up for the Digital Spring-Cleaning Challenge for a chance to win a $50 UWinCash gift card.

As a reminder, beginning April 7, the following storage limits will be implemented:

Microsoft App

Employee
(Faculty/Staff/Sessional)

Student

Retiree

Alumni

OneDrive

20 GB

5 GB

10 GB

N/A

Outlook Mailbox

10 GB

5 GB

1 GB

5 GB

In addition, Teams and SharePoint sites will also be limited to 25 GB of storage and shared mailboxes will be limited to 20GB.

If you are currently using more than the allotted storage amounts for your account type listed above, you will need to start reducing duplicate and redundant data in your UWindsor Outlook email account and OneDrive to get below the threshold. Users who may require more than the allotted quota for work, academic, or research purposes can submit a request to IT Services for review.

Digital Spring-Cleaning Challenge

Information Technology Services is launching a Digital Spring-Cleaning Challenge to clear up UWindsor OneDrive and Outlook accounts in advance of the upcoming Microsoft storage changes.

Complete any of the tasks outlined below and you can enter the Digital Spring-Cleaning Challenge draw to win a $50 UWinCash Gift Card.

Digital Spring-Cleaning Challenge Checklist:

  • Delete personal files from OneDrive
  • Delete duplicate or outdated files from OneDrive
  • Organize and archive important files and data
  • Empty your OneDrive recycle bin
  • Empty your downloads folder
  • Delete old emails from Outlook
  • Organize important emails
  • Empty your Outlook deleted and junk folders
  • Unsubscribe from emails and newsletters

Commit to the Digital Spring-Cleaning Challenge by signing up online.

As a reminder, beginning April 7, the following storage limits will be implemented:

Microsoft App

Employee
(Faculty/Staff/Sessional)

Student

Retiree

Alumni

OneDrive

20 GB

5 GB

10 GB

N/A

Outlook Mailbox

10 GB

5 GB

1 GB

5 GB

In addition, Teams and SharePoint sites will also be limited to 25 GB of storage and shared mailboxes will be limited to 20GB.

Refer to the Microsoft Storage Knowledge-Base articles to learn how to clean up your digital storage.

If you are currently using more than the allotted storage amounts for your account type listed above, you will need to start reducing duplicate and redundant data in your UWindsor Outlook email account and OneDrive to get below the threshold. Users who may require more than the allotted quota for work, academic, or research purposes can submit a request to IT Services for review.

digital declutter

Information Technology Services is reminding the campus community to clean up personal, redundant, duplicate and/or unused files in Microsoft OneDrive, SharePoint (Teams), Outlook accounts, and shared mailboxes due to upcoming storage changes.

The University of Windsor will implement new storage limits this spring in response to Microsoft’s changes in global storage limits for universities and colleges.

The changes to Microsoft’s storage options have prompted universities worldwide to modify storage offerings.

Beginning April 7, the following storage limits will be implemented:

MS365 App

Employee (Faculty/Staff/Sessional)

Student

Retiree

Alumni

OneDrive

20GB

5GB

10GB

N/A

Outlook Mailbox

10GB

5GB

1GB

5GB

Shared Mailbox

20GB per shared mailbox

SharePoint (Teams)

25GB per SharePoint

If you are currently using more than the allotted storage amounts listed above, you will need to start reducing personal, redundant, duplicate, or unused data to get below the threshold. Users who may require more than the allotted quota for work, academic, or research purposes can submit a request to IT Services for review.

Note: University of Windsor storage should be used only for professional and academic matters. All personal files should be removed.

IT Services has prepared knowledge-base articles to help users with this process.

Any OneDrives or SharePoints (Teams) over-quota as of May 1 will be accessible in read-only mode. Users won't be able to upload, edit, or sync new files to their OneDrive, and existing files will remain as read-only. Users, however, will still be able to download and delete files. In addition, Outlook accounts and shared mailboxes that exceed the allotted quota will not be able to send or receive emails.

The Microsoft 365 service offering is always evolving, and in the upcoming months and years, IT Services anticipates that Microsoft will initiate further changes that will impact users. Its staff appreciates your patience as it works through the changes.

If you have any questions about these changes, reach out to IT Services.