Google storage changes generate new warning message in Drive

As NC State prepares for Google Workspace storage quota changes, campus users may see the following warning message:

“The file is view-only. No edits can be made to this file. Contact file owner for details.”

This message will appear when you access a file stored in Google Drive that meets all of the following criteria:

• You are a commenter or editor of the file.
• The file is not stored in a Shared Drive.
• The file is owned by a user such as a separated employee or graduated student who has left the university. 

The Google Service Team (GST) has started to clean up inactive accounts from NC State’s email domain. The storage quota for these accounts has been restricted, which prompts the message above. To provide campus users with time to adjust to the upcoming storage changes, the GST will not yet delete any data. 

The warning message is your notification that these files need to be handled appropriately or access will be removed. 

To retain access to the file and prevent data loss, you can:

• Move the file to a Shared Drive and confirm collaborators. 
• Make a copy of the file and share with the same collaborators. 

Knowledge base articles, accessible via the NC State IT Service Portal, are also available to help active users move impacted files before deletion occurs. See:

• This File is View-Only. No Edits can be made to this File
• Move Google Drive Files to an NC State Google Shared Drive

Whenever possible, supervisors, managers and faculty who supervise students in any work capacity should remember to both onboard and offboard users correctly via Shared Drives so that file and folder ownership belongs to the university and not to an individual. For more information on offboarding, see NC State’s Offboarding Resources.