Accounts for individuals who are not currently active (enrolled) students or employees were closed on August 4, 2026.  This includes most alumni and former students.  After August 4, 2026, access to Gmail, Drive, Photos, and other Google services was discontinued.

Several alumni may still possess an NAU Google Account due to a variety of criteria, and retirement will begin in the coming months. If you fall into this category, keep an eye on your NAU and alternate email inboxes for more information and exact timelines for your account’s retirement.

We understand that different timelines in retirement may be confusing, especially if you know other alumni who still have access to their NAU email. NAU students retain access to their email account for one year after they were last an active student. Because students leave NAU at different times, alumni email access does not end on the same date for everyone.

If your one-year period had already ended, your Google email account was included in the accounts retired this fall. More recent students and graduates may continue to have email access until their individual one-year period ends, which for some may extend into August 2027. We recognize that losing an email address you may have used for years can be difficult. The difference in timing is not because some alumni are receiving additional access. It is based on when each person was last an active NAU student and the one year of email access provided afterward.

When your NAU Google account is retired, any Google Sites that you own will be deleted along with the rest of the data stored in your account.

Yes, we’ve created an email forwarding tool that allows users to forward all incoming messages to their NAU Gmail address to a personal email account once their Google account is deactivated.

To enroll in email forwarding for your NAU Google Account, log in to id.nau.edu and navigate to the ‘Email Management’ tab. From here, you’ll be able to enter the personal email address you’d like messages sent to your NAU Gmail account forwarded to.

It’s important to note that this forwarding feature will be receive‑only, so you will not be able to send messages from your NAU address once it is deactivated, and your Google account and storage will still be removed as planned.

If you’re unable to log into your NAU Google Account, contact the ITS Service Desk for assistance. As part of our security measures, you may be asked to verify your identity.

If you have a Google Shared Drive associated with your retired NAU Google account, that Shared Drive is deleted along with your account. You’ll no longer be able to access the Drive or its contents.

To create a personal Gmail account, sign up for a new Google account (a personal @gmail.com address), then set a password and add a recovery phone number or email.

Key differences between a personal Gmail account and your NAU Google account include:

• Management: Your NAU account is managed by NAU; a personal Gmail account is managed by you.
• Access after you leave: Personal Gmail accounts are not tied to your student status.
• Personal Gmail: Google may require you to purchase additional storage for large amounts of data.
• Support: Until Google is phased out completely, NAU ITS supports NAU Google accounts; Google supports personal Gmail accounts.

If you have 15 GB of data or less, we recommend using Google Takeout Transfer to move your email and files directly to another Gmail account. This is often the simplest option because your data is transferred automatically without needing to download and re-upload it.

If you have more than 15 GB of data, or if you want to save a copy of your data locally, you can use Google Takeout to download your content before your account is retired.