News & Updates • August 17, 2026
What to know about
the retirement of Google at NAU
Information about the upcoming retirement of Google Workspace and the transition to Microsoft 365 in 2026 and 2027.
What’s happening
During the course of 2026 and 2027, NAU will be migrating student email and file storage from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365. NAU Google Accounts will be discontinued, and student email and file storage will be migrated into the Microsoft 365 suite.
Why this change is happening
This change is a result of ongoing efforts to reduce spending at the university in alignment with current strategic finance initiatives.
After Google changed its storage offering model in 2022, universities were no longer able to receive free and unlimited storage. At the time, this resulted in NAU implementing a 25-Gigabyte storage cap on NAU Google Accounts to reduce financial impact.
However, since NAU also licenses file storage and email through the university’s partnership with Microsoft, maintaining both platforms has brought on duplicate and unsustainable storage costs, as well as an inconsistent experience between providers for our users.
With Microsoft 365 already serving as NAU’s primary platform for faculty and staff, bringing student email and file storage into a single university platform also brings the added benefits of stronger information security, data governance, and compliance across our user affiliations.
What the retirement of Google and the migration to Microsoft 365 will look like
Due to the extremely large cache of NAU Google Accounts for active and former Lumberjacks, our technical and project teams have broken up the retirement of accounts (and subsequent migrations to Microsoft 365) into separate phases to reduce user impact and support load.
Accounts belonging to former students and former employees were closed on August 4th, 2026. Former students and former employees will not be migrated into Microsoft 365. This change also means that former students and former employees of the university will no longer receive lifetime email through the university after graduation.
At the time of this publication, there is no solidified deadline for the retirement of active users’ Google Accounts. However, the university’s current objective is to migrate all active user accounts into Microsoft 365 by Fall 2027.
When specific timelines are determined, you’ll receive multiple notices for your exact migration timeline and any instructions or next steps to take. If you haven’t already, we suggest updating your contact information in LOUIE with a personal email to ensure you don’t miss any communications.
Moving from Google to Microsoft 365
From a technical perspective, most content currently stored in your NAU Google Account will transfer over to the Microsoft 365 suite without issue. Any emails in your Gmail inbox will transfer over into Microsoft Outlook, and files stored in Google Drive will be moved into Microsoft OneDrive.
While most file types from Google will have an equivalent conversion in Microsoft, some more platform-specific services like Google Forms and Google Sites will not transfer over. Additionally, some embedded services such as third-party add-ins to Google or embedded comments inside Google Docs will not transfer over. If you have questions about a specific file type or feature transferring to Microsoft 365, contact us.
You can find NAU-tailored trainings for Microsoft Teams online, and view our support articles for Microsoft products to get started with Microsoft today.
Using Google Workspace in the interim
For now, we recommend users continue to use existing Google resources while beginning to create any long-term content in Microsoft 365 that will need to be maintained after Summer 2027. This will help spread the migration effort over time and help you get familiar with the Microsoft 365 platform.
Where to find more information and support
Our primary source of information related to this change is our Google Migration Project Webpage. We’ll be regularly updating this webpage with information, resources, frequently asked questions, and other announcements related to this project.
For questions or concerns about this change, contact the ITS Service Desk. Our support staff can help answer any questions you may have.
A final note from ITS
We understand that this change is extremely disruptive for many Lumberjacks, some of whom have used their NAU Google Accounts for professional contacts, personal accounts, records, and subscriptions. For many, their NAU Google Account was a direct link back to their education, investment, and time spent at NAU. We’re consistently working to make this transition as smooth as we can for our community, and we appreciate your patience as we navigate this difficult change.
Contacts