Moving from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365
Macquarie University is moving to Microsoft 365 as our main platform for student email, file storage and collaboration.
Student email moved from Gmail to Outlook on 22 July 2026, and the next stage is to retire Google Drive and other Google Workspace applications.
If you have documents, assignments or other content saved in your Macquarie Google account, you'll need to make arrangements to keep anything you still need.
You already have access to Microsoft 365 applications such as OneDrive, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, so you can start using them for your studies now.
This change does not affect your existing student email address, and you should continue to use Outlook for your University email.
Key dates
Now is a good time to review what you have stored in your Macquarie Google account and decide what you want to keep.
- Begin moving your study files to an appropriate storage location.
- Start using Microsoft 365 for new work.
- Check whether any other websites or services rely on your Google account to sign in.
11 January 2027 – Google Drive becomes read-only and Google Applications are disabled
From 11 January 2027, Google Drive associated with your Macquarie student account will move to read-only access and Google Applications (such as Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms) are disabled.
This means you will no longer be able to:
- create new content
- edit existing work
- upload files.
You will have a temporary period to access and retrieve existing content before your Google Workspace access ends on 10 February 2027. We strongly recommend moving important files before this date, rather than relying on the temporary read-only period.
10 February 2027 – Google Workspace access end date
Read-only access is only a temporary arrangement to help you retrieve existing content. Once access to your Macquarie Google account ends, content remaining in Google Workspace will no longer be accessible through that account.
Make sure you have saved anything you need in a suitable location before the final deadline.
From this date, your Google account will be disabled, and any emails or data remaining in it may no longer be recoverable. Once Google permanently deletes this data, it cannot be restored.
On this date, all remaining student Gmail services will also be disabled. This affects former students who completed their studies more than two years ago and were not eligible for migration to Outlook under the University's two-year mailbox retention policy. Learn more about mailbox updates.
What you need to do
Sign in to your Macquarie Google account and take some time to review your Google Drive, including:
- documents you own
- group assignments
- shared folders.
Remember to check content you may have created in other Google Workspace applications. Decide which files you still need for study, research or personal use, and which you no longer need.
Once you've identified the files you want to keep, download or export them and save them in a suitable location. Use:
- Macquarie Microsoft 365 OneDrive for study-related documents within your storage allowance
- your own storage for personal files
- University-approved storage for research data.
Your Google Drive files will not be moved to OneDrive automatically, so you'll need to arrange the transfer yourself.
After transferring your files, open a selection of important documents in their new location to make sure they work as expected. Google Docs, Sheets and Slides can often be exported into Word, Excel and PowerPoint formats, but some formatting, formulas, comments and other features may change. Check these carefully before deleting your original copies.
If you've shared documents with collaborators, let them know where the new copies will be stored and provide updated sharing links.
Also review any websites or apps where you've used your Macquarie Google account to sign in, and set up another sign-in method or recovery option where available before Google access ends.
To avoid having to move more files later, start creating and storing new study documents in Microsoft 365 now. You can use OneDrive to store files and work with classmates using Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other available Microsoft applications.
Research students: Store research data only in University-approved locations in accordance with research data management requirements. Ask your supervisor or research support team if you are unsure.
Google and Microsoft 365 applications
| Google application | Microsoft 365 alternative |
|---|---|
| Gmail | Outlook |
| Google Drive | OneDrive |
| Google Docs | Word |
| Google Sheets | Excel |
| Google Slides | PowerPoint |
| Google Calendar | Outlook Calendar |
| Google Chat | Teams chat |
| Google Forms | Microsoft Forms |
| Google Keep | OneNote |
Frequently asked questions
For individual files or smaller folders, you can download your content from Google Drive to your device and then upload it to OneDrive.
If you have a large amount of data, Google Takeout may help you download an archive, subject to the settings available on your University account.
Once the files are in OneDrive, check that you can open them before deleting anything from Google Drive.
Google Takeout is the recommended tool to export some or all of your content, including Gmail, Drive storage and photos. It allows you to export and download your Google content to your computer, after which you can load it to your preferred storage.
You can use Takeout to:
- reduce your Macquarie student account storage by downloading your contents to your private storage platform
- recover your Macquarie student account contents before your account is deactivated.
Takeout does not move or delete files. Once you have downloaded your files using Takeout and stored them elsewhere, delete the unwanted files and content in your Macquarie student account and empty the Google Trash.
Consider the following before using Takeout:
- Make sure you are logged into your Macquarie student account and not a personal Google account when using Takeout.
- Delete any unwanted emails, photos and Google Drive files. Empty the Google Trash. This will reduce the size of the Takeout export and save you time.
- If you have large amounts of data, we strongly recommended you separate your exports into separate requests eg one Takeout request for email data, another for My Drive data.
- Your Takeout export request can take a few minutes to several days to process, depending on the type and size of data. You will receive an email when the data is available to be accessed.
- Takeout may have difficulty transferring large emails eg email messages with large attachments. If you receive a transfer error, this could be one of the reasons why. Before you begin the transfer (or if there is an error when doing the transfer and it does not complete), you may want to review large emails and save the attachments in another way or simply delete these messages.
If you have a personal Google account and want to transfer your Macquarie student content there, Google provide a straightforward Transfer your content tool. If you don’t have a personal Google account, you can create one for free.
Note that personal Google accounts only have 15 GB of free storage, however you can purchase additional space from Google at your own expense.
The Google Transfer Tool feature will automatically transfer your Macquarie student Gmail and Drive files and upload them to your personal Google account.
To transfer your Gmail and Drive files:
- Open an incognito/private browsing window or use a different browser than you usually use. This will help to ensure the transfer will start.
- Log in to your Macquarie student email account.
- Access the tool. Alternatively, from the upper-right corner of the browser window in Google, select the ‘Google Account’ icon, and then select ‘Manage your Google Account.’
- From the home page, select ‘Start transfer’ under ‘Transfer your content.’ Then:
- enter and verify a destination account
- select the content to copy and transfer.
- Be patient. According to Google Support, the process may take up to several days to complete, particularly if you have a lot of data to transfer. When the transfer is complete, you will receive a confirmation email.
- Once you have confirmed that your files have been successfully transferred, go into your Google Drive and delete those files you have transferred. Do not delete any Google Docs that you wish to keep in Google.
Many Google Docs, Sheets and Slides files can be downloaded in Microsoft Office formats and then opened in Word, Excel or PowerPoint. However, the conversion may not preserve every feature, particularly complex formatting, formulas, comments or version history. We recommend reviewing important documents after converting them.
If another person owns a file and has shared it with you, it may not be included when you export your own Google Drive. Contact the owner if you need a copy and have permission to retain it. For files you own and have shared with others, save a new copy in an appropriate location and share a new link, as existing Google Drive links may stop working when access ends.
If your group is working on an assignment or shared document in Google Drive, agree who will save the latest version and where the group will continue working. After moving the file, make sure everyone who needs access can open and edit it. Existing Google sharing permissions will not necessarily carry over to OneDrive or Teams.
The planned retirement will apply to all Google Workspace applications associated with your Macquarie student account. If you use tools such as Google Forms, Google Sites or other Google applications for coursework, plan ahead to save important content and arrange an alternative way to continue your work.
Some websites and apps let you sign in using your Google account rather than a separate password. If you've used this option with your Macquarie Google account, review those services and update your sign-in method and recovery details before access ends. Simply changing the contact email address may not change the way you sign in.