Graduation Data Migration Guide

Congratulations on your graduation! Your school-issued email account will be deactivated after graduation according to the schedule detailed in an email from the  Google Workspace Administrator.  This allows time for managing CAO applications and college place offers. After your account is deactivated, you will no longer have access to any of the services or content contained in your school-provided Google account. Under GDPR, individuals have a "Right to Data Portability," meaning they should be able to take their personal data with them when they leave a service . If you wish to retain a copy of your school files, please follow the steps below before your account is deactivated. 

Pro-Tips Before You Start

• Create a personal account: you will need a personal Gmail account to receive your school data. 

• Check Storage Space: Your personal Gmail account has a set limit of GB of free storage. Check this and if the data in your school account exceeds this, the transfer will fail. You will need to purchase additional storage to receive your school data. 

• Ownership Matters: The transfer tool only copies files you OWN or can EDIT.

• Handle Shared Files: If you need a copy of a file shared with you, you must first right-click the file and select "Make a copy" to become the owner.

• Allow Time: A full transfer can take up to one week to complete. Start the transfer process well before the date your account is scheduled to be deactivated. 

How to Access the Transfer Tool

You can access the Google Transfer tool using one of the two methods below.

Method 1: Using the Chromebook Content Transfer App

On a school-managed Chromebook, your IT department may have provided a direct link.

1. Sign in to your school-issued Chromebook.

2. Click the Launcher (circle icon in the bottom-left corner).

3. Look for an app named Content Transfer

4. Open the app to be taken directly to the transfer setup page.

5. Follow the on-screen instructions to transfer your content. 

If you are unable to locate the content transfer app, use method 2 below. 

Method 2: Manual Access via Google Profile

1. Open Chrome and sign in to your SCHOOL Google account.

2. Visit myaccount.google.com.

3. On the left-hand menu, click Data & privacy.

4. Scroll down to the "Transfer your content" section and click Start transfer.

5. Follow the prompts to transfer content to a personal Gmail account. 

What is NOT Transferred?

Certain items cannot be moved using this specific tool. If you need these, you should use Google Takeout to download an archive manually. See the instructions below. 

How to Download Data from YouTube and Photos (Google Takeout)

The transfer tool described above will only transfer data from Gmail and Google Drive. If you have photos, videos, or data in other Google products, you can use Google Takeout to DOWNLOAD a copy of your data. It is your responsibility to upload these files to your new account. 

1. Open Chrome and sign in to your SCHOOL Google account.

2. Go to takeout.google.com/settings/takeout.

3. On the 'Create a new export' page, click Deselect all.

4. Scroll down and select the data you want to download (e.g. Google Photos) Tip: You can click the album/data links to choose specific content, but most students will want to keep everything.

5. Scroll to the bottom and click Next step.

6. Under 'Delivery method,' choose Send download link via email.

7. Under 'Frequency,' choose Export once.

8. Click Create export.

9. Google will start creating a file of your data. This can take several hours or days.

10. When the file is ready, you will receive an email in your school account with a link to download the archive. Download the file and save it to your personal storage (e.g., a personal Google Drive, external hard drive, or cloud service).