Google Workspace Retirement: Action Required By Jan. 23

Purdue Northwest Students,

We hope your spring semester is off to a good start!

Returning Students: please see the message below for updated action items ahead of our upcoming transition to Microsoft 365.

New Students: On Feb. 23, the Purdue Northwest Google Workspace environment will be retired. Please read through this email carefully for information on what action items are required of you.

Actions Required

By Jan. 23 at 4 pm CST

1. 1. Please complete any cleanup or re-organization of Google items (Emails, Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Rules). After this time, we recommend you do not further reorganize these items until after the migration is complete.
   2. If you utilize starred emails for organization, you should categorize your starred emails with custom labels to ensure that important messages are easy to identify and transfer. (Learn how to create custom labels here.)  While all messages will be transferred, Google messages tagged as “Important” will not be flagged in M365 unless you label them before the migration. Starred messages will be flagged automatically in M365.

By Feb. 9

If you have not already done so, enroll in Microsoft MFA on your mobile device. 

See Microsoft MFA Set-up Instructions

What is changing?

• February 23, 2026 – Google Workspace at PNW will be retired. Services such as email, office tools, etc. will transition to Microsoft 365.
  • Email addresses (username@pnw.edu) will NOT change. Purdue IT will automatically transfer your emails from Google to Microsoft.
  • Passwords will NOT change.
  • You will be required to use Microsoft MFA to access Microsoft applications, including your email.

• Between now and Feb. 23, you may notice a new folder (“_From Google 2026”) in OneDrive where the IT team will begin copying over files. Please disregard this folder until you receive notification that migration is complete. 
• Between now and Feb. 23, you may also notice some of your emails copying over into your Microsoft inbox. Please disregard these until you receive notification that migration is complete. 

Reminder

• Google Drive will no longer be available. Files stored on Google Drive will automatically be transferred to Microsoft OneDrive. (If, after migration is complete, a user feels information is missing, they should contact the CSC as soon as possible. In most cases, data should be able to be recovered.)
• Sign-in with Google (using your username@pnw.edu email address) will no longer function. PNW faculty, staff and students who use that to sign into software, websites or mobile devices should transition to a personal email address immediately.
• Google Photos will no longer be available. Download, copy or move any photos that you would like to save to a personal storage location (for example, a personal Google Photos account, Apple iCloud, OneDrive, Flickr, etc.)

Visit the PNW Information Technology Services webpage for additional information and FAQs. For questions and concerns not addressed there, please contact the CSC at csc@pnw.edu.

Thank you,

Customer Service Center