Google Workspace to Microsoft 365

Our aim is to improve your student experience when collaborating with your peers and teaching staff such as lecturers, supervisors, tutors, etc.

Globally, Microsoft 365 applications are widely used for collaboration, and you already have access to them at the University – except for Microsoft Outlook. By moving your email system to Microsoft Outlook, we are streamlining your experience, so you no longer need to switch between Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 applications depending on your situation. You will be able to work solely within the Microsoft platform, just like your lecturers, supervisors and tutors.

We aim to find the right balance when choosing the most appropriate approach and timing for transition. At this stage, we plan to complete the email system migration by the end of 2024 and continue supporting you in transferring your Google Drive data to Microsoft OneDrive by the end of 2025. If the timeline changes, we will let you know.

More information will be available as we progress, so stay tuned, bookmark this page and check back regularly for the latest updates. In the meantime, check out the  “Actions required: Things you can do to prepare from now” section above to see what you can do to prepare.

No, your email addresses will not change. You will continue to have the same primary (e.g. username@student.unimelb.edu.au) and alias email address (typically firstname.lastname@student.unimelb.edu.au).

Please note: if you have automatic mail-forwarding set up in Gmail, you will have to set it up again after the move to Microsoft Outlook. More information on how to do this will be provided later.

You have until the end of 2025 to move your files to Microsoft OneDrive.

By the end of 2025, Google Workspace will no longer be supported, and your files will no longer be accessible from Google Drive.

What this means:

• If you are still a University of Melbourne student after 2025: you will no longer be able to access your files in Google Drive. You will only have access to Microsoft OneDrive.
• If you are no longer a University of Melbourne student after 2025: while the University provides access to some systems for up to 12 months after you complete your course, this does not apply to unsupported systems. You will only be able to access files located in your University-supported Microsoft OneDrive.

Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more, are used globally in the workplace. Since you already have access to these tools, becoming familiar with them now will make your transition into the workforce smoother after your studies.

By embracing a single unified system for both staff and students, and the potential integration with a wide range of other systems in future, we aim to further enhance collaboration across the University and improve your experience.

The user interface is the main difference between the two platforms. However, many features found in Google Workspace applications are also available in Microsoft 365.

With Microsoft 365 applications, you can:

• Save a document in real-time – when you store your Microsoft Office documents (e.g. Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc) in OneDrive, all changes are saved in real-time. This feature works in both the desktop applications and the web browser.
• Co-edit – you and your peers can collaborate on the same Microsoft Office document in real-time.
• Feature-rich – access a wider range and more powerful document formatting features.
• Automatic updates – sync your documents across multiple devices. Did you know you can download Microsoft 365 applications on up to 5 devices? For instructions, refer to the ‘Can I install Office apps on my desktop/ laptop/ mobile devices?’ section on this page: https://studentit.unimelb.edu.au/software/microsoft-365.
• Offline access – use desktop applications to access your documents offline when you don’t have internet access. While you will need to manually save your documents in this scenario, they will be automatically synced (if you store them in your OneDrive) once you are connected to the internet.

Absolutely! When you store your Microsoft Office documents (e.g. Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) in Microsoft OneDrive, you can share a link with your peers for real-time collaboration.

Please note: after moving your files from Google Drive to Microsoft OneDrive, you will need to share the file again with your peers so they can collaborate with you.

This depends on your needs. The web version is ideal for accessing documents on the go. When you need the full-feature suite, we highly recommend using the desktop version.

For further instructions on installing desktop applications, refer to the ‘Can I install Office apps on my desktop/ laptop/ mobile devices?’ section on this page: https://studentit.unimelb.edu.au/software/microsoft-365.

You can follow the steps on this page: https://ask.unimelb.edu.au/faq/6182/.

We recommend deleting your files from Google Drive, once they are safely stored in Microsoft OneDrive, to avoid unnecessary duplication and management of two different versions in different locations.

Yes, up until end of 2024, you can still use Google Drive after migrating your files to Microsoft OneDrive. However, from early 2025, you will only be able to access existing files in your Google Drive, and you will no longer be able to add new ones.

We do not recommend adding more files to your Google Drive after migrating your files to avoid repeating the migration process for the newly added files.

Instead, we recommend that you start using Microsoft 365 applications and store your files in Microsoft OneDrive – immediately realising the benefits that Microsoft platform can offer you.

To learn more about Microsoft 365 applications, refer to this page: https://unimelbcloud.sharepoint.com/teams/Microsoft365/.

To find the right storage platform for your research data, refer to this page: https://dataservices.research.unimelb.edu.au/finder/.

Follow the steps for Google Takeout on this page: https://ask.unimelb.edu.au/faq/6182/ to convert your files into a standard Microsoft Office format.

The changes we are implementing only relate to University-supported Google Workspace applications when accessed via your ‘@student.unimelb.edu.au’ account. The list of these applications is listed on this page: https://studentit.unimelb.edu.au/software/google-workspace.

You can still create a personal Google account to access any of the Google Workspace applications, if you choose to do so.

Please refer to the 'Access to student email account after graduation’ section on this page: https://ask.unimelb.edu.au/faq/5614/.