Get started with Google Apps Unlimited

Welcome to Google Apps Unlimited!

If you're new to Google Apps, use this guide after you've signed up for Google Apps Unlimited. It will guide you through the basic steps to get Google Apps and Google Vault up and running for your organization.

If you're an existing Google Apps administrator who has upgraded to Google Apps Unlimited, you've already completed most of these steps! In that case, just check out step 5 to get started with Google Vault.

If you used Vault before you upgraded to Google Apps Unlimited, it's important to see step 5 to verify your retention rules

1. Verify your domain

When you signed your business up for Google Apps Unlimited, you provided the domain name that you want to use with Google services. This is the unique name that appears after www. in your web site address. Before your organization can use Google services with this domain, you'll need to verify that you own it (if you didn't do so during the sign up process).

See Verify domain ownership to learn how.

2. Add users

Before a user in your organization can begin using your Google services, you need to add the user to your Google for Work account. This gives the user a personal account for accessing Google Drive and other Google services.

You can add users individually or you can add several at once. You can even invite them to create their own username and password. See options for adding users to get started.

3. Set up Google Drive for your organization

After you sign up for Google Apps Unlimited and add your users, Google Drive is automatically available for everyone. To quickly get up and running with Drive in your organization, see Drive setup for administrators.

The Drive setup guide above is particularly suited for small or medium-sized organizations. In a larger enterprise, you might prefer to push a silent installation across your enterprise, or you might want to control which users can sync files from their computer to Google Drive. Learn more
4. Set up (or disable) other Google Apps services

When you sign up for Google Apps Unlimited, Google Drive and other core Google Apps services (such as Calendar, Contacts, and Hangouts) are added to your Google account and become available to your users.

Gmail is also available to your users, but only if you choose to set it up. If you want to use Gmail in your organization, you must first route your mail to Google servers. See How do I begin? if you want to activate Gmail.
5. Set up Google Vault

Google Apps Unlimited comes with Google Vault for everyone in your organization. You can use Google Vault to search across all files in Drive and export files based on searches. You can also use Vault to retain, archive, search, and export your organization's email for your eDiscovery and compliance needs.

If you'd like to take advantage of Vault, see Get started: Vault administrators.

If you have recently upgraded to Google Apps Unlimited and you were previously using Vault, remember that Vault is automatically available to everyone in your organization. This could mean that additional users are now subject to data retention rules. Make sure that your retention rules are set accurately for all users to prevent unintentional data loss. See this article to learn more.
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