Microsoft slashes OneDrive storage allocations

Microsoft has dramatically reduced the storage allocations for its OneDrive cloud backup service, including eliminating unlimited storage options for Office 365 Home, Personal and University subscribers.

The company will also slash its free OneDrive storage allocation to 5 GB from 15 GB and stop offering 100 GB and 200 GB paid plans for new users. To replace these plans Microsoft will introduce a 50 GB plan for US$1.99 per month early next year.

In an FAQ announcing the changes, Microsoft blamed the “extreme backup scenarios” of a small number of users backing up entire movie PCs and movie collections. Some users were backing up over 75 TB of data, or 14,000 times the average.

Customers found exceeding their allocation will have 90 days to reduce the quota before their OneDrive accounts become read-only. Users will then have nine months to view and download their files before accounts are locked. Content may be deleted after a year without taking action.

Users on unlimited storage plans will be able to keep their increased storage over 1 TB for a year until 2 November. For customers exceeding the allocation, data will then be made read-only for six months and may be deleted after a further year.

By way of compensation, Microsoft will offer a free 1-year subscription to Office 365 Personal to users with over 5 GB of storage.

The company is also offering a pro-rated refund to paying Office 365 customers who feel the change means the service no longer suits their needs.

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