What you need to know
- New subscribers will not be able to obtain a OneDrive for Business (Plan 2) subscription with unlimited storage going forward.
- Organizations that already have that type of subscription will be able to renew it and add seats.
- Available OneDrive for Business subscriptions default to 1TB per user but admins can increase that to 5TB per user in some cases.
As file sizes get larger and more work moves to the cloud, the need for online storage continues to grow. The size of storage subscriptions, however, just significantly shrank, at least for OneDrive users. Microsoft no longer options unlimited cloud storage as part of OneDrive for Business plans. Instead, the default limit is 1TB per user.
There are some options for up to 5TB of storage per user, but those are limited to certain customers. In order to qualify, an organization needs to have five or more users with a OneDrive for Business subscription, specifically plan 2. Even then, there is an initial limit of 1TB per user, but admins can increase that to 5TB per user.
"In response to customer demand, Microsoft has streamlined the purchasing process for customers who use OneDrive for Business standalone plans,” said Microsoft to TechRadar. “Customers currently on these plans will still be able to add seats and renew their license.”
Microsoft's statement explains that organizations with a current OneDrive for Business (Plan 2) subscription can continue to keep that option. Those organizations will even be able to add seats and renew their license. The change appears to only affect new subscribers, who will no longer be able to sign up for a plan with unlimited cloud storage.
TechRadar spotted that the change occurred at some point between July 14 and July 28 this year. Microsoft's website for OneDrive for Business subscriptions now only lists OneDrive for Business (Plan 1). There are also Microsoft 365 subscriptions that include cloud storage, but those are also limited to 1TB per user.
