Have a Microsoft 365 Subscription? Why You Might Soon Lose 4TB of Data

Microsoft is eliminating one of the most generous perks of its Microsoft 365 Family and Premium subscriptions. In a quiet support update, the tech giant announced a drastic reduction in its OneDrive cloud storage allowance, cutting the total available household capacity from 6TB down to a pooled 2TB.

Up until this policy change, subscribers could share their plan with up to five other individuals, granting each person an independent 1TB of personal cloud storage. While the ability to share the subscription across six people remains intact, the allocation model has fundamentally shifted. Instead of enjoying individual 1TB quotas, the entire household must now draw from a single, collective 2TB pool.

The controversial move does offer a surprising benefit for single users. Those who never shared their subscriptions and were historically capped at 1TB will now receive the full 2TB pool for themselves, effectively doubling their personal storage. However, this shift also permanently closes a popular loophole. Savvy users previously created up to five “burner” accounts to monopolize the full 6TB allowance for themselves—a workaround that is no longer viable under the new pooled system.

For large households, the transition poses a significant logistical headache. A family of six that has fully utilized their individual 1TB allocations will suddenly find themselves with 4TB of excess data over the new limit. These families now face a difficult choice: delete years of digital memories and documents, migrate their files to competing platforms, or pay Microsoft for additional storage tiers.

Fortunately, existing subscribers will not face an immediate data crisis. The revised storage limits will only take effect upon a user’s first subscription renewal on or after May 2, 2027, providing ample time to audit and manage files. For new customers, however, the restrictive 2TB shared pool applies immediately.