Microsoft Drastically Cuts OneDrive Storage Plans, Punishes Every Cloud User
When Microsoft says you can back up an unlimited amount of data to the cloud, it doesn’t really want you to back up and unlimited amount of data to the cloud. And if you do, everyone gets punished.
The OneDrive team just announced that “a small number of users” uploaded too much data to OneDrive. So how do you react to something like that? Why, you punish everyone. Discontinue unlimited cloud storage, remove paid storage plans, reduce free cloud storage so much that you have your customers looking for more generous alternatives.
Unlimited doesn’t really mean unlimited
When Microsoft rolled out OneDrive, it offered 20GB of cloud storage space to Office 365 subscribers. By the time OneDrive turned one, that amount of space went from 20 GB to unlimited. Now, when someone says unlimited, you figure that you can upload or back up an unlimited amount of data to the cloud, right? Wrong!
“Since we started to roll out unlimited cloud storage to Office 365 consumer subscribers, a small number of users backed up numerous PCs and stored entire movie collections and DVR recordings. In some instances, this exceeded 75 TB per user or 14,000 times the average. Instead of focusing on extreme backup scenarios, we want to remain focused on delivering high-value productivity and collaboration experiences that benefit the majority of OneDrive users,” the One Drive Team explained.
The new OneDrive storage plans
Microsoft is making some big changes to how much cloud storage space it offers to OneDrive customers. The main change is that unlimited cloud storage is off the table. Another important change applies to how much cloud storage you can purchase – a lot less than before. And let’s not forget all the free OneDrive users out there. The changes Microsoft plans to implement hurt them the most.
Here’s a closer look at these changes:
Office 365 subscribers used to get unlimited storage space. They’ve been bumped down to 1TB.
If you wanted to get a paid OneDrive plan, Microsoft offered a 100GB or a 200GB one. Not anymore. New users won’t see the option to purchase a 100GB or a 200GB plan; Microsoft will offer them a 50GB plan instead.
When Microsoft rolled out OneDrive to the public, it offered 7GB of cloud storage space for free. Later on, it bumped it to 15GB and added a 15GB camera roll storage bonus. That’s going away too. Microsoft will shrink the free offering to 5GB instead of 15GB and will discontinue the camera roll bonus.
UPDATE: Microsoft is giving free OneDrive users the chance to keep their free cloud storage. Details here.
What’s going to happen next?
OneDrive will notify Office 365 subscribers who uploaded more than 1TB to the cloud. These subscribers will be given the option to keep their increased storage for at least 12 months. If you feel that this OneDrive change is reason enough to give up on your Office 365 subscription, Microsoft will give you a pro-rated refund.
If you paid for a 100GB or a 200GB OneDrive plan, Microsoft says that nothing will change.
OneDrive Free users will be notified if they have more than 5GB of data in the cloud. If they have more than that, they’ll be given the option to keep their increased storage for at least 12 months. OneDrive Free users who need more than 5GB can get 1TB by redeeming a free one-year Office 365 Personal subscription (credit card required).
Check out this FAQ if you have more questions about the changes to OneDrive’s storage plans.
More generous alternatives to OneDrive
Now that Microsoft plans to cut OneDrive Free to a measly 5GB, you might want to start looking for more generous alternatives. There are plenty of cloud services out there. Here are some great alternatives:
One more reason to frown at Microsoft
Upset that Microsoft is punishing everyone just because a few users uploaded too much data to the cloud? Here’s another reason to be upset at Microsoft.
The company wants to discontinue Sunrise, one of the best calendar apps out there. Microsoft will take all the features that make Sunrise great and port them to its Outlook app. When that’s done, Microsoft will discontinue Sunrise. Oh, and in the meanwhile, no more app updates for Sunrise. The Sunrise team is busy making Outlook great, meaning it doesn't have time for updates.
Read more about this topic here.
The OneDrive team just announced that “a small number of users” uploaded too much data to OneDrive. So how do you react to something like that? Why, you punish everyone. Discontinue unlimited cloud storage, remove paid storage plans, reduce free cloud storage so much that you have your customers looking for more generous alternatives.
Unlimited doesn’t really mean unlimited
When Microsoft rolled out OneDrive, it offered 20GB of cloud storage space to Office 365 subscribers. By the time OneDrive turned one, that amount of space went from 20 GB to unlimited. Now, when someone says unlimited, you figure that you can upload or back up an unlimited amount of data to the cloud, right? Wrong!
“Since we started to roll out unlimited cloud storage to Office 365 consumer subscribers, a small number of users backed up numerous PCs and stored entire movie collections and DVR recordings. In some instances, this exceeded 75 TB per user or 14,000 times the average. Instead of focusing on extreme backup scenarios, we want to remain focused on delivering high-value productivity and collaboration experiences that benefit the majority of OneDrive users,” the One Drive Team explained.
The new OneDrive storage plans
Microsoft is making some big changes to how much cloud storage space it offers to OneDrive customers. The main change is that unlimited cloud storage is off the table. Another important change applies to how much cloud storage you can purchase – a lot less than before. And let’s not forget all the free OneDrive users out there. The changes Microsoft plans to implement hurt them the most.
Here’s a closer look at these changes:
- 1TB of OneDrive storage for Office 365 Home, Personal, or University subscribers, starting now.
- 50GB for $1.99 per month, starting early 2016.
- 5GB for free users, starting early 2016.
Office 365 subscribers used to get unlimited storage space. They’ve been bumped down to 1TB.
If you wanted to get a paid OneDrive plan, Microsoft offered a 100GB or a 200GB one. Not anymore. New users won’t see the option to purchase a 100GB or a 200GB plan; Microsoft will offer them a 50GB plan instead.
When Microsoft rolled out OneDrive to the public, it offered 7GB of cloud storage space for free. Later on, it bumped it to 15GB and added a 15GB camera roll storage bonus. That’s going away too. Microsoft will shrink the free offering to 5GB instead of 15GB and will discontinue the camera roll bonus.
UPDATE: Microsoft is giving free OneDrive users the chance to keep their free cloud storage. Details here.
What’s going to happen next?
OneDrive will notify Office 365 subscribers who uploaded more than 1TB to the cloud. These subscribers will be given the option to keep their increased storage for at least 12 months. If you feel that this OneDrive change is reason enough to give up on your Office 365 subscription, Microsoft will give you a pro-rated refund.
If you paid for a 100GB or a 200GB OneDrive plan, Microsoft says that nothing will change.
OneDrive Free users will be notified if they have more than 5GB of data in the cloud. If they have more than that, they’ll be given the option to keep their increased storage for at least 12 months. OneDrive Free users who need more than 5GB can get 1TB by redeeming a free one-year Office 365 Personal subscription (credit card required).
Check out this FAQ if you have more questions about the changes to OneDrive’s storage plans.
More generous alternatives to OneDrive
Now that Microsoft plans to cut OneDrive Free to a measly 5GB, you might want to start looking for more generous alternatives. There are plenty of cloud services out there. Here are some great alternatives:
- pCloud – gives you 10GB for free and an extra 10GB for referring your friends.
- Yandex.Disk – Russia’s Yandex gets you started with 10GB for free and asks you to refer friendd and earn an additional 10GB.
- Zeospace – start with 1GB and work your way up to 10+GB of free storage space.
- CloudMe – this European cloud service stores everything in the EU. It offers between 3GB and 19GB for free.
- Google Drive – 15GB of cloud storage space for free, just for having a Google account.
- MEGAsync – puts a whopping 50GB of cloud storage space at your disposal. The catch is that free accounts come with limited bandwidth.
One more reason to frown at Microsoft
Upset that Microsoft is punishing everyone just because a few users uploaded too much data to the cloud? Here’s another reason to be upset at Microsoft.
The company wants to discontinue Sunrise, one of the best calendar apps out there. Microsoft will take all the features that make Sunrise great and port them to its Outlook app. When that’s done, Microsoft will discontinue Sunrise. Oh, and in the meanwhile, no more app updates for Sunrise. The Sunrise team is busy making Outlook great, meaning it doesn't have time for updates.
Read more about this topic here.
