Want to Keep Your Free OneDrive Cloud Storage? Here's How!
Right now, you have 15GB of free cloud storage space, with an extra 15GB if you enabled the option to sync your camera roll with OneDrive. But, because Microsoft decided to make some major changes to OneDrive’s storage plans, all those gigabytes will be taken away.
The free 15GB plan will be reduced to a mere 5GB while the 15GB camera roll bonus will be discontinued. The good news is that there is something you can do about it. There is a way to keep your free OneDrive storage. The catch is that you have to act quickly, because this is a limited-time offer.
How can I keep my free OneDrive cloud storage?
As you can imagine, lots of OneDrive users were not happy with Microsoft’s decision to drastically cut OneDrive cloud storage plans. The uproar wasn’t enough to make Microsoft change its mind; OneDrive storage plans will be restructured as initially announced. But, it got Microsoft thinking about the damage it’s doing to free OneDrive users. To address the frustration and disappointment it caused, Microsoft introduced a new offer that lets free OneDrive users keep their 15GB of cloud storage space and their 15GB camera roll bonus.
To tell Microsoft that you want to keep your free OneDrive storage, you must visit this page and click on "Keep your free storage".
Sign into your Microsoft account, grant the app a few permissions, and you’re done. You get to keep your 15GB and your 15GB camera roll bonus.
Please note that this is a time-limited offer. You must redeem it by January 31, 2016.
If you don’t redeem it by then, your free OneDrive storage will be changed to 5GB come 2016.
Let’s say you fail to redeem it by January 31, 2016. What happens next? If you have more than 5GB in the cloud, you’ll get to keep that extra free OneDrive storage for “at least 12 months”. Furthermore, Microsoft will send you an email and offer one free year of Office 365 Personal, which comes with 1TB of storage.
I’m an Office 365 subscriber. Can I keep my unlimited OneDrive storage?
The simple answer is no. Sorry about that. The days when you could store an unlimited amount of data into the cloud are gone. OneDrive storage for Office 365 Home, Personal, or University subscribers has been cut from unlimited to 1TB. Here’s why.
If you have more than 1TB of data in the cloud, you can keep that increased OneDrive storage for “at least 12 months”. This should be enough time for you to figure out what you want to do next. If you decide that what you want to next is give up on your Office 365 subscription, then you need to know that you can get a refund.
Will my paid plan get changed?
No, it won’t. Early 2016, OneDrive’s 100 GB and 200 GB paid plans will be replaced with a 50GB plan, priced at $1.99 per month. If you purchased a 100GB or 200GB plan, you can keep all that storage space; Microsoft says that current customers of standalone OneDrive storage plans will not be affected.
Quick recap
“We’ve heard clearly from our Windows and OneDrive fans about the frustration and disappointment we have caused. We realize the announcement came across as blaming customers for using our product. For this, we are truly sorry and would like to apologize to the community,” said Douglas Pearce, Group Program Manager at Microsoft.
It seems like Microsoft is deliberately shooting itself in the foot. You don’t want to drive people away from your cloud service, not when there are tons of alternatives out there.
Personally, I’m going to give up on OneDrive and focus on Google Drive. Why? Because I have 117GB of cloud storage on Google Drive: 15GB for free, 2GB for completing a security checkup, and 100GB from an ASUS promo.
In related news...
Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, recently unveiled the year’s most searched celebrities, top news stories, top sports moments, and more. Go check out Bing’s end of year recap.
If you think that Microsoft is treating its customers unfairly, then you’re right. The thing is that Microsoft isn’t the only one to screw with its customers. Long-time rival Apple is no stranger to this practice. Here are 5 examples that show how Apple blatantly rips you off.
The free 15GB plan will be reduced to a mere 5GB while the 15GB camera roll bonus will be discontinued. The good news is that there is something you can do about it. There is a way to keep your free OneDrive storage. The catch is that you have to act quickly, because this is a limited-time offer.
How can I keep my free OneDrive cloud storage?
As you can imagine, lots of OneDrive users were not happy with Microsoft’s decision to drastically cut OneDrive cloud storage plans. The uproar wasn’t enough to make Microsoft change its mind; OneDrive storage plans will be restructured as initially announced. But, it got Microsoft thinking about the damage it’s doing to free OneDrive users. To address the frustration and disappointment it caused, Microsoft introduced a new offer that lets free OneDrive users keep their 15GB of cloud storage space and their 15GB camera roll bonus.
To tell Microsoft that you want to keep your free OneDrive storage, you must visit this page and click on "Keep your free storage".
Sign into your Microsoft account, grant the app a few permissions, and you’re done. You get to keep your 15GB and your 15GB camera roll bonus.
Please note that this is a time-limited offer. You must redeem it by January 31, 2016.
If you don’t redeem it by then, your free OneDrive storage will be changed to 5GB come 2016.
Let’s say you fail to redeem it by January 31, 2016. What happens next? If you have more than 5GB in the cloud, you’ll get to keep that extra free OneDrive storage for “at least 12 months”. Furthermore, Microsoft will send you an email and offer one free year of Office 365 Personal, which comes with 1TB of storage.
I’m an Office 365 subscriber. Can I keep my unlimited OneDrive storage?
The simple answer is no. Sorry about that. The days when you could store an unlimited amount of data into the cloud are gone. OneDrive storage for Office 365 Home, Personal, or University subscribers has been cut from unlimited to 1TB. Here’s why.
If you have more than 1TB of data in the cloud, you can keep that increased OneDrive storage for “at least 12 months”. This should be enough time for you to figure out what you want to do next. If you decide that what you want to next is give up on your Office 365 subscription, then you need to know that you can get a refund.
Will my paid plan get changed?
No, it won’t. Early 2016, OneDrive’s 100 GB and 200 GB paid plans will be replaced with a 50GB plan, priced at $1.99 per month. If you purchased a 100GB or 200GB plan, you can keep all that storage space; Microsoft says that current customers of standalone OneDrive storage plans will not be affected.
Quick recap
- Microsoft will modify OneDrive storage plans as announced.
- Free OneDrive users have until January 31, 2016 to redeem an offer and keep their 15GB of cloud storage (and their 15GB camera roll bonus).
- Microsoft is sorry, but not sorry enough to give up on its plans.
“We’ve heard clearly from our Windows and OneDrive fans about the frustration and disappointment we have caused. We realize the announcement came across as blaming customers for using our product. For this, we are truly sorry and would like to apologize to the community,” said Douglas Pearce, Group Program Manager at Microsoft.
It seems like Microsoft is deliberately shooting itself in the foot. You don’t want to drive people away from your cloud service, not when there are tons of alternatives out there.
Personally, I’m going to give up on OneDrive and focus on Google Drive. Why? Because I have 117GB of cloud storage on Google Drive: 15GB for free, 2GB for completing a security checkup, and 100GB from an ASUS promo.
In related news...
Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, recently unveiled the year’s most searched celebrities, top news stories, top sports moments, and more. Go check out Bing’s end of year recap.
If you think that Microsoft is treating its customers unfairly, then you’re right. The thing is that Microsoft isn’t the only one to screw with its customers. Long-time rival Apple is no stranger to this practice. Here are 5 examples that show how Apple blatantly rips you off.
