Outlook saying I need more storage.

Anonymous
2023-02-17T14:48:45+00:00

Hi there,

I've used a live.com account for years, and have always logged in through my browser to view emails. Today, the page loaded with a thin red notification at the top stating "From February 1, you'll need more storage to send or receive email."

Obviously, for a start, it's 16 days past February 1 which is weird, and my email is all working fine at the moment.

Clicking on "Manage Storage" opens a window, which states that my total used for my Microsoft Storage (things backed up from a laptop I hardly use, didn't even realise that they were being backed up to be honest) is 7.8GB out of a 5GB limit. I tried unsyncing my desktop on said laptop, but all it's done is remove everything from that laptop, which is pretty frustrating as I just wanted to leave the data on there and just free up some space on the Microsoft storage.

Anyway, I'm not overly bothered by that by now, as I'm more worried about my emails not working. Separate to the Microsoft storage, it lists my "Email Storage", which is 7.6GB out of 15GB. Does anyone know why I'm getting notified that I'm in danger of losing my email and pushed to buy a ridiculously expensive price plan?

Thanks in advance

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Account management, security, and privacy

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-03-08T14:15:56+00:00

    I think deleting the 'sent' folder is the key. I totally cleaned out my one drive/outlook storage etc. Even though there were loads of emails that I would like to have kept. I just lost patience with it. But I found I had 12,000 items in my 'sent' folder. Removing then look me down below the stupid threshold. I really resent having to delete all my correspondence though and will probably take my account elsewhere.
    It's still saying I'm 82% full and there is literally NOTHING left to delete. I deleted all from the 'deleted' folder too. Sigh. It now says "Enjoy your empty inbox' Total money grab by Outlook.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-03-07T14:17:02+00:00

    Many weeks have passed and after so many complaints and questions by the community the issues/bugs in Outlook keep getting worse and now people report that they lose access to important emails.

    Given that the Customer Support of one of the biggest companies in the world has not bothered getting back to any of us, let me propose a solution:

    1. Go to Outlook settings -> General -> Privacy and data and select "Export mailbox".
    2. After a few days you will receive an email with a link to download your entire mailbox in a .pst file.
    3. Follow the instructions here https://support.google.com/a/users/topic/28813 on how to import this .pst file to Gmail.
    4. Wave goodbye to Microsoft.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-03-07T13:23:23+00:00

    Yes, it's terrible. If I'd known I would have taken snapshots of all my important emails! Too late now... I can't get access. It's the end of an era! I can't tell a scam from an actual Microsoft takeover.

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    2 people found this answer helpful.
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  4. Anonymous
    2023-03-07T13:20:35+00:00

    Same problem. Also, I tried their suggestion of 'Deleting Inbox emails pre-12 months' (reluctantly). Two hours later it is still spinning, and won't allow me access to anything but the top 20 emails! There's something fishy going on here... I may need to abandon my hotmail account (after 25 years).

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-03-06T19:52:58+00:00

    I tried deleting a lot number of old emails and folders. The cation still exists. Please let me know what should I do about it.

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