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
    2023-02-17T20:00:05+00:00

    Live/MSN/Hotmail/Outlook.com are one and the same with a max storage of 15gb

    If you only used web browser access none of your mail data is on the local PC, so forget about MS Storage in whatever version of win you are using.

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  2. Ron-6928 4,991 Reputation points
    2023-02-17T21:20:45+00:00

    This is a similar thread: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/all/exceeding-email-message-storage-allowance/b827e6d9-9721-4eef-921d-75d08ded9469

    That warning seems to be for OneDrive storage. I don't store/sync anything to OneDrive so I can't help much. You might want to read this article if you want to find out more about Onedrive/mailbox storage limits: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/how-does-microsoft-storage-work-2a261b34-421c-4a47-9901-74ef5bd0c426

    more info (edited on Feb 28)

    So it has become clear to me now that our mailbox mail attachments count towards OneDrive storage limit (5 GB). You don't have to store anything in your OneDrive storage to use up the 5 GB limit. If you have 5.1 GB total mail attachments in your mailbox, that counts toward your OneDrive 5 GB limit. Your mailbox may still be under the limit (15 GB) but OneDrive is OVER the limit because of mail attachments. It will trigger the warning and may stop you from sending/receiving email until you delete them to make some room or subscribe to their service. Money grabbing scheme if you ask me.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-02-19T00:11:29+00:00

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-02-28T14:24:35+00:00

    I have my onedrive turned off i was paying them but they were constantly showing like 20 pics of the same pic using up my storage by their mistake sso I do not use it anymore. So i was over my free limit a long time ago. So this will not affect my email since I am not using it?

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-02-28T17:08:00+00:00

    I have exactly the same problem. Support asked me to delete the cache and cookies, which I tried without any success. I then got a link for more support and was directed to a site where I couldn't find out, where this support was meant to be found. I have been using this e-mail-account for almost 30 years! Does anyone have a solution for this problem? (By the way: Recently I have been receivinb enormous amounts of unfiltered, ugly spam. Is Hotmail still more or less trustworthy? I don't want to loose my correspondance, either!)

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