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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

165 answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2024-03-31T21:49:27+00:00

    So very true that this is just money-making from Microsoft. This is a change from the history of Outlook. I may become a Mac-only computer user.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2024-04-01T01:24:01+00:00

    I just moved to gmail after all these years... and left hotmail to minimum. MS tried to make us dependent on them and then hit the users with storage costs, while they still hit us with adds when using hotmail. Its their loss for being greedy....

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2024-04-05T22:08:38+00:00

    I just did a massive cache and history dump and THEN got this error problem in RED... Uggghh.. Did you ever solve this ?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2024-04-06T02:37:32+00:00

    Go to Start>Settings>System: TURN DRIVE BACK UP OFF. Be sure to back up your computer with a portable hard drive.

    Also: Drive Back Up will turn on by default. Be SURE it's off...

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2024-10-27T15:08:31+00:00

    I had the same issue - but no warning at all. Yesterday, new Outlook just stopped sending and receiving emails.

    Microsoft had decideed that I had run out of storage - but didn't tell me. Instead, it gave me a huge list of things to check – my internet connection, my account passwords and communication options, even what version of Outlook I was using – all the time knowing it had turned off the storage tap. And when you’re out of storage space, I found you can’t check your passwords etc. because Outlook fails your request to log-in to your email provider. Eventually, I read that I might have run out of cloud storage and so deleted my OneDrive files - problem solved, though it then took several hours to take effect.

    I have a car, yet I don’t run out of petrol or oil. The car has petrol & oil gauges – and even warns me if tyre pressures are low.

    I have Outlook. Surely it too needs a control panel – showing exactly which version you’re running, how much storage space you have left, the status of all passwords & connection settings, and other key variables. Then, Microsoft would be able to tell me what's wrong - not send me on a wild goose chase checking everything that moves.

    And why does new Outlook download ALL my emails – even those over a decade old – when Mail for Windows did not? Obviously I'll need far more storage. Are Microsoft trying to get me to pay for more storage space? If so, they’re not very good at it. A control panel showing I’m nearly out of storage would be a more effective way to sell me more space than letting me hit the wall then shutting me down. That just makes me think Microsoft can’t be trusted.

    They have produced new Outlook which doesn't cater for users like me whose account name is different from their email address. And their new product doesn't allow me to display different versions of my name for my three email addresses (so I can tell which address an email came from). So I already had my doubts.

    More doubts I can do without.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments