My Storage tier changed overnight, and now I can't send any emails (URGENT)

Matt Gough 0 Reputation points
2026-04-28T18:31:21.42+00:00

I have been paying for the 1TB tier worth of storage in onedrive for years now. Randomly, a few days ago, my storage went from 1TB to 100GB. I currently have 500GB worth of files still there in the account, so I cannot send any emails now due to breaching my supposed new storage capcity limit.
It is not a billing issue, as microsoft have continued to take my usual payment for the 1TB tier out, and no payment has been missed.

This is clearly a glitch/numbers error, but I can't email support since I cannot send emails, unless I just delete 400GB of stuff which I just can't do. This is totally unacceptable.

This is urgent as I have just moved house and currently cannot send emails to solicitors and other important parties involved.

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneDrive | Other | Windows
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  1. AI answer

    2026-04-28T18:31:48.11+00:00

    Exceeding the Microsoft cloud storage quota blocks email sending and receiving, even if the mailbox itself is not full. When storage drops from a higher tier (for example, 1 TB) to a lower tier (such as 100 GB) while more data is already stored (for example, 500 GB), the account is treated as over quota. In that state:

    1. Outlook.com cannot send or receive email.
    2. OneDrive becomes read‑only and cannot upload, edit, or sync new files.
    3. Some Microsoft 365 services (including Teams attachments) stop working.
    4. If the over‑quota state persists for months, OneDrive content may eventually be deleted.

    To restore email and OneDrive functionality, the account must be brought back under the unified storage quota in one of these ways:

    1. Buy or restore sufficient storage
      • Confirm that the active subscription still includes the 1 TB OneDrive entitlement and that it is applied to the correct Microsoft account.
      • If the subscription is active but the quota still shows 100 GB, purchase additional storage or upgrade using the available options such as buy more storage or the upgrade options referenced in the Microsoft storage FAQs.
    2. Free up storage so total usage is below the current quota
      • Use the tools provided to identify and remove large items:
        • View the largest files on your OneDrive and delete unneeded files or move them off OneDrive.
        • Reduce the size of Microsoft Loop workspaces by deleting unnecessary pages or page‑version history as described in the Loop storage limits article.
        • Open Microsoft Designer projects and delete unneeded images or projects.
      • Also free up Outlook.com storage if needed using the mailbox cleanup guidance linked from the Outlook.com storage limits article.
    3. Wait for storage changes to propagate after cleanup or purchase
      • After storage is freed or additional storage is purchased, there can be a delay before the quota state updates.
      • Once the account is back under quota, new emails sent during the blocked period will not be delivered automatically; senders must resend them. Any emails sent to the account while over quota are returned to the sender.

    If email remains blocked even after storage is clearly under quota and the subscription is correct, use the support entry points documented for Outlook.com and Microsoft accounts (for example, the Help menu in Outlook.com or the general Microsoft account support links) from a different email address or browser session, since sending from the affected Outlook.com account is blocked while over quota.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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