Microsoft expects changes with respect to cloud storage that all users have Microsoft 365 and it’s still not clear whether it will be for better, worse or regulation, because in the absence of more data, the information provided by the company is somewhat confusing.

Its source is on the help page, which, admittedly, helps, helps little; but he has already alerted many users on forums like Reddit about the planned change from 1 February 2023as expressly stated.

From that date, “cloud storage used through Microsoft 365 apps and services will include Outlook.com attachments and OneDrive data“, they explain.

And they clarify: “This update does not affect Outlook.com mailbox storage size. However, this may reduce the amount of cloud storage available to you for use with OneDrive.”

And the mess is already mounted, because what looks like a Google-style unification of storage space, where you have a total divided between different services of the company, is not at all. For the above: update it won’t affect the available space in Outlook, but it will affect OneDrive space.

How much do you have in each, you ask? You can check it using the following links:

• Check the storage in Outlook
• Check your OneDrive storage

The amount of space available may vary from one user to another, as there are more veterans who arrived when Microsoft was excellent with free storage. In any case, many people will encounter current limits that are somewhat unique to the new policy.

Forget Office: It’s all Microsoft 365 now

Free Microsoft 365 accounts now offer: 15 GB of free Outlook storage (for attachments only) a 5 GB of free OneDrive storage. So it will be necessary to see how the inclusion of “Outlook.com attachments and OneDrive data” is conjugated when Outlook storage will not be affected but OnDrive storage will be.

It seems to imply that out of that 20GB total… what is used on OneDrive will not affect Outlook storage, but instead means that what is used in Outlook will take up space on OneDrive? If we stick to the exposed amounts, it has no head or tail.

At least not in the free plan, where the storage space for Outlook is more than for OneDrive, when the most normal thing is to spend before OneDrive (where photos, videos and other documents are stored) than Outlook, no matter how many attachments you they will send

In the Microsoft 365 paid plan, be it individual or family, this makes sense, because there the storage increases up to 50 GB for Outlook and up to 1 TB for OneDrive. But it is precisely because of this significant increase in capacity that the matter is not interesting in this scenario.

Bottom line, we’ll have to see how Microsoft mounts it when the moment of truth arrives, which isn’t long until now. In the meantime, don’t forget to look at the odds so you don’t get a surprise, and that is that «if the cloud storage quota is reached, the ability to send and receive emails on Outlook.com will be interrupted«.

By the way: don’t be alienated from Microsoft 365 if you’re an Outlook, OneDrive, or both user: if you use them, you’re a Microsoft 365 user, paying or not. Everything said also applies to you.