- Microsoft has changed the way cloud storage works with the Microsoft 365 Family and Premium plans
- Instead of getting a possible total of 6TB — with 1TB for each of six family members — these plans now share 2TB between all users
- Microsoft argues this gives you greater flexibility, and that’s true, but it works out badly for families where a lot of people are using cloud storage
Microsoft has changed the way the included storage works with its Microsoft 365 Family and Premium plans — and it’s left quite a few people unhappy.
Neowin spotted the move, which Microsoft explained in a new support document, whereby what was previously a ceiling of 6TB of storage on OneDrive has been reduced to 2TB.
Microsoft explains that: “Microsoft 365 Family and Premium subscriptions include 2TB of shared cloud storage … The primary subscriber and up to five additional members draw from the same shared storage pool.”
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How it worked before was that each family member was allocated 1TB of cloud storage, so in the case where a full complement of six people were using the family subscription, that meant 6TB of storage in total.
However, as it now stands in the scenario of six family members using the plan, each of them is only getting a slice of the total of 2TB, so around 330GB apiece. In other words, a third of what they were previously receiving.
This new package is in effect for new Microsoft 365 Family and Premium subscribers from now, but for existing customers, it comes into play when their next plan renewal happens after (or on) May 2, 2027. (Quite what happens with multi-year deals isn’t clear).
If you want to still have 5TB of total storage, the Microsoft 365 Pro plan gives you that, but it costs a hefty $99 (£95 / AU$165) per month, so it’s a huge leap over the Family subscription (over 7x pricier).
Analysis: weasel-speak and greed?
Microsoft argues that this works out better for some family plan subscribers, and that “this approach provides more flexibility by making storage available to the people who need it most.”
That’s true to a point. Certainly if only the primary subscriber is using the cloud storage to any meaningful extent, they can now avail themselves of basically the whole chunk of 2TB rather than just 1TB. And obviously two main users get 1TB each, so that’s the same as it was, but if there are more than a few active cloud storage users, this is a much poorer deal.
That’s not the only problem, though, in that this change could hit existing subscribers in quite a nasty way. What if all (or most) of those multiple family users have already loaded up their OneDrive cloud lockers with 800GB or so, for example – they’ll now have to cut that right down, or pay for more cloud storage.
So, if you’re affected, you’ve potentially only got seven months (until May next year) to rejig your family’s cloud storage and shift files elsewhere.
There’s been quite a lot of negative reaction as you might guess, and observations that this amounts to a kind of bait-and-switch tactic. Someone on Reddit complains: “So disappointing seeing everyone getting sucked into this cycle. Something is cheap/liberal with features to gain customers, then jack up prices and cut features.”
Others aren’t happy about the ‘weasel-speak’ here (as in ‘look, we’re giving you more flexibility’), or they feel this is just another example of Microsoft’s greed.
One Redditor complains: “Bad decision, they will find many customers cancel the auto renewal now.”
Another simply states: “Greedy company. They never stop do they?”
In fairness to Microsoft, what was a great deal has become an okay deal cloud storage-wise – it’s still not a bad offering, and 2TB is a decent amount of space for the money. But as noted, it does leave some folks very much in the lurch, and a bad taste in the mouth as we can clearly see from the online commentary.
The other worry is that now this has happened, Microsoft might look to trim the allowance of the Microsoft 365 Personal plan (for one individual) down from 1TB. I hope not, as this is a very different situation to the family subscription – there can be no arguments about ‘flexibility’ improvements if the company drops that storage limit.
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