Alternative Options for Getting 5 TB OneDrive Storage Per User Apart from OneDrive Plan 2 and Microsoft 365 E3

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Alternative Options for Getting 5 TB OneDrive Storage Per User Apart from OneDrive Plan 2 and Microsoft 365 E3

Yogesh K 0

We have a requirement to provide 5 TB OneDrive storage per user for a customer.

As per our understanding:

OneDrive for Business Plan 2 was one of the available options earlier.
For Microsoft 365 E3, OneDrive storage is 1 TB by default and can be increased up to 5 TB per user.
We also understand that at least 5 enterprise licenses are required in the tenant to enable the 5 TB per-user storage.

We would like clarification on the following:

Is there any alternative licensing option apart from OneDrive Plan 2 and Microsoft 365 E3 to get 5 TB OneDrive storage per user?
Is the minimum 5-license requirement officially applicable for enabling 5 TB storage in Microsoft 365 E3?
Can someone please share the official Microsoft documentation confirming this requirement?

Any guidance or official documentation references would be appreciated.We have a requirement to provide 5 TB OneDrive storage per user for a customer.

As per our understanding:

OneDrive for Business Plan 2 was one of the available options earlier.
For Microsoft 365 E3, OneDrive storage is 1 TB by default and can be increased up to 5 TB per user.
We also understand that at least 5 enterprise licenses are required in the tenant to enable the 5 TB per-user storage.

We would like clarification on the following:

Is there any alternative licensing option apart from OneDrive Plan 2 and Microsoft 365 E3 to get 5 TB OneDrive storage per user?
Is the minimum 5-license requirement officially applicable for enabling 5 TB storage in Microsoft 365 E3?
Can someone please share the official Microsoft documentation confirming this requirement?

Any guidance or official documentation references would be appreciated.

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2 answers

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Answer 1

Hi @Yogesh K,

Thank you for your detailed questions, and I’m glad to help clarify and add some context.

Based on my research, OneDrive Plan 2 as well as enterprise plans such as Microsoft 365 E3, E5, A3, or A5 are indeed the primary qualifying options that allow storage to be increased up to 5 TB per user. At the moment, there isn’t a separate standalone “add-on” license that simply unlocks 5 TB storage on top of other plans.

Regarding your question about the minimum 5-license requirement, this is something that has been mentioned in earlier community discussions and was also reflected in previous versions of Microsoft documentation, including the Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan comparison pages.

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However, in more recent updates within this Microsoft documentation, the way this requirement is presented has evolved:

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At the same time, in another document: OneDrive service description - Service Descriptions | Microsoft Learn, the increase in storage is still described as being dependent on the number of licensed users in the tenant:

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This is also aligned with the current wording in the Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan comparison, which states that “Eligible enterprise and government cloud customers should work with their Microsoft representatives for additional storage requirements.”

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That means the current approach is that if you need to increase OneDrive storage up to 5 TB per user, Microsoft generally recommends submitting a support request through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, so they can review your tenant conditions and assist with enabling the increase. This is considered the most reliable and supported way to proceed.

As this is a user-to-user support forum, I don’t have access to internal systems or tenant-level tools to verify licensing conditions directly, but I hope this gives you a clearer view of how the policy has evolved and what the current recommended approach looks like.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my response, I truly appreciate it.

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Answer 2

AI answer

Alternative licensing options for up to 5 TB per user

From the OneDrive service description and related education documentation, the following plans can provide up to 5 TB of OneDrive storage per user (subject to eligibility conditions):

Microsoft 365 E3
Microsoft 365 E5
(For education) Office 365 A3, Office 365 A5, Microsoft 365 A3, Microsoft 365 A5 – these provide up to 1 TB per user, and for subscriptions with at least 5 users, up to 5 TB per user

Relevant excerpts:

For enterprise plans:
- “Microsoft 365 E3 | 1 TB per user (can be increased to 5 TB)”
- “Microsoft 365 E5 | 1 TB per user (can be increased to 5 TB)”
For education plans:
- “For each of the listed subscriptions, OneDrive for Business provides up to 1 TB of storage space per user. For subscriptions with at least 5 users, OneDrive for Business provides up to 5 TB of storage space per user.
  1. Office 365 A3
  2. Office 365 A5
  3. Microsoft 365 A3
  4. Microsoft 365 A5”

In addition, for customers that have already reached 5 TB and meet the eligibility criteria, storage can be increased beyond 5 TB per user (up to 25 TB per user) via an admin request to Microsoft:

“Admins can request Microsoft to increase the default storage space up to 25 TB per user, although a lower per-user quota can be set at their discretion.”

So, besides OneDrive Plan 2 and Microsoft 365 E3, other options that can reach 5 TB per user (depending on subscription type and eligibility) include:

Microsoft 365 E5
Office 365 A3 / A5
Microsoft 365 A3 / A5

“Minimum 5-license” requirement for 5 TB

The “5 users” condition is explicitly documented for education SKUs, not generically for all enterprise SKUs, as follows:

“For each of the listed subscriptions, OneDrive for Business provides up to 1 TB of storage space per user. For subscriptions with at least 5 users, OneDrive for Business provides up to 5 TB of storage space per user.”

This statement applies specifically to the listed education subscriptions (Office 365 A3/A5, Microsoft 365 A3/A5). The provided context does not contain an explicit, general statement that “at least 5 enterprise licenses are required” for Microsoft 365 E3/E5, only that:

“For most subscription plans, the default storage space for each user's OneDrive is 1 TB. Depending on your plan and the number of licensed users, you can increase this storage up to 5 TB.”

Thus, the context confirms a “≥5 users” requirement for the listed education plans and indicates that the ability to increase to 5 TB depends on plan and number of licensed users, but it does not provide a standalone, explicit “5-license minimum” rule for Microsoft 365 E3 in general.

Official documentation references

The following Microsoft Learn articles in the context document the storage behavior and the 5‑user/5 TB relationship:

OneDrive service description (enterprise plans and general storage behavior, including “1 TB per user (can be increased to 5 TB)” and “for most subscription plans … can be increased up to 5 TB”)
Office 365 Education service description (education plans, explicit “subscriptions with at least 5 users … up to 5 TB per user” wording)
Set the default storage space for OneDrive users (explains default 1 TB and that, depending on plan and number of licensed users, storage can be increased up to 5 TB)
Check OneDrive site eligibility for increased storage (explains how admins can request increases beyond 5 TB, up to 25 TB per user, and the 90% usage requirement at 5 TB)

These are the official sources in the provided context that confirm:

Which plans can reach 5 TB per user
That the number of licensed users affects eligibility for 5 TB
That education plans explicitly require at least 5 users to reach 5 TB per user

References:

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Alternative Options for Getting 5 TB OneDrive Storage Per User Apart from OneDrive Plan 2 and Microsoft 365 E3

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