MS 365 Business User Premium Account can't enlarge One Drive Storage

Question

Hi, I'm working for a company with the MS 365 Business licence as an employee. I don't have admin-rights myself, but my colleague with administrator rights hasn't been able to resolve the issue either. He tried to increase my OneDrive storage through the system and checked the relevant boxes, but nothing is updating. My Premium account only provides 1 TB, and after three years, it's completely used up. I work as a graphic designer for this company and create exclusively large graphics. Therefore, I need at least 2 TB. Unfortunately, there's no way to reach support by phone. Online sources indicate that storage can be easily expanded, but it's not working in our admin system. I urgently request assistance, as I can no longer back up any files. Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

Hi @Denise Antonioli,

Thank you for sharing your situation so clearly.

Based on the information you shared, the behavior you are experiencing is expected and is tied directly to the Microsoft 365 Business Premium license limitation, rather than an issue with your admin configuration. With Microsoft 365 Business Premium, each user is provided with a fixed 1 TB of OneDrive storage, and this quota cannot be increased beyond that amount through the Microsoft 365 admin center or via PowerShell. This differs from Microsoft 365 Enterprise plans, such as E3 or E5, which do allow administrators to increase individual OneDrive storage (up to 5 TB per user, when eligible).

You can refer: OneDrive service description - Service Descriptions | Microsoft Learn

Given your need to work with large graphic files, there are two practical paths your organization may want to consider. The first is upgrading your license to Microsoft 365 E3 or E5, which would support increasing your OneDrive storage beyond 1 TB and is often a better fit for roles with heavy storage requirements. The second is to make use of SharePoint Online for additional storage. With Business Premium, your organization has access to a shared SharePoint storage pool, calculated as 1 TB plus 10 GB per licensed user. Some teams store large or long‑term project files in dedicated SharePoint document libraries, while keeping OneDrive for active personal work.

If you have any updates or further questions, please feel free to reply under this post and I’ll be happy to assist further if needed. I hope this response provides useful information and helps clarify your situation.

Thank you very much for reaching out.

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Answer 2

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Answer 3

For a Microsoft 365 Business user who has reached the 1 TB OneDrive for Business limit, additional storage beyond the default quota must be configured by a Microsoft 365 administrator, and there are eligibility conditions for going beyond 5 TB.

Key points and actions for the admin:

1. Verify current OneDrive quota and usage
   • The admin should check the user’s current OneDrive quota and usage in the Microsoft 365 admin center or via SharePoint/OneDrive admin tools to confirm that the 1 TB limit is actually applied and fully used.
2. Understand the standard expansion path
   • For OneDrive for Business, the default per‑user storage can be increased up to 5 TB per user by the admin, and up to 25 TB per user with Microsoft support, provided eligibility conditions are met.
   • According to the documented process, to go beyond the default 5 TB, the user’s OneDrive must already be at least 90% full at the 5 TB level before Microsoft will approve an increase request.
3. Use the official diagnostic to request more than 5 TB (if applicable)
   • If the tenant is configured with a 5 TB default and the user has reached at least 90% of that 5 TB, the admin can:
     1. Run the “Check OneDrive site eligibility for increased storage” diagnostic from the Microsoft 365 admin center.
     2. In Run diagnostics, enter the user’s UPN (the sign‑in email) whose OneDrive needs more storage.
     3. Run the tests; if eligible, select Update Settings to process the increase beyond 5 TB.
   • After the increase, the admin can set a specific per‑user limit for that OneDrive from the admin center or via SharePoint Online Management Shell.
4. If the admin’s UI changes “don’t stick”
   • If the admin has “checked the relevant boxes” to increase storage but the quota does not update, the admin should:
     • Confirm that the tenant is actually configured to allow quotas beyond the current default (the diagnostic will show if the tenant is not configured to increase beyond 5 TB).
     • Use the diagnostic described above to validate eligibility and push the change.
     • If the diagnostic indicates the tenant is not configured or the increase still fails, the admin should contact Microsoft Support for the tenant using the support options in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
5. If more than 25 TB is ever needed
   • Users who reach at least 90% of 25 TB OneDrive capacity can receive additional cloud storage via a 25 TB SharePoint team site, but this is managed at the tenant level and requires Microsoft Support involvement.
6. If the tenant is an Education, GCC High, DoD, or 21Vianet environment
   • The documented diagnostic for increasing beyond 5 TB is not available in those environments. In that case, the admin must work directly with Microsoft Support for options.

Given the scenario (1 TB full, need at least 2 TB), the practical path is:

• Admin increases the user’s OneDrive quota above 1 TB (up to 5 TB) in the Microsoft 365 admin tools.
• If the admin cannot make that change or it does not apply, they should run the “Check OneDrive site eligibility for increased storage” diagnostic and, if necessary, open a support case from the admin center so Microsoft can correct the tenant configuration or apply the increase.

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References:

• Check OneDrive site eligibility for increased storage
• My OneDrive says it's full