Outlook wouldn’t let me recieve and sent email even after I cleared up Onedrive’s storage space

Question

https://www.reddit.com/r/Outlook/s/htGykTDtZo. Link on my post seeking for help on r/Outlook

my outlook isn’t functioning properly at all even when i cleaned the onedrive storage space on webpage, unlinked my pc from onedrive, and even subscribed to the basic 365 plan that should give me 100GB worth of storage space. But all I got was my outlook kept on saying my space is full, thus making me unable to recieve email at all on Both Pc and IOS.

Answer 1

Hello @哲愷 葉, 

Thank you for posting your question to the Microsoft Q&A forum and for providing that helpful screenshot! I understand how frustrating it is to be unable to send or receive emails, especially after you have already taken the time to clear up your OneDrive storage space to fix the issue. 

Looking at your screenshot, your Microsoft Storage is indeed in perfect shape at just 1% capacity (less than 0.1 GB used). When your account remains blocked despite having plenty of space here, it usually comes down to a server delay or a separate limit specifically for your emails. 

Here are the steps to identify and resolve what is keeping your Outlook blocked: 

1. Allow Time for the Server to Sync  

When you clear a large amount of space or purchase a new Microsoft 365 subscription, it can take the email servers 24 to 48 hours to recognize the new quota and lift the restriction. If you just cleared the space or bought the subscription today, the system may just need a little more time to catch up. 

2. Check Your Separate "Email Storage" Limit  

Microsoft accounts have two different storage limits that work together: 

• Microsoft Storage (100 GB): Holds your OneDrive files and email attachments. (As your screenshot shows, this is perfectly fine!) 
• Email Storage (50 GB): Holds the actual text and folders of your emails. 

If you have years of emails stored up, your Email Storage might be full even if your OneDrive is empty. Let's check this right now: 

1. Sign in to your account on Outlook on the web (outlook.com) from a computer browser. 
2. Click the Settings > General > Storage. 
3. Review the breakdown to ensure both storage bars have available space. 

3. Resync Your Devices  

If you verify that both storage bars look completely fine on the web, your local apps might just be stuck on the old status. Please try signing completely out of the Outlook app on your iOS device and your PC, and then sign back in to force a refresh. 

Getting Live Support  

If you have tried the steps above, waited for the sync period, and your account is still blocked, this will require a closer look at your backend account provisioning. Because we cannot access your private account details on this public forum, please reach out to Microsoft Live Chat Support team so they can investigate and manually lift the block for you. 

 You can find them by clicking on this link and following the directions below:

1. Visit this website: Contact Us - Microsoft Support
2. Type your problems in the search box there. 
3. Now click on Get Help > Contact Support below.     
4. Go to the Products & Services tab and choose Windows or Microsoft 365 and Office 
5. On the Category tab, choose Other accessories
6. Go to Confirm.   
7. Choose to chat with a support agent in your web browser.     

Note: The contact support team only works at certain times, so if the last window says it's not there, try opening it again the next day.

I hope this helps clarify the storage limits and gets your emails flowing again! Please let me know if you need further assistance 

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Answer 2

Outlook.com and OneDrive now share the same Microsoft unified storage. Even if the Outlook mailbox shows almost no email usage, Outlook.com will stop sending and receiving mail whenever the overall Microsoft cloud storage (unified storage) is over quota.

From the documentation:

• If Microsoft unified storage is full, it is not possible to send or receive email in Outlook.com, even if the email storage itself is not full.
• Messages sent to the account while storage is full are bounced back to the sender and are not recoverable.

To restore mail flow, the account must be brought under the unified storage quota, not just the Outlook mailbox quota. The supported options are:

1. Free up Microsoft cloud storage
   • Delete or move files out of OneDrive until the total Microsoft storage is below the limit.
   • Make sure deleted items are also removed from the OneDrive recycle bin so the space is actually reclaimed.
2. Increase the storage quota
   • For free accounts, purchase a Microsoft 365 subscription or additional storage so the unified storage limit is higher.
   • For existing Microsoft 365 Personal/Family subscribers, additional file storage can be added beyond the 1 TB already included.

Once the unified storage usage is below the quota (or the quota has been increased), Outlook.com will resume sending and receiving email. Any messages that bounced while storage was full must be resent by the original senders.

If Outlook.com still reports that storage is full after these steps, verify that the correct Microsoft account is being checked for storage usage, as it is possible to have an older or secondary account that is actually over quota and still associated with Outlook.

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References:

• Storage limits in Outlook.com
• Can't send or receive email in Outlook.com
• Microsoft storage FAQs
• Mailbox storage limits in Outlook
• storage exceeded in outlook after purchasing MS 365 subscription - Microsoft Q&A
• Reminder: Microsoft storage limit exceeded - Microsoft Q&A