I can't send emails because my storage is full, but I've deleted everything.

Question

I can't send emails because my storage is full, but I've deleted everything.

Answer 1

Hello,

How long ago did you perform these deletions?

According to this support article: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/what-is-microsoft-cloud-storage-2a261b34-421c-4a47-9901-74ef5bd0c426

After you empty your OneDrive recycle bin, it can take 24 hours to see an update.

Answer 2

I've deleted thousands of photo's, but they don't actually delete?

Answer 3

I don't use the Microsoft Storage page.

Answer 4

If Outlook.com says storage is full even after deleting email, there are two separate limits to check and fix: Microsoft cloud storage (OneDrive + other services) and Outlook.com email storage.

1. Check if Microsoft cloud storage is full (Unified Storage) If Microsoft cloud storage is over quota, sending and receiving email in Outlook.com is blocked even if the mailbox itself looks almost empty.

To fix this:

• Go to your Microsoft storage page and check the overall cloud storage usage (OneDrive, etc.).
• If you see a “Microsoft Unified Storage is full” message or that you exceeded your Microsoft storage:
  • Either free up space by deleting files (for example, large OneDrive items, camera roll, or other stored content), or
  • If using a free account, you can buy a subscription to increase your quota, or use the “free up storage space” options.

Effects of being over Microsoft storage:

• Cannot send or receive email in Outlook.com, even if email storage is not full.
• Cannot upload/edit/sync new OneDrive files.

2. Check if Outlook.com email storage is full Even if cloud storage is fine, being over the email storage quota alone will also block sending and receiving.

To fix this:

• Check your mailbox storage usage in Outlook.com.
• If email storage is over quota, delete mail (especially large messages and attachments) until usage is below the limit. Note that:
  • While over quota, messages sent to you are bounced back to senders and are unrecoverable.
  • Once back under quota, senders must resend any bounced messages.

3. If storage looks wrong (for example 0/0 GB or clearly incorrect) There was a known issue where some users saw incorrect storage values (such as 0/0 GB) and could not send/receive email due to a storage error.

Workaround and status:

• Deleting large email attachments and signing out and back in allowed most users to resume sending and receiving email, even though the storage display was still wrong.
• A fix for this bug has been rolled out to Outlook.com servers.

If you have already deleted mail and files and are under both your Microsoft storage and email storage quotas but still cannot send mail, sign out of Outlook.com, sign back in, and test again. If the problem persists, follow the “Can’t send or receive email in Outlook.com” troubleshooting steps (check account status, sign-in issues, and device sync) as described in the referenced article.

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References:

• Storage limits in Outlook.com
• Can't send or receive email in Outlook.com
• Fixes or workarounds for recent issues on Outlook.com