How to receive email notifications of OneDrive bills?

Question

I have OneDrive set up to use recurring billing: it automatically takes a payment from me each month. How do I configure it to send me an email each time it does this?

(I've spent a bunch of time exploring through account.microsoft.com, and I can't see anything related to my OneDrive subscription that would do this.)

My subscription is "Microsoft 365 Basic".

I would settle for getting some kind of notification when each bill comes in, even if that means turning off automatic payments.

Answer 1

For a personal Microsoft 365 Basic / OneDrive subscription, there is no setting at account.microsoft.com to send an email for each recurring OneDrive/Microsoft 365 charge.

However, for Microsoft 365 subscriptions managed through the Microsoft 365 admin center (business/organization accounts), billing notification emails and invoice attachments can be configured. That scenario applies when the subscription is under a business tenant with an admin center, not a personal consumer account.

In the admin-center scenario, billing admins can:

1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center and go to Billing > Bills & payments to view invoices and download PDFs when needed.
2. Turn on invoice email attachments so invoices are automatically sent by email:
   • Go to Billing > Billing accounts.
   • Select the billing account, then the Billing profiles tab.
   • Select the billing profile, then under Invoice and Billing Notifications choose Manage settings.
   • In Edit invoice and contacts settings, turn Get invoices in email attachments to On, add any recipient addresses, and save.

That configuration causes invoices to be emailed automatically when they are generated, which is the closest available mechanism to “an email each time it bills.”

For a purely personal Microsoft 365 Basic subscription managed at account.microsoft.com, the context only documents how to:

• View and download invoices manually.
• Turn recurring billing on or off.

It does not provide a per-charge email toggle for consumer OneDrive/Microsoft 365 Basic subscriptions.

To get some form of notification per billing cycle with a personal subscription, the supported option in the context is to:

1. Turn off recurring billing so the subscription does not auto-renew.
2. Manually pay when the subscription is close to expiring, using the invoice visible under Services & subscriptions or in the admin center (for business accounts).

Turning off recurring billing does not immediately stop the subscription; it stays active until the expiry date, and any scheduled changes are canceled.

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References:

• Manage billing notifications and invoice attachment settings in the Microsoft 365 admin center
• Manage Microsoft 365 payment information and billing for your business
• Manage recurring billing in the Microsoft 365 admin center
• Turn recurring billing on or off for a Microsoft subscription

Answer 2

Hello Luke,

For personal subscriptions (Microsoft 365 Basic / OneDrive):

• Microsoft does not provide a toggle for per-charge email notifications.
• The account portal only allows you to:
• View invoices/receipts manually
  • Turn recurring billing on/off

The only place where automatic “invoice email each time you’re billed” exists is:

• Microsoft 365 admin center (business/organization accounts)
• There, admins can configure invoice emails and billing notifications

That feature does not apply to personal accounts like Microsoft 365 Basic. Since there is no built-in setting, these are your only realistic options:

Option 1 — Use payment method alerts (best workaround)

Set notifications in your bank / credit card / PayPal:

1. Open your bank / card app
2. Turn on transaction alerts
3. Enable for:
   • “All payments” or
     • Payments from “Microsoft”

This gives you a real-time alert every time Microsoft charges you, which is effectively what you want.

Option 2 — Turn off recurring billing (manual control)

1. Go to: https://account.microsoft.com/services
2. Select your Microsoft 365 Basic subscription
3. Turn Recurring billing = Off
4. Renew manually when it’s about to expire

Result:

• No automatic charges
• You only pay when you choose

(Your subscription stays active until the current period ends)

Option 3 — Check invoices manually

1. Go to: https://account.microsoft.com/billing/orders
2. Open each charge and download receipt

This is the only official way Microsoft provides invoices for personal accounts.

I hope this will help with your situation. Please feel free to reach back if you have further update or more questions.

Best Regards,

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