storage is full

Question

My hotmail account says my storage of 5GB is now at 102% so I am unable to send emails. It appears to be linking to my work account, how can I unlink the accounts.

Answer 1

Hi, I'm John! I will help you with this.

When you say they are linked, are you seeing work emails and personal emails in the same Outlook mailbox, or do you simply use the same Outlook app for both accounts?

When you sign in to Outlook https://onedrive.live.com do you see both your personal and work accounts listed, or only one account?

Answer 2

The 5 GB limit and 102% warning are for Microsoft cloud storage (OneDrive + Outlook.com attachments + other Microsoft storage), not for the work account itself. When Microsoft storage is full, Outlook.com blocks sending and receiving mail even if the mailbox itself looks small.

To restore sending from the Hotmail account, focus on getting the personal Microsoft storage back under quota rather than “unlinking” from the work account:

1. Check which account is actually over quota
   • Sign in to the Hotmail/Outlook.com account in a browser.
   • Open Settings and search for Storage to see:
     • Mailbox usage (15 GB email storage), and
     • A link to overall Microsoft cloud storage (5 GB free shared across OneDrive, Outlook.com attachments, etc.).
   • If you see a “Microsoft Unified Storage is full” or similar message, that confirms the cloud storage is the problem.
2. Free up Microsoft cloud storage Use one or more of these options:
   • Delete large files from OneDrive (especially in Documents, Pictures, or any shared folders that count against the quota).
   • Remove large or old email attachments in Outlook.com (sort by size and delete, then empty Deleted Items and Junk Email).
   • If a shared OneDrive folder pushed the account over quota, remove it from the account using the steps in how to remove shared folders from your OneDrive.
3. Wait for the quota status to update
   • After deleting files/emails, it can take some time for the storage system to recalculate.
   • Once total Microsoft storage drops below the 5 GB limit, sending and receiving email from the Hotmail account will resume. Messages that bounced while storage was full cannot be recovered and must be resent.
4. If more space is needed
   • Either keep cleaning up regularly, or
   • Upgrade the personal account to a Microsoft 365 subscription to increase cloud storage and mailbox limits.

There is no supported “unlink” that bypasses the unified storage behavior: as long as the personal Microsoft account’s cloud storage is over quota, Outlook.com for that account will be blocked. The fix is to reduce usage or increase the storage allocation for that personal account.

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References:

• My OneDrive says it's full
• Storage limits in Outlook.com
• Microsoft storage FAQs
• Can't send or receive email in Outlook.com
• Microsoft storage limit exceeded - Microsoft Q&A
• Storage showing full - Microsoft Q&A