License & Subscription Issues

Do You Need 5 Licenses for OneDrive Plan 2 to Get 5TB Storage?

Ayan Masood Sep 27, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user wants to clarify whether an organization must purchase at least five OneDrive Plan 2 licenses to increase user storage capacity from 1 TB to 5 TB.

Do You Need Five OneDrive Plan 2 Licenses for 5 TB Storage?

Product: Microsoft OneDrive Plan 2
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: An IT administrator or business user needs to provide users with more than 1 TB of storage but currently holds fewer than five Plan 2 licenses in the organization.
Observed behavior: There is confusion regarding Microsoft licensing terms, specifically differentiating between the requirements for a 5 TB storage increase versus unlocking unlimited storage.

Before you start

Ensure you are signed in with an account that has Global Administrator or SharePoint Administrator privileges in Microsoft 365 to modify organizational storage settings.

Solution 1Recommended

Manually Increase Storage to 5 TB in SharePoint Admin Center

You do not need five licenses to get 5 TB. Having fewer than five OneDrive Plan 2 licenses still qualifies users for up to 5,120 GB (5 TB) of storage, which must be manually adjusted by an administrator.

Microsoft's policy specifies that five or more licenses are required only if you want to unlock 'unlimited' storage. For the 5 TB increase, administrators can manually change the default limit up to 5,120 GB for organizations with fewer than five licenses.

Access the SharePoint Admin Center

Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center as an administrator, and navigate to the SharePoint admin center from the admin centers list.

Navigate to OneDrive Settings

In the left pane of the SharePoint admin center, click on 'Settings' and then select 'OneDrive storage limit'.

Increase the Storage Limit

In the 'Default storage limit' box, enter '5120' (which equals 5 TB in GB) and click 'Save' to apply the changes across the organization.

Manually Increase Storage to 5 TB in SharePoint Admin Center

Unlimited Storage Requirement: If you eventually need more than 5 TB per user, you will need to purchase at least five OneDrive Plan 2 licenses to qualify for unlimited storage, which can then be requested via Microsoft Support.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if our organization purchases 5 or more OneDrive Plan 2 licenses?

With 5 or more licenses, your organization becomes eligible for unlimited OneDrive storage. The initial limit can be increased to 5 TB automatically or manually, and if a user reaches 90% of that 5 TB capacity, administrators can contact Microsoft Support to request additional storage space.

Can I assign the 5 TB storage limit to a specific user instead of everyone?

Yes. While the SharePoint admin center changes the default limit for all new users, you can use Microsoft PowerShell and the 'Set-SPOSite' command to adjust the storage limit for individual user accounts without affecting the rest of the organization.

Is OneDrive Plan 2 included in enterprise Microsoft 365 plans?

Yes, OneDrive Plan 2 is included in comprehensive enterprise plans such as Microsoft 365 E3 and E5. Users on these plans follow the same storage upgrade rules, requiring 5 or more licenses across the tenant to qualify for unlimited storage beyond the 5 TB.

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