Fix OneDrive Storage Limit Cannot Be Increased for Business Premium
Question details
Users need to increase their Microsoft OneDrive storage limit from 1 TB to 5 TB but are unable to do so under their current Microsoft 365 Business Premium licensing.
- Product
- Microsoft OneDrive / Microsoft 365 Business Premium
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- A Microsoft 365 administrator attempts to globally increase the default OneDrive storage space allocation from 1 TB to 5 TB for users in their organization.
- Observed behavior
- Even after modifying the default storage limit to 5 TB in the admin center, individual users remain capped at 1 TB, and manual attempts to adjust individual user storage limits produce an error.
Ensure you have Microsoft 365 global or SharePoint administrator privileges to review your organization's active billing and licensing details.
Verify Licensing Constraints and Upgrade Subscription Plan
Identify the storage limitations tied to the Business Premium license and upgrade to a qualifying enterprise plan to unlock 5 TB of OneDrive storage.
Microsoft 365 Business Premium comes with SharePoint Plan 1, which strictly limits individual OneDrive storage to 1 TB per user. Modifying the global storage settings to 5 TB will not override this specific licensing constraint.
To increase storage beyond 1 TB, your organization must subscribe to a plan containing SharePoint Plan 2 (such as Microsoft 365 E3 or E5) and have at least five qualifying users.
Go to admin.microsoft.com and sign in with your administrator credentials.
Navigate to 'Billing' > 'Licenses' in the left-hand menu. Verify that the affected users are currently assigned the 'Microsoft 365 Business Premium' license.
Go to 'Billing' > 'Purchase services'. Compare available plans and purchase subscriptions that include SharePoint Plan 2 (e.g., Office 365 E3, E5) for users who require 5 TB of storage.
Once purchased, navigate to 'Users' > 'Active users', select the specific users, and update their assigned product licenses to the newly acquired qualifying enterprise plan.
Manage Documents Efficiently with WPS Office
If strict enterprise subscription limits and cloud storage caps are hindering your productivity, consider trying WPS Office. It provides a robust, lightweight, and cost-effective solution for all your document management needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the Microsoft admin center allow me to set the limit to 5 TB if users are restricted to 1 TB?
The admin center allows administrators to set the default global storage limit across the tenant. However, actual storage availability is strictly enforced by the specific license assigned to each individual user. A Business Premium license will always cap the user at 1 TB, regardless of global tenant settings.
Which Microsoft 365 subscriptions support 5 TB of OneDrive storage?
Subscriptions that include SharePoint Plan 2 support 5 TB of OneDrive storage. This typically includes enterprise plans such as Office 365 E3, Office 365 E5, Microsoft 365 E3, and Microsoft 365 E5, provided the organization has at least five users on these plans.
Can I simply buy extra OneDrive storage add-ons for my Business Premium users?
No, standard OneDrive storage add-ons cannot push a Business Premium user past the 1 TB threshold. To exceed 1 TB, you must upgrade the user's base subscription to a qualifying plan with SharePoint Plan 2.
