License & Subscription Issues

How to Get 1 TB OneDrive Storage for Microsoft 365 Family Members

Khadija Khan Oct 10, 2026 869 views

Question details

Users need to know how invited family members can successfully claim and access their allocated 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage after being added to a Microsoft 365 Family subscription.

How Family Members Can Get 1 TB of OneDrive Storage

Product: Microsoft 365 / OneDrive
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Sharing a Microsoft 365 Family subscription with a new member and ensuring they receive their individual storage quota.
Observed behavior: Family members' OneDrive storage often remains at the free 5 GB limit instead of upgrading to 1 TB because the sharing invitation was not fully accepted or the account failed to sync.

Before you start

Ensure that the primary Microsoft 365 Family subscription is active and that the invited family member has their own distinct Microsoft account ready before sending the invitation.

Solution 1Recommended

Accept the Sharing Invitation to Claim Storage

The most common reason for missing storage is that the sharing invitation was not fully processed using the recipient's personal Microsoft account.

To unlock the 1 TB OneDrive storage, the recipient must manually accept the invitation sent by the primary account holder. Simply receiving the email is not enough.

Open the invitation

Locate and open the sharing invitation email or sharing link sent by the primary Microsoft 365 subscriber.

Accept the share

Click the 'Accept' button embedded within the invitation email or web page.

Sign in to Microsoft

Sign in with the invited family member's own Microsoft account credentials. Once logged in, they will be added to the subscription and the 1 TB storage will be applied.

Accept the Sharing Invitation to Claim Storage

Refresh Your Account: After accepting the invitation, have the family member sign out of OneDrive and sign back in, or refresh the web page to see the updated storage limit.

Solution 2

Troubleshoot Unchanged Storage Quota (Still 5 GB)

If the invitation was successfully accepted but the OneDrive storage remains stuck at 5 GB, reprovisioning the primary subscription can force the system to update.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my OneDrive still say 5 GB after joining a Microsoft 365 Family plan?

Your storage might not have refreshed yet, or you haven't fully completed the acceptance process by signing in. Try signing out of your Microsoft account and signing back in. If it still shows 5 GB, the primary subscriber may need to toggle their auto-renewal setting to reprovision the account.

How do I send a Microsoft 365 Family sharing invitation?

As the primary subscriber, go to your Microsoft account sharing page. From there, you can either enter the family member's email address to send a direct email invitation or generate a custom sharing link to send via your preferred messaging app.

Do family members share the same 1 TB of OneDrive storage pool?

No, the storage is not shared from a single pool. Each of the up to 6 people on the Microsoft 365 Family subscription gets their own private and independent 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage.

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