Forget Windows 10's death; Microsoft will automatically archive unlicensed OneDrive Business accounts effective January 2025 and charge a 'small' reactivation fee

OneDrive on a Samsung Galaxy Flip.

What you need to know

• Microsoft will start archiving unlicensed OneDrive Business accounts for over 90 days from January 2025.
• Archived unlicensed accounts will attract a monthly fee of $0.05 per GB for storage in the Microsoft 365 Archive.
• Affected users will pay $0.60/GB to reactivate archived accounts, which can take up to 24 hours.

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Microsoft recently announced critical changes to its storage policies for unlicensed OneDrive accounts. The company will start archiving unlicensed OneDrive accounts from January 2025 (via Petri). For context, this will apply to accounts that have remained unlicensed for over 90 days.

Users won't have access to their unlicensed OneDrive accounts once archived. The only way around this is through admins who will be required to enable unlicensed account billing in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

It's worth noting that archived unlicensed accounts will attract a monthly fee of $0.05 per GB for storage in the Microsoft 365 Archive. Users will also need an additional $0.60/GB to reactivate archived accounts, which could take up to 24 hours.

A new monthly archive fee

(Image credit: Future)

Microsoft says unlicensed OneDrive accounts pose a great security threat in enterprise environments.

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An unlicensed account can cause confusion and occasionally lead to duplication. The company details that an unlicensed account will exist within a tenant if it falls under the retention policy, which prevents deletion or lack of a valid license.

To this end, Microsoft recommends navigating to SharePoint admin center > Reports > OneDrive accounts to check the list of unlicensed accounts. Users with unlicensed OneDrive accounts are advised to take necessary precautionary measures to avoid setbacks. Commercial customers should be able to check the number of unlicensed accounts and the reasons why they are unlicensed from August 16, 2024.

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