Microsoft 365 Family storage drops from 6TB to 2TB
Microsoft is changing how OneDrive storage works on its Microsoft 365 Family, Premium and Pro subscriptions, and for most households that means less space. New and upgraded subscriptions moved to shared storage on October 8. Existing Family and Premium subscribers will switch at their first renewal on or after May 2, 2027, and Microsoft says they will be notified in detail before that.
The Pro plan gets a larger shared pool of 5TB, according to Microsoft’s updated support document. Instead of every member getting a dedicated 1TB, these plans are moving to a single storage pool that everyone on the subscription draws from. For a Family or Premium plan shared by the maximum six people, that pool will be 2TB. That is a two-thirds cut in total cloud storage, on plans where OneDrive space has long been a big reason people subscribe, even if they rarely open Word or Excel. Files, photos and documents stay private to each member by default, so sharing the space does not mean sharing what sits in it. What goes away is a guaranteed slice. If one member backs up years of phone videos, the others could run short. Any extra storage the account holder buys also lands in the common pool. Microsoft calls the new model more flexible. Unused space no longer sits idle, and a heavy user is no longer stuck at 1TB while others have room to spare. That suits a household with one power user. A family of four using 500GB each, however, will have to buy more space to keep what they already have.
Moving to another eligible plan earlier, say from Family to Premium, could bring the change forward. Today, the same group gets 6TB between them.
The change also arrives as AI data centres absorb more of the world’s storage supply, with hard drive prices up 46% between September 2025 and January 2026.
Microsoft has not said how much, or who qualifies. Some existing users in eligible markets may get transitional bonus storage at the switch. The storage cut comes bundled with a perk. Until now, only the primary account holder on a Family or Premium plan could use Copilot and the AI features inside Office apps. Over the coming months, those benefits will extend to up to five other members, with controls to manage AI access for younger users. Separate limits for individual AI features will also give way to a single usage allowance, with the option to buy more. Households that lean on Copilot heavily could end up paying extra. The reaction has been sharp. A widely upvoted Reddit post is urging subscribers to switch off auto-renewal and cite the storage cut in Microsoft’s cancellation survey, and some users say they already have. Microsoft has not linked the decision to costs. Families now get AI for everyone and less room for their files. They have until next May to decide if that is worth renewing. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.