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Expanding OneDrive Storage for a University-Linked Account

Anonymous
2025-04-15T01:43:29+00:00

Microsoft recently announced cuts to OneDrive storage allowances to universities (see here). Putting aside my grievances about the cuts and how my own institution implemented them, I wanted to check if there's a way for me to expand the storage allocation for me personally, by paying money.

a) Upon logging into OneDrive, there is apparently no way for me to buy extra storage. I thought this might be fine, and that I could get the storage through:
b) the OneDrive website (see here). The problem is that whenever I attempt to choose a plan, I need to log in to my OneDrive account, which leads to:

c) my university office 365 email not being recognized as a Microsoft account, probably because it's associated with the university rather than with a person.

Given this, my two questions are:

  1. if I were to register a OneDrive account using the same email handle, will Microsoft Office be smart enough to recognize that it's the same account? Meaning, if I create an account using the email and buy extra storage, will that storage include the existing files on my university 365 OneDrive?
  2. Assuming the above is not feasible for any reason, is there a way to expand the storage on my university-affiliated OneDrive?
Microsoft 365 and Office | OneDrive | For education | Other

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-04-17T23:52:29+00:00

    Hi Seif Qiblawi**,**

    Welcome to Microsoft Community.

    It's my please to help you on the OneDrive storage issue.

    You can upgrade license to your university affiliated OneDrive, steps as following:

    • Admin Center > Show All > Marketplace
    • If you don't find purchase services after show all, please find Billing > Purchase services
    • Then search for OneDrive plan 2
    • Select license quantity that you need > place order
    • Then assign OneDrive plan 2 license to your user account

    Then you can extend OneDrive storage for your users. Steps as following:

    • Admin Center > Users > Active Users
    • Click on the username > OneDrive > Storage used > Eidt > change to 5120GB

    Thanks for your time and patience.

    Best regards,

    Serena - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-04-29T13:37:20+00:00

    Hello Serena
    I'm not an admin, therefore I don't have access to the admin center.
    I'll reiterate, I want to increase storage for my personal account, or at most buy shared storage for 10-20 users who are also members of the university. None of us are admins. All of us are staff/students.

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