Onedrive issues

Hello,

Are you accessing your email through Outlook on the web or an app?

Go to your account storage page and open Outlook, then delete emails with large attachments from Inbox and Sent Items, after that open Deleted Items and empty it, next go to OneDrive online and check the Storage page for “Email attachments” or “Outlook data” and remove any large items listed there, then sign out and back in to refresh your account status, this helps free shared cloud storage from hidden email attachments and forces the quota to update so sending email works again.

When Microsoft cloud storage (including OneDrive) is over quota, Outlook.com email is also blocked, even if email itself is not full. Unlinking OneDrive from Outlook is not possible because the storage quota is shared across the Microsoft account.

To restore the ability to send email, storage must be brought back under quota or more storage must be purchased.

Use these steps based on the provided guidance:

1. Check what is using storage
   • Sign in to OneDrive and review what is taking up space. Use Manage your OneDrive storage or View files to see large items and overall usage.
   • Remember that items in the OneDrive Recycle Bin also count toward the quota.
2. Permanently delete files from OneDrive
   • Go to the OneDrive Recycle bin online and select Empty recycle bin. Emptying the PC’s Recycle Bin/Trash is not enough; the OneDrive Recycle Bin must be emptied online.
   • Look for large files (videos, ZIP archives, etc.) that are no longer needed and delete them.
3. Wait for quota to update
   • After deleting files and emptying the OneDrive Recycle Bin, it can take up to 24 hours for the storage quota to update across services.
   • Once the account is under the quota, Outlook.com sending/receiving will resume. Emails sent to the account while over quota are returned to the sender and must be resent.
4. If still over quota
   • If as much as possible has been deleted and the account is still over the limit after quotas refresh, the only supported option is to buy more storage. Use the Upgrades or buy more storage options shown in the storage pages.

Key points from the storage rules:

• If Microsoft cloud storage is exceeded, sending and receiving email in Outlook.com is blocked, even if email storage itself shows as under its own limit.
• If OneDrive storage is exceeded for more than several months, OneDrive can be frozen and eventually files may be deleted and become non‑recoverable.
• OneDrive storage cannot be removed or unlinked from the Microsoft account; it is part of the account itself.

Following the steps above (delete files, empty the OneDrive online Recycle Bin, wait for quota refresh, or purchase additional storage if needed) is required to clear the “out of storage” warning and send emails again.

References:

• My OneDrive says it's full
• What is Microsoft cloud storage?
• Microsoft storage quotas
• I'm getting a "Disk full" message in OneDrive
• storage exceeded in outlook after purchasing MS 365 subscription - Microsoft Q&A
• How can I delete my OneDrive storage (built into Windows) from the internet without deleting my Microsoft account? - Microsoft Q&A