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OneDrive storage full? Outlook stops receiving email. Fix it without losing a file.
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Guide, Updated

Cancel Microsoft 365 without losing your OneDrive files

When a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription ends, your OneDrive goes back to the free 5 GB. If you have more than that, nothing is deleted on day one: your files become read-only, Outlook.com can stop sending and receiving email, and after six months over the limit Microsoft may delete them. Copy them first, then cancel.

Cancel Microsoft 365 and keep your files

The short answer

  • Check how much is in your OneDrive. Over 5 GB, cancelling puts your files at risk.
  • Copy everything to a disk of your own and check the copy before you cancel.
  • Then bring the cloud under 5 GB, or accept that it stays read-only until you do.

What happens when the subscription ends

  • Storage: from 1 TB per person back to the free 5 GB, shared between OneDrive files and Outlook.com attachments.
  • Over the limit: you cannot upload, edit or sync new files. Your existing files stay, read-only. You can still open, download and delete them.
  • Email: while the storage is over the limit, Outlook.com cannot send or receive email, and mail sent to you is returned.
  • After three months over the limit the account can be frozen. After six months Microsoft may delete your OneDrive, and deleted files cannot be recovered.
  • Office apps: Word, Excel and PowerPoint on the PC stop letting you edit. The free versions at office.com keep working.

Before you cancel: the steps, in order

  1. See how much you use. Sign in to the storage page of your Microsoft account: it shows OneDrive and email separately. Salvako's free Check shows how many files are online-only and how much space a copy needs.
  2. Copy everything to a disk of your own. Many files are online-only and are not on the PC: a plain copy misses them. The ways to do it, and their limits, are in back up OneDrive to an external drive.
  3. Check the copy: same number of files, same size, files that open.
  4. Bring the cloud under 5 GB. On onedrive.com delete what you have copied, starting from the largest files, then empty the recycle bin: deleted files keep counting until it is empty.
  5. Then cancel, or turn off recurring billing in your Microsoft account: the plan stays active until the end of the period you paid for.

Family plans

With Microsoft 365 Family every member has 1 TB. When the plan ends, every member goes back to 5 GB at the same time. Tell them before you cancel, so each of them copies their own files.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Deleting in the cloud before the copy is checked: files deleted in OneDrive also leave every PC linked to it.
  • Dragging folders out of the OneDrive folder: a move deletes them from the cloud, and online-only files are not even there to move.
  • Forgetting the phone: if the OneDrive app uploads the camera, new photos keep filling the 5 GB.
  • Emptying the recycle bin before the copy is checked.

If you already cancelled and you are over the limit

Your files are read-only, not gone. You can still download them, so copy them now, before the six months run out. Then delete enough to go under 5 GB, so email and sync work again. If you need more time, one more month of subscription restores the space while you copy.

How Salvako does it for you

The free Check reads, without changing anything, where every file really is and how many are online-only. The verified copy brings every file to the disk you choose, a few at a time so drive C: does not fill up, and compares each copy with the original by size and SHA-256 fingerprint. With the receipt in hand you free the cloud and cancel knowing nothing is lost. The copied files are ordinary files on your disk: they stay yours.

Questions

What happens to my OneDrive files if I cancel Microsoft 365?

Your storage goes back to the free 5 GB. Nothing is deleted on the first day, but if you have more than 5 GB your files become read-only, after three months the account can be frozen and after six months Microsoft may delete them.

Will I lose my files as soon as the subscription ends?

No. While you are over the limit you can still open, download and delete your files. You cannot upload, edit or sync new ones. Copy them to a disk of your own before the six months run out.

Do files in the OneDrive recycle bin count toward the 5 GB?

Yes. Deleted files keep counting until the recycle bin is emptied or they expire after 30 days.

Does Outlook.com email stop working?

If your storage is over the limit, Outlook.com cannot send or receive email and mail sent to you is returned. Attachments count toward the same 5 GB.

Can I keep using Word and Excel after cancelling?

The desktop Office apps stop letting you edit. The free versions in the browser, at office.com, keep working with your Microsoft account.

Can I get my files back after Microsoft deletes them?

No. Once Microsoft deletes a OneDrive that stayed over the limit, the files cannot be recovered. That is why the copy comes before the cancellation.

Cancel knowing nothing is lost.

Salvako's free Check shows in two minutes how much is in your OneDrive, how many files are online-only and how much space a copy needs. It changes nothing.

Run the free Check

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