Admins need a plan for unlicensed OneDrive for Business accounts

• Cloud customers must prepare for a Jan. 2025 change in OneDrive for Business archiving for unlicensed cloud accounts.
• Organizations that do nothing risk losing data of former employees and other former users of OneDrive for Business.
• Microsoft’s preferred solution,  Microsoft 365 Archive, brings new capacity and access charges.
• None of the changes apply to education, Government Community Cloud, or Department of Defense customers for now.

In July, Microsoft announced via a message on the Microsoft 365 Admin Message Center, that it planned to change its archival policies around unlicensed OneDrive for Business accounts. Coincidentally (or maybe not), it has an app to help with that: Microsoft 365 Archive, where unlicensed account data will go if admins don’t act.

Old rule: Unlicensed storage covered by quota

Unlicensed accounts are not associated with a Microsoft 365 or Office 365 user subscription license. These accounts can become unlicensed when licensing isn’t activated or is expired, Microsoft says.