This Microsoft 365 Family plan cloud storage change may leave you frustrated

Microsoft has recently changed the storage allocation for its 365 Family plan, which may cause frustration among users. Previously, members could have up to 6TB of storage, but now they will only have a shared 2TB. This change applies to Family subscriptions, which previously allocated 1TB per member, totaling up to 6TB. The reduction is a significant one, and since the 2TB is shared among members, it becomes clear which user is consuming the most storage.

The 365 Family plan is a cloud-based subscription service that provides access to Microsoft's suite of applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and OneDrive. Each Family plan can have up to six members, but AI and CoPilot features are only available to the subscription owner. Despite the reduction in storage allowance, the price remains the same at $13 a month or $130 a year.

The storage changes also extend to Microsoft 365 Premium subscriptions, which include the Family plan's features plus advanced AI features accessible only to the plan administrator. Existing Family plan subscribers who signed up before October 8 will transition to shared storage when they renew their subscription on or after May 2, 2027.

However, if they switch plans before the transition date, Microsoft may apply the shared storage model to their account immediately. The same applies to those upgrading to Premium. If a user downgrades from Premium to Family, their subscription will remain under the current storage model until it renews on or after May 2. Microsoft plans to notify users about the storage changes before they are implemented.

For users requiring more storage, they can purchase up to an additional 10TB, available in 100GB, 500GB, 1TB, or 6TB storage packs. As the plan owner, additional storage can be assigned to each member based on their needs or payment responsibilities.