[German]I'm posting a topic here as a separate blog post that has been on my agenda for two weeks. Administrators will have massive problems with unlicensed OneDrive accounts from January 27, 2025. These will either be deleted due to inactivity or it will be expensive.
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First indication of OneDrive license probpolicy chages
I first came across the topic on January 7, 2025 in article The unlicensed OneDrive free ride ends this month at The Register. The message is short: from January 27, 2025, Microsoft is activating an announcement from 2024.
Starting January 27, 2025, any OneDrive user account that is unlicensed for more than 93 days will be subject to the following actions:
- Unlicensed OneDrive accounts that are subject to a retention policy, retention period, or legal hold will be automatically archived 93 days after license removal.
- Unlicensed accounts that are not subject to a retention policy or legal hold will be moved to the trash 93 days after license removal.
While these archived accounts mentioned in the first point remain visible to administrators via the administration tools, neither administrators nor end users have access to their content. Access will remain restricted until administrators take certain actions (are subject to a fee) to reactivate it.
These changes do not apply to EDU, GCC or DoD customers.
What are unlicensed accounts?
Unlicensed OneDrive accounts are not assigned to a Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscription for that organization. A OneDrive account can become unlicensed if the licensing has not been activated or has expired, Microsoft writes.
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The Register notes that an unlicensed OneDrive account can occur when a user leaves an organization and is deleted from the SharePoint admin center, or an administrator removes the license without deleting the OneDrive account.
The Register article notes that an unlicensed OneDrive account was previously a clever loophole to store data indefinitely for free. If a license was deactivated for a user because they left the company, the OneDrive data was retained without Microsoft being paid for it.
Microsoft writes that "Unlicensed OneDrive accounts pose security and compliance risks and lead to confusion and duplicate files." Therefore, the above measures will be taken on January 27, 2025. Administrators can have the unlicensed OneDrive accounts identified in reports.
Data is needed? It will be expensive
But what if the OneDrive accounts without licensing need to remain accessible for certain reasons? The Register article linked above already contains the information that a customer who wants to reactivate this account must pay $0.60/GB to do so. Subsequently, a monthly fee of $0.05/GB will be charged for all unlicensed accounts.
Blog reader Werner P. contacted me a few hours ago because he had also come across this topic and commented: "I have just stumbled across an 'unsightly' issue or change at Microsoft 365. In future, companies will be asked to pay for unlicensed OneDrive accounts".
Werner linked to the article Microsoft 365 Customers can face Hefty Costs Starting January 27, 2025 Due to Unlicensed OneDrive Accounts by (MVP) Ragnar Heil, which was published at the end of 2024. Ragnar Heil points out the costs that will be incurred if the contents of the OneDrive accounts have to be maintained and licensed. A further breakdown of the situation can also be found here.
The blog reader noted in his email that unlicensed accounts are created faster than you might think – for example, if accounts have been temporarily assigned licenses, the OneDrive instances remain after the license has been revoked. Werner believes that administrators quickly lose sight of this. He himself had a few such instances in his tenant, which he then cleaned up.
Maybe just keep it on your radar – or has the issue long since been cleared up? And if so, how do you deal with the retention obligations for employees who have left the organization?
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