[German]Microsoft has already provided an update on the topic of "unlicensed OneDrive accounts" on June 6, 2025 and reminded users of the deadlines. According to Microsoft, unlicensed OneDrive accounts will be archived or deleted after 93 days. Administrators must act to recover data if necessary.
What is the issue with unlicensed OneDrive accounts?
I n the business sector, OneDrive accounts must be licensed as they are subject to a fee. In practice, it happens again and again that licenses for OneDrive accounts expire or are withdrawn from an account by the administrator (e.g. employees leave the company). In the past, unlicensed OneDrive accounts and their content were left behind. There was already an announcement in 2024 that such accounts would be deleted in future.
Microsoft then announced (see image above) that it would begin deleting unlicensed OneDrive accounts after 93 days (or archiving them for a fee if desired) from January 27, 2025. I mentioned this in the blog post Unlicensed OneDrive accounts will be deleted, archived or subject to a fee from January 27, 2025 for from January 27, 2025. Then there was the post Detailed road map for deleting unlicensed OneDrive accounts from January 2025 here in the blog, which was about more detailed schedules because the implementation has been postponed.
Microsoft reminds of schedule
I have seen that Microsoft has updated the post MC836942 – Microsoft OneDrive: Update for unlicensed account in the Microsoft 365 Message Center on June 6, 2025. There they provide a more detailed schedule of what exactly will happen.
On January 27, 2025, Microsoft began implementing the update for unlicensed OneDrive accounts. However, the rollout has been slowed down to ensure a safe rollout and to give administrators enough time to adapt. Admins should be prepared that it will take some time for all unlicensed accounts to go through the enforcement process. The initial rollout of enforcement will be completed by October 29, 2025.
For OneDrive accounts (Business accounts) that were not licensed before July 28, 2025, the following will happen:
- September 26, 2025: By this date, all unlicensed accounts will go into read-only mode. Administrators are advised to check after this date. Earlier review may result in an incomplete status snapshot.
- October 29, 2025: On this date, all unlicensed accounts will be archived. Administrators are advised to check after this date. An earlier review may result in an incomplete status snapshot.
For accounts that have not been licensed after July 28, 2025, the account will be placed in read-only mode on the 60th day without a license and archived or moved to the trash on the 93rd day without a license. Microsoft has published an example of a OneDrive Business account whose license expires. The account is then either archived with its content (if a retention policy is in place). This archiving is subject to a fee (see also my blog post linked above. If no retention policy is set by the tenant administrator, Microsoft moves the account and its content to the recycle bin – in other words, the account is deleted.
To clarify: This does not apply to private OneDrive accounts, but the changes to the storage policies for unlicensed Microsoft OneDrive accounts apply to business and enterprise customers. These changes do not apply to customers in education tenants.
