Cloudwards.net may earn a small commission from some purchases made through our site. However, any earnings do not affect how we review services. Learn more about our editorial integrity and research process.

What Is the OneDrive File Size Limit? Microsoft’s 2024 Updates

Sapphire FoxJackie Leavitt

Written by Sapphire Fox (Editor)

Reviewed by Jackie Leavitt (Chief Editor)

Last Updated: 2024-01-30T08:27:44+00:00

All our content is written fully by humans; we do not publish AI writing. Learn more here.

Due to the novel coronavirus, we have seen a massive increase in remote working, which naturally means that more people than ever are relying on cloud storage to share their files. Coinciding with this came an update and an announcement from Microsoft, bringing many long-requested features to OneDrive. In this article, we’ll be looking at the change to the OneDrive file size limit for uploads and what it means for users. 

Although the upload limit will be our focus here, the improvements don’t stop with the OneDrive maximum file size increasing. There are also new changes to sharing in Microsoft Teams, extra administration controls, a dark mode option for the web and improvements to help you search for files. These will benefit both OneDrive for Business and individual users, improving this service in many aspects.

The New 250GB OneDrive File Size Limit

Microsoft has raised the previous OneDrive file upload limit of 100GB to 250GB. This applies to everyone with a OneDrive plan, meaning all OneDrive for Business and personal plans will get the increase.

You won’t even need to use the apps, as the change also raises both the OneDrive and SharePoint Online limits to 250GB. Read SharePoint vs OneDrive comparison guide to learn more.

This will please companies that need to store and share large files, since the OneDrive for Business file size limit has been a major problem for a long time. However, unless you’re storing large media files in the cloud, most people won’t be able to benefit much from this. Free users also won’t be impacted, as the OneDrive size limit for free accounts is still capped at 5GB.

Why Microsoft Increased the File Size Limit for OneDrive

After almost six years with OneDrive limitations set firmly at 15GB, the limit was raised to 100GB in 2020, and then again to 250GB in 2021. The reasons for why this sudden change happened are unclear. However, the recent implementation of block-level syncing for all file types — which speeds up the process of syncing large files — probably has something to do with it.

There is also an element of keeping up with the competition, as OneDrive has always been miles behind Google Drive’s 5TB limit or Sync.com’s lack of limits. However, OneDrive’s new limit of 250GB will be plenty for most people.

Final Thoughts

As Microsoft slowly reduces OneDrive’s limitations on file sharing, it inches closer to becoming one of the best cloud storage options. Whether you need to share large files, run your business on the cloud or just want the option to store some long 4K videos, this update secures OneDrive as an excellent storage solution for most people.

However, if the new changes to the Microsoft OneDrive file size limit still don’t meet your requirements, there are many other providers with higher limits. Find the best option for you by reading our article on cloud services for storing large files

Have you made use of the new OneDrive limits? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. Thanks for reading.

↑ Top