Changes to Microsoft file storage 

Tracy Moffat

Wednesday 11 September 2024

It’s important to understand the implications of Microsoft’s changes and what action we all need to take.  

Microsoft announced they will significantly reduce the cloud file storage they provide to universities and colleges worldwide. This represents a 98% reduction in the M365 storage provided to the University of St Andrews, so we must act now to avoid significant storage charges in the future.  

The University of St Andrews sustainability commitment is to achieve net zero by 2035, and reducing the University’s digital carbon footprint has a role to play. It is important we only keep the files we need, in a secure and appropriate location, see our blog for more information. 

To help us manage this reduction, we will apply a new file storage quota to all OneDrive accounts and Teams. This quota will be set at 50GB per user for OneDrive and 100GB for Teams. This reduction is not unique to Microsoft; most cloud storage providers already have storage limits in place. For most staff and students, this will have no impact, however, those who do have more than 50GB of files in OneDrive will have to act now. We will be contacting individuals directly who have exceeded these quotas to assist them. 

How do I reduce my file storage? 

Our Business Relationship team are running sessions on file storage  which can be booked via PDMS; we encourage you to attend to get tips on:   

• Accessing your OneDrive and reviewing your largest files 
• How to delete or move the files you still need into a shared place and organise files 
• Create folders to organise files in your OneDrive 
• Review files in Teams you own and move or delete files no longer needed 
• Review Teams you own and delete historical Teams no longer needed 
• Empty the recycle bin 
• Consider time blocking the process so as you can regularly keep on top of your digital file management 

Alternatively visit our spring clean your OneDrive blog. 

Where do I store my files moving forward? 

• OneDrive: for your work files in the cloud, accessible on any device and can be shared 
• Microsoft Groups/ Teams: recommended if work files are shared with more than three people for collaborations; these files are accessible on any device 
• Home Drive: for work files that don’t need to be accessed on any device or shared with others 
• Shared Drive: work files dedicated to your team or department 
• Research Share: Principal Investigators are entitled to 0.5TB of storage for research projects, read more online at Research data management 

Third party cloud storage  

Staff and students aren’t permitted to keep internal, confidential or strictly confidential information outside of Microsoft 365 or our network file store. This includes Dropbox and other third-party cloud solutions. Third-party data processing contract must be in place before information is passed into a cloud service. Refer to the University information classification policy and Implementation guide  for more detail.  

Here’s quick aid (all these areas are backed up): 

Keep your data safe

Here’s an infographic to demonstrate where to keep files and the impact of lost data. 

If you need advice or clarification on data destruction, contact [email protected].