URGENT ISSUE: Over Storage Limit in OneDrive

Question

URGENT ISSUE: Over Storage Limit in OneDrive

Krissy Feuerhake 0

I'm getting conflicting 'over storage' messaging in OneDrive. I've used 39.8 GB of total 5GB see link below. It says my files are at risk of deletion if I don't purchase storage and I fear I'm being hacked. The message says I'm 34.8 over my limit. See image E891080C-63B4-4C6B-ADED-89ABD4650BB2_4_5005_c.jpeg. I have know idea what is going on and worried I've been hacked.

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2 answers

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Answer 1

Krissy Feuerhake 0

This is the problem, I have (2) OneDrive accounts and one is over limit and the other isn't. This one isn't: [--PII REMOVED--] BUT [--PII REMOVED--] IS. It's the latter that I use OneNote and I need to gain access. I don't know how I have two OneDrive accounts?

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Answer 2

Lucus-V 13,485 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Krissy Feuerhake,

Please note that our Microsoft Q&A forum is a public platform, and we will modify your response/ question to hide your personal information in the description. Kindly ensure that you hide any personal or organizational information the next time you post an error or other details to protect personal data.

I'm sorry for the concern this situation has caused.

To better understand where the reported 39.8 GB is coming from, could you please check the following and let us know the results?

When you open OneDrive storage management, does it also show approximately 39.8 GB being used there?
Does the OneDrive Recycle Bin contain a large amount of data?
Have you ever had a Microsoft 365 subscription or additional OneDrive storage that may have expired recently?
Do you see any unusually large folders, such as Pictures, Documents, or Desktop, that may have been backed up to OneDrive?

The screenshot indicates that almost all of the storage usage is being attributed to OneDrive, so identifying whether OneDrive itself reports the same 39.8 GB usage will help determine whether this is simply a storage quota issue or something else.

Please let us know what you find, and we'll be happy to continue narrowing this down with you.

Krissy Feuerhake 0 Reputation points

2026-09-24T18:59:26.4066667+00:00

Whoops, sorry I should've paid attention to that detail. Ok now I lost access to OneNote in one account. It directs me to a page that says how to troubleshoot cloud storage errors in OneNote. Issue: this is error due to no longer able to sync 0xE0000796 then under Resolution: it provides link to see storage plan on how to free up space. Every time I delete large attachments and then from the recycle bin then the all come back. So it's a wonder why I am over storage limit.
Lucus-V 13,485 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-27T16:01:50.26+00:00
Hi Krissy Feuerhake,

The fact that you're now receiving OneNote sync error 0xE0000796, which indicates a cloud storage issue, is consistent with the storage warning shown in your screenshot. In other words, OneNote appears to be unable to sync because the account is currently considered over its available cloud storage limit.

What stands out to me is your comment that you delete large attachments and empty the Recycle Bin, but the items later reappear. That behavior is not what I would normally expect if the files were being successfully removed from OneDrive.

To help narrow this down, could you clarify:

Are the deleted files reappearing in OneDrive on the web (onedrive.live.com), or only in the OneDrive app on a device?

Approximately how long after deletion do the files return?

Are you signed into the same Microsoft account on multiple devices that could be syncing the files back?

When you look at OneDrive on the web, do you see the storage usage decrease after deleting the files, even temporarily?

Understanding whether the files are actually being deleted from the cloud, or whether they're being restored/synced back from another location, will help determine why the storage usage is not going down as expected.