My OneDrive says it's storage is full, but it's empty.

Question

My OneDrive says it's storage is full, but it's empty.

Nightswarm 5

I've searched for answers to this, as I'm not receiving incoming emails to my Outlook, but my email says it's exceeding the storage limit. I checked the limits and Outlook is using 0.1% of it's 15GB limit, but OneDrive is showing 5.5GB of the 5GB limit. I checked out OneDrive, which I've never used, and it's empty.

I read that I need to resync it, or something? I go to my setting, click manage storage, and it just shows a box. It refuses to load. I clicked around and several setting options say, "Setting couldn't load - Refresh and try again." I've refreshed and it's giving me the same issues. I guess that shows the quality Microsoft is forcing upon us by using their email platform.

My next thought was to email support. I went to their support, put in my issue, and see several others with the same issue. The thread seems to be a dead end though because no one has commented on it. The first one I saw was 3 years old.

This is a long shot but I need some help figuring out what the problem is. It's not an issue with my trash bin or anything because I don't have anything in OneDrive at all. I've been through every bit of the structure. There is nothing in "My Files", nothing shared with me, and nothing in the trash. I read something that someone said about their desktop files automatically porting into OneDrive but that's not the case. I double checked that.

Any assistance would be appreciated. Thanks.

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Anonymous

2025-10-15T12:08:20.5066667+00:00

Hello Nightswarm,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community! Although Outlook indicates that you are using only 0.1% of your 15GB limit, Microsoft has now integrated storage across its services. If OneDrive shows that you have used 5.5GB out of 5GB, this could prevent new emails from coming in. To make matters more perplexing, your OneDrive seems to be empty, which may imply the presence of hidden or orphaned files, such as email attachments or system files that still count against your storage quota. The issue with your settings not loading and the error message "Settings couldn’t load Refresh and try again" only adds to the frustration. This is often due to account synchronization problems or a corrupted cache, particularly following a subscription renewal.

You might want to reset OneDrive by using the command %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe /reset, unlink and then relink your account, and also clear the OneDrive Recycle Bin, as even deleted files still contribute to your storage limit. If the settings continue to be unresponsive, consider trying to access them through a different browser or in incognito mode. Sometimes, it can take 24–48 hours for storage updates to be reflected after a renewal, but if it has been longer than that, it may be necessary to reach out to Microsoft Support and request a refresh of your account’s storage mapping.

https://support.microsoft.com/home/contact

This might help

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/my-onedrive-says-it-s-full-f0a8a922-d971-497e-b0c6-7b9a47c617c0
Nightswarm 5 Reputation points

2025-11-13T22:33:12.7633333+00:00

Thank you for checking in to this issue.

I've followed the steps listed above and the problem still persists. I went a few steps further, trying other browsers, and even deleting and reinstalling One Drive. The newer thing I've noticed is, on my computer, it says I'm not signed in. When I attempt to sign in, I add my email address, hit enter, but instead of being met with a password screen, it processes. After a second, I see it close, reopen, close, then not reopen. When I attempt to open One Drive again, it just opens the email address window, starting the process over.

I'm stumped on this one and could really use some technical help from someone at Microsoft. I can't access my email otherwise.

Thanks.

3 answers

Anonymous

2025-10-15T12:08:20.5066667+00:00

Hello Nightswarm,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community! Although Outlook indicates that you are using only 0.1% of your 15GB limit, Microsoft has now integrated storage across its services. If OneDrive shows that you have used 5.5GB out of 5GB, this could prevent new emails from coming in. To make matters more perplexing, your OneDrive seems to be empty, which may imply the presence of hidden or orphaned files, such as email attachments or system files that still count against your storage quota. The issue with your settings not loading and the error message "Settings couldn’t load Refresh and try again" only adds to the frustration. This is often due to account synchronization problems or a corrupted cache, particularly following a subscription renewal.

You might want to reset OneDrive by using the command %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe /reset, unlink and then relink your account, and also clear the OneDrive Recycle Bin, as even deleted files still contribute to your storage limit. If the settings continue to be unresponsive, consider trying to access them through a different browser or in incognito mode. Sometimes, it can take 24–48 hours for storage updates to be reflected after a renewal, but if it has been longer than that, it may be necessary to reach out to Microsoft Support and request a refresh of your account’s storage mapping.

https://support.microsoft.com/home/contact

This might help

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/my-onedrive-says-it-s-full-f0a8a922-d971-497e-b0c6-7b9a47c617c0
Nightswarm 5 Reputation points

2025-11-13T22:33:12.7633333+00:00

Thank you for checking in to this issue.

I've followed the steps listed above and the problem still persists. I went a few steps further, trying other browsers, and even deleting and reinstalling One Drive. The newer thing I've noticed is, on my computer, it says I'm not signed in. When I attempt to sign in, I add my email address, hit enter, but instead of being met with a password screen, it processes. After a second, I see it close, reopen, close, then not reopen. When I attempt to open One Drive again, it just opens the email address window, starting the process over.

I'm stumped on this one and could really use some technical help from someone at Microsoft. I can't access my email otherwise.

Thanks.

Answer 1

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Answer 2

Hello,

This is due to a change Microsoft made in Feb 2023.

You have 15 GB mailbox storage and 5GB OneDrive storage. Your email inline images and attachments count against your OneDrive storage. So, if your mailbox quota is not exceeded but your Onedrive is, it can still prevent you from sending/receiving.

This is all explained here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/changes-to-microsoft-365-email-features-and-storage-e888d746-61e5-49e3-9bd1-94b88e9be988

You can delete emails with attachments to make room for OneDrive.

Answer 3

Olathe Guy 0

This is just a variation of the tactic where companies make it impossible to cancel a subscription. You guys are bold, bit not slick.

Stefan Blom 353.9K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-10-07T23:43:19.24+00:00

@Olathe Guy

You have posted in a thread which is a year old. Only your fellow users see what you post here. You can send feedback to Microsoft via the portal at https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/.

If you have a question for your peers, please start your own thread. Use the Ask a question option. Good luck.

The current thread will be closed.