Microsoft announced a series of changes for its Microsoft 365 subscription service today. The changes affect family and premium subscribers only at this time and change storage quotas significantly.
For those unaware, a Microsoft 365 subscription includes access to Microsoft Office apps, online storage, Copilot AI access and some other features. The two main plans for many customers are Personal, which gives one person access on up to five devices, and Family, which gives up to 6 people access.
Up until now, Family included 1 TB of storage for each member. Starting October 8, 2026 for new customers, this is reduced to 2 TB shared storage. In other words, users of a Family plan no longer have private storage. When a member buys additional storage, it is added to the shared pool as well.
The same was true for the Premium plan, which supported up to 6 people as well. Instead of 1 TB for each user, Premium subscribers get 2 TB shared now.
Existing customer plans are affected as well, but not immediately. The change takes effect when the subscription is renewed after Mai 2027. Microsoft reveals that existing subscribers may get bonus storage added to their account when the subscription “renews after shared storage rolls out”. It does not mention if it is permanent or how much customers get though.
Last but not least, if storage is exceeded when the transition happens, access to files is not lost immediately. Microsoft says that customers get notifications that explain the available options. These range from deleting online files to buying more storage.
While Microsoft is cutting storage, it is not changing the price of a subscription. Family and Premium continue to cost $12.99 or $19.99 per month.
Microsoft explains on a FAQ page why this is a good thing:
Storage automatically goes where it’s needed.
Members are less likely to run into individual storage limits.
Unused storage can benefit the entire family.
Additional storage purchases can help everyone with the subscription.
What the company fails to mention is that these benefits would also apply if Microsoft would not have reduced the storage of the plans. In fact, it would have even be better for the cases mentioned.
The new Pro plan
Microsoft 365 Pro is a new plan that Microsoft introduced. Subscribers get 5 TB of shared storage and the highest limits when using Copilot AI. This new plan is anything but cheap though. It costs $99.99 per month and includes up to 6 users. However, AI features are limited to the subscription owner according to the description.