Overview

Every Temple OneDrive account has a storage limit. This article explains what your limit is, how to check how much you are using, what happens if you run out, and what to do about it.

What is my storage limit?

Effective November 6, 2026 students will have 10GB of OneDrive storage and faculty/staff will have 75GB of storage.

If you are storing more than your new limit prior to November 6, 2026, your account will keep its existing capacity for now and you will not lose access to any files.

How to check how much storage you are using

From the web

The Storage metrics option is the fastest way to find what is taking up room. You can sort by size to see your largest folders first.

1. Go to onedrive.com and sign in with your Temple credentials.
2. Click the gear icon at the top right.
3. Click OneDrive settings.
4. Click More settings.
5. Under Features and storage, click Storage metrics.
   Your total usage appears at the top right. The list below shows which folders are using the most space. Sort by size to see your largest folders first.

From the desktop app

1. Click the OneDrive cloud icon in the taskbar (Windows) or menu bar (macOS).
2. Click the gear icon, then Settings.
3. Your storage usage is shown on the Account tab.

What happens if I reach my limit

OneDrive warns you as you approach your limit, and again when you reach it. If you go over:

• You cannot upload new files or save changes to existing ones.
• Your existing files stay readable and downloadable — nothing is deleted.
• Syncing continues to bring changes down to your device, but changes you make will not sync back up.
• Files shared with you by other people do not count against your limit.

Freeing up space restores normal use. It can take a short time for the change to register.

How to free up space

1. Empty your recycle bin. Deleted files still count against your quota until the recycle bin is emptied. In OneDrive on the web, click Recycle bin in the left menu, then Empty recycle bin. Check the second-stage recycle bin as well.
2. Find your largest files. Use Storage metrics and sort by size, as described above under How to check how much storage you are using. A handful of large files usually accounts for most of the space.
3. Remove old versions. OneDrive keeps a version history for every file. For large files edited often, open the file's version history and delete versions you no longer need.
4. Clear out media and archives. Video files, disk images, virtual machines, and .zip archives are the most common cause of a full OneDrive.
5. Move shared or departmental files to the right place. OneDrive is designed for personal work files. Files a team needs belong in Microsoft Teams or SharePoint, and departmental files may belong in TUvault. See the Storage comparison chart to pick the right option.

Requesting additional storage

Before requesting more, it is worth checking whether another storage option fits better. Research data, departmental shares, and team project files are usually better served by Teams, SharePoint, or TUvault than by a larger personal OneDrive.

If your work requires more storage than your limit allows, please submit a request using the Request Help Button on the upper right. Make sure to include your department, the nature of the data, and how much space you need.