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100GB doesn't always cut it in these remote-working times so Microsoft has upped OneDrive file size upload limit to 250GB

Fewer files now needed before additional storage purchase is required

Microsoft is to cut the number of files needed to fill the increasingly limited space available to OneDrive users by upping the file size limit to 250GB.

Previously 100GB, the increase is in response to what the company described as "helpful and insightful feedback" from its customers and partners, particularly those involved in media and manufacturing. Certainly, those 4K and 8K video files can be chunky beasts, as can CAD files and 3D models.

The company also gave a nod to the huge datasets generated by scientific work such as vaccine trials and the need for remote workers to share those bandwidth-crushingly big files.

The increase has required a little more than a Microsoft engineer tweaking a variable. "We've achieved the 250GB limit by optimizing storage for upload performance," explained Microsoft, "each file is split into chunks and each piece is encrypted with a unique key."

Differential sync means that only the bits of the file that have changed will plough through the bandwidth after the initial hit. The new limit also applies to SharePoint and Teams as well as OneDrive.

Microsoft's 250GB limit looks a little weedy in comparison to some of its cloud storage rivals. While files uploaded to dropbox.com must not exceed 50GB, a file uploaded via Dropbox's desktop or mobile app can hit 2TB. Google Drive will allow 5TB files (although Google Docs files need to be smaller) but only 750GB can be uploaded per day by individual users.

While the update is rolling out over the coming months (and follows last year's leap to 100GB) the amount of data that can be stashed remains set at a paltry 1TB for many. Uploading more than four of those ginormifiles will therefore require some cash to be thrown Microsoft's way in order to add more capacity.

We asked Microsoft if it plans to increase its storage limits in light of the need to store larger files and will update should there be a response. ®

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