OneDrive Free Is 5GB, and Word Already Knows Your Name

OneDrive gives 5GB free with no card, and that 5GB is tied to a Microsoft account that also unlocks Word, Excel and PowerPoint in the browser at no cost. Microsoft 365 Basic raises it to 100GB plus a 100GB mailbox for $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year.¹

The storage number on its own is forgettable. Five gigabytes is a third of what Google gives away. The reason OneDrive still matters is what comes attached to the account, and that is where most of its free value actually sits.

The plans, measured

Prices measured on 22 October 2026. Vendor plan terms, allowances and prices change without notice, so treat every figure on this page as a dated snapshot rather than a permanent fact. Where a number here differs from the vendor's own pricing page, the vendor's page is correct and the figure above is simply older than it.

What 5GB holds

Documents, and not much else. A Word document is typically under 100KB. A PowerPoint deck is a few megabytes. A photo from a modern phone is 3 to 5MB. Video will fill the account in minutes.

As an Office document store, 5GB is enormous. As a photo or video store, it is not a store at all.

The free Office web apps are the real offer

This is the part people miss. A free Microsoft account gives you Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote in a browser, with real-time co-authoring, full document compatibility and files that save straight into OneDrive.

For anyone who needs to open and edit a .docx that someone else sent, this is the difference between a working machine and a dead end. Google Docs handles its own formats superbly and .docx competently, but complex formatting, tracked changes and embedded objects survive better in the original.

The trade is straightforward: the web apps have fewer features than the desktop versions, no offline editing by default, and no advanced data tools in Excel. They are real applications, not viewers, but they are the light versions.

Personal Vault is included on free

OneDrive's Personal Vault is a protected folder that requires a second verification step, either a code or a biometric, to open. Files in it are encrypted at rest and the vault re-locks after a period of inactivity.

On the free plan the vault has a 2GB cap, which is small but real. It is one of the few security features in consumer cloud storage that is available without paying, and most competitors put anything comparable behind a paid tier.

When the free plan is enough

Anyone who mainly needs to read and lightly edit Office files on a device that does not have Office installed. Students opening lecture slides, people filling in a form someone sent, anyone who needs Word for ten minutes a month.

It is also enough as a document handoff. Save into OneDrive, share a link, and the recipient edits in the browser. No file gets emailed, no versions get lost.

When it stops being enough

As soon as you want the desktop versions of Office, you are no longer looking at 5GB or 100GB, you are looking at Personal at $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year. That tier is 1TB plus the full installed Office suite for up to five devices.

Between those two positions sits Microsoft 365 Basic at $1.99. It is a strange tier: 100GB and a 100GB mailbox, but still no desktop Office. It exists for people who need the storage and the email, not the software.

How it compares

Five gigabytes is the smallest free tier in this category apart from Dropbox's 2GB. iCloud+ gives 5GB too, and MEGA gives 20GB.

Judged purely as storage, OneDrive free loses. Judged as the cheapest route to a legal copy of Word that works in a browser, it wins by a wide margin, because the alternatives cost money.

Frequently asked questions

Is OneDrive really free?
Yes, 5GB with a Microsoft account and no card. The Office web apps come with the same account.

Do I get Word free with OneDrive?
You get Word on the web free. The installed desktop application requires a Microsoft 365 subscription.

How big is the free Outlook mailbox?
15GB on the free tier. Microsoft 365 Basic raises it to 100GB.

What happens when OneDrive is full?
New files stop syncing and uploads fail. Existing files stay accessible and can still be downloaded.

Is 5GB enough for photos?
No. Five gigabytes is roughly 1,200 phone photos, so automatic camera backup fills it within months.

Limits and prices verified against Microsoft's own OneDrive plans page on 22 October 2026.

Sources

1. Microsoft OneDrive plans and pricing: www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/onedrive/onedrive-plans-and-pricing.

All sources are the vendor's own plan or documentation pages, checked on 22 October 2026. Plan terms change without notice, so confirm current limits before you rely on them.