In a recent Microsoft Learn blog post, the tech giant urged IT administrators to look at potentially unlicensed OneDrive accounts among users. Microsoft plans to begin eliminating such accounts beginning in January 2025. Their decision to do so is based on the belief that "unlicensed OneDrive accounts can pose security and compliance risks, as well as create confusion and duplication of files."

With so many different products and licenses, it is understandable that Microsoft license management can be tricky. Likewise, it's clear that some businesses have no idea that employees are utilizing unlicensed OneDrive accounts. But now is the time to address the situation before those accounts are eliminated.

We have summarized what Microsoft's announcement means to IT administrators in the following paragraphs. As you read, keep in mind that Opkalla's expertise is Microsoft 365 licensing support and solutions. We can help your organization get all its licenses squared away, even if you currently have no issues with OneDrive business accounts.

Microsoft's Current Plan

Microsoft's plan for unlicensed OneDrive accounts is straightforward. Beginning in January, the company will automatically archive accounts that have been unlicensed for 90 days. Archived accounts are inaccessible to both users and IT administrators.

There is an option for setting up a Microsoft 365 Archive so that users can have access to data stored in an archived OneDrive account after the fact. It requires establishing a few prerequisites within Microsoft 365. In a nutshell, IT administrators must:

1. Establish and link an Azure subscription.
2. Ensure Global admin or SharePoint admin permissions are in place.
3. Activate Unlicensed Account billing for Microsoft 365 Archive.

The same steps can be followed after a business OneDrive account is archived next year. It should be noted that Microsoft will charge reactivation fees to those wishing to regain access to archived accounts. There’s no additional storage cost for archived sites if the tenant hasn’t yet used all of its already licensed SharePoint Storage quota. There is also a seven-day grace period which provides users with the opportunity to reverse an accidental archival without reactivation costs.

What IT Admins Can Do Right Now

Companies wishing to avoid the confusion that could result from OneDrive accounts being archived can take some steps right now to get things squared away. Microsoft recommends identifying unlicensed accounts through the SharePoint admin center.

Microsoft explained in their blog announcement that unlicensed accounts are deemed because they are not associated with either a Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscription. A OneDrive account established without association to either product is unlicensed from the start. However, an account that was originally licensed becomes unlicensed should the Microsoft 365 or Office 365 license be allowed to expire.

IT Administrators can get reports on all unlicensed accounts by logging into their SharePoint admin centers, and then:

1. Navigating to 'User reports' under the 'Reports' heading.
2. Selecting 'OneDrive usage' followed by 'Unlicensed users'.
3. Downloading the associated report (CSV file).

Microsoft says that a new and more interactive UI will be made available in January 2025. But those IT administrators unwilling to wait until then can download the CSV report and go from there.

Options for Unlicensed Accounts

If any unlicensed accounts are discovered, IT administrators have several options. The first is to assign licenses to each of the accounts. Licenses can be assigned individually based on user licensing of Microsoft 365 or Office 365. IT administrators can also bulk assign licenses through either the Microsoft 365 admin center or PowerShell.

The other two options are deleting the unlicensed accounts or simply allowing them to be archived. The benefit of archiving is having access to the data should one need it in the future. For more info on the pricing model for Microsoft 265 Archive, follow this link.

Microsoft license management can be difficult to master with so many products and licenses. Opkalla makes it easier with our Microsoft license management services. If you are struggling with your software licenses, let's talk.

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