Microsoft may charge you to keep old emails in Hotmail or Outlook
Microsoft account users abroad report receiving messages saying the company will start charging to keep old Hotmail or Outlook. The information says that a memory limit on the box has been reached and that to continue using the service it is necessary to delete content or subscribe to Office 365, a package that includes programs such as Word and Excel.
The message says that the box has a 15 GB storage limit. The problem is that, despite this type of limit being common, users of the service report that they were never informed about it. This can be seen in accounts that have much more space occupied than the 15 GB.
The report on the Microsoft to start charging for storage It hasn't reached everyone who has an Outlook account. Apparently the main target is old Hotmail users who have very old accounts, even more than 20 years old. Like here:
I've had my #Outlook account from @Microsoft @Outlook for more than 20 years – when it was still #Hotmail. I signed in today to find they've suddenly implemented a 15GB e-mail account limit unless you go #Premium. Way to show your longtime users what you really think of them…
— James (@amusingonlife) January 23, 2021
“I’ve had Outlook for over 20 years, back when it was still Hotmail. I logged into my Microsoft account today to find out that they’ve suddenly implemented a 15GB email account limit and are going to charge you to keep your content. Way to show your old users what you really think of them,” one user wrote. The tweet received a response from Microsoft, essentially confirming the charge.
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Hi! Thanks for bringing this to our attention! We understand that you feel that longtime Outlook users should still have unlimited storage instead of the 15 GB that we have today.— Microsoft Outlook (@Outlook) January 25, 2021
“Hi! Thanks for bringing this to our attention! We understand that you feel that long-term Outlook users should still have unlimited storage instead of the 15GB we have today,” the official account says.
#Outlook's started telling me I'm using 27GB or 15GB and can't send or receive emails until I sort it. Is this something new? #microsoft
— ashic (@ashic) January 23, 2021
“Outlook has started telling me I’m using 27GB or 15GB and I can’t send or receive emails until I sort them. Is this something new?#microsoft,” another user wrote.
New implementation
In 2013, Hotmail was completely shut down, but all messages were migrated to Outlook. All this without any charge. Now, if this is confirmed, many people will have to delete a large part of their email inbox or subscribe to the package, which is not cheap.
For comparison, here in Brazil the package costs R$29 per month or R$299 for a year. The price includes 50 GB of memory in Outlook and 1 TB in OneDrive, in addition to the range of Microsoft apps. Despite the price, if this is indeed confirmed, it is likely that there will be a cheaper version of the subscription that only includes the increased storage.
If confirmed, the move could be similar to what Google recently announced regarding Google Photos. Which will no longer have unlimited image storage.
In contact with the Vida Celular, even to the surprise of users, Microsoft informed that the policy has not changed. That is: it has always been charged, but people are discovering the limit now, And confirmed the messages: “We always send a warning to both paid and free customers who are approaching or reaching their data limit. The design of the warning has changed recently, but there have been no changes to our data limits or policies.”
Photo: Tomhoryn via iStock
Through which channels you reach those people, classic and out of the box. TechRadar
