OneDrive Tip: Get Extra Storage

With OneDrive available everywhere—on PCs and Macs, iPhones, iPads, Android devices of all kinds, Windows Phones and tablets, and even Xbox One—there’s no excuse for not taking advantage of this pervasive cloud storage service. But what if you need more than the 15 GB of storage that Microsoft provides for free? Here are a few ways to get extra storage.

UPDATE: Get 100 GB free from Bing Rewards for two years. This one is only valid through the end of February 2015 (and it may be US-only), but if you visit Bing Rewards, you can get 100 GB of additional storage free for two years.

Use OneDrive to back up your smart phone’s camera roll. You should be doing this anyway, but when you enable this the first time—on any supported smart phone: Android, iPhone, Fire Phone, or Windows Phone—you will receive a permanent 15 GB of additional storage. Just do it. This one’s a no-brainer.

Go unlimited. If you subscribe to Office 365 Personal ($69 per year) or Office 365 Home ($99 per year), you will get unlimited OneDrive cloud storage for the lifetime of the subscription. (This is being phased in throughout 2015.) This is a particularly good deal for Office 365 Home since everyone on the subscription—it supports up to five people—will get unlimited OneDrive storage. (Note: Office 365 business subscribers get unlimited OneDrive for Business storage, which is the same type of service—cloud storage—but not the same technologically.)

Refer a friend. If you refer a friend to OneDrive and they create a new account, you and that friend will both get an extra 0.5 GB (500 MB) of free storage (to a maximum of 5 GB). This is a permanent addition, too, but it’s not applicable in some countries (including the European Union member states, Australia and New Zealand). This offer is accessible from OneDrive on the web: Just navigate to “Get more storage” and then click “Get free storage” next to Referral bonus.

Pay for more storage. You’re probably better off using the Office 365 deals mentioned above since you get a ton of other benefits too. But Microsoft also lets you buy additional storage. 100 GB of additional storage costs $1.99 a month (so about $25 per year) and 200 GB is $3.99 per month (or about $50 per year).

Buy a new PC. When you’re shopping for a new PC, see what extras you get. Many new PCs include a free one-year subscription to Office 365 Personal, which provides unlimited OneDrive cloud storage for the duration of the subscription (you can pay to continue after the year runs out). Some instead include a key card with a code that can be redeemed for 200 GB of additional OneDrive storage for two years.