Microsoft OneDrive for Business: Moving unlicensed OneDrive archive charges to a dedicated billing meter

[What and Why]

We're updating how charges for archived, unlicensed OneDrive accounts appear on your Azure bill.

Today, charges for archived unlicensed OneDrive accounts are billed through the Microsoft Syntex pay-as-you-go meter. To provide clearer billing transparency and simplify cost tracking and reconciliation, these charges will move to a dedicated M365 Unlicensed OneDrive Archive billing meter.

This change only affects how charges are presented on billing statements. Pricing, archived content, data access, retention behavior, and service functionality remain completely unchanged.

[Rollout Schedule]

• General Availability (Worldwide): Beginning mid-August 2026 and expected to complete by late August 2026

[Impact on Your Organization]

Who is affected

• Organizations that currently use pay-as-you-go billing for archived, unlicensed OneDrive accounts
• Organizations that do not use archived unlicensed OneDrive accounts are not affected
• Users are not affected.

Platforms/Services

• OneDrive for Business
• Azure subscription billing associated with pay-as-you-go archive charges for unlicensed OneDrive accounts

What will happen

• Pricing and functionality remain unchanged.
• No archived data will be moved, modified, or deleted.
• No changes will be made to account access or restore capabilities.
• No action is required to maintain service continuity.
• Existing Azure subscription associations remain unchanged.
• No new consent or configuration is required.
• The transition is automatic.
• Charges currently displayed under the Microsoft Syntex pay-as-you-go meter will be displayed under the new M365 Unlicensed OneDrive Archive meter.
• Billing will continue uninterrupted throughout the transition.

[Action Required/Recommendations]

No action is required.

You may want to:

• Review any billing, cost allocation, chargeback, or reconciliation reports that reference the Microsoft Syntex meter name.
• Update reporting filters to recognize the new M365 Unlicensed OneDrive Archive meter name.
• Inform procurement, finance, billing, or FinOps stakeholders about the meter name change to prevent reporting discrepancies.

Learn more: Manage unlicensed OneDrive user accounts in SharePoint in Microsoft 365 | SharePoint in Microsoft 365 | SharePoint | Microsoft Learn

[Compliance considerations]

No compliance considerations identified. Review as appropriate for your organization.