How to Move Off Standalone SharePoint and OneDrive Plans Before Renewals End in January 2027

Microsoft is retiring the standalone SharePoint and OneDrive plans. New sales ended May 31, 2026, renewals stop in January 2027, and service ends in December 2029. If you pay for one of these plans alone, you have time, but the safest path is to choose a replacement and move before your current term ends.

This guide is for owners and office managers who buy OneDrive for Business or SharePoint Online on its own, often for cheap file storage. It explains what Microsoft announced, how to check your licenses, which replacement fits, and how to move files in order. Little iApps focuses on what business software costs and how to switch without losing work.

What Microsoft is retiring and when

Microsoft told partners in January 2026 that it would retire SharePoint Online Plan 1 and Plan 2, plus OneDrive for Business Plan 1 and Plan 2, as standalone products. The Register's report lists the 2026 and 2027 dates and the plan prices.

The timeline has three steps. New customers could not buy the plans after May 31, 2026. In January 2027, Microsoft stops renewing contracts for them. In December 2029, the service ends entirely, according to Tech Partner News.

Microsoft cites low demand, nonstandard usage and higher operating costs. The Register suggests some customers bought the plans mainly as cheap storage. Plan 1 of OneDrive for Business gives 1TB at $5 per user per month, which is hard to match inside a full suite.

Does a small business need to act now?

You do not need to move today, because existing contracts continue until they expire and service runs to December 2029. You do need a plan before your term ends, since the plan cannot be renewed after January 2027. Check your end date now and work backward from it.

The risk is not a sudden shutoff. The risk is a forced move on someone else's schedule, with a higher price and no time to test. A move done over a quiet month costs far less than a rush at renewal.

If you buy through a Microsoft partner, ask them what they plan to offer. Partners were told to identify affected customers early, so your reseller may already have a recommendation and a quote.

How to find your standalone licenses

Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center as a global admin and open the billing section. List every subscription, its product name and its term end date. Look for lines named SharePoint Online or OneDrive for Business with Plan 1 or Plan 2.

Then check who uses each license. Some tenants carry licenses for former staff or for people who only use a browser to share files. Removing unused licenses lowers cost before you migrate anything.

Write down three facts for each license: the user, the storage used, and the end date. Those three numbers drive every decision below. Storage in particular decides whether a suite's included space is enough.

Four replacement options compared

The table below compares the four paths most small businesses consider. Prices change, so confirm them on the vendor's page before you commit. Our Microsoft 365 vs. Google Workspace pricing comparison has current suite prices.

Most teams end up in the second row. Microsoft says its 365 suites are the main way to get SharePoint and OneDrive going forward. The suites cost more than the standalone plans, so budget for the difference.

If you are also weighing AI features, read what a small team pays in our Microsoft 365 Copilot Business price guide before choosing a tier. Copilot is optional, and it should not drive the base decision.

How to move files without breaking sharing

Follow these steps in order. Each one is a stage you can finish and check before starting the next.

Sharing links are the part that breaks. A link to a file in the old tenant location may stop working after a move, so tell customers and vendors who hold links. Send updated links in one message instead of letting people find out one at a time.

If your files came from a desktop program that is also being retired, handle that conversion first. Our guide on moving off Office 2021 after support ended covers the file formats and licensing questions that often come up in the same project.

What to protect during the move

A migration is a good moment to tighten security. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) runs a small business cybersecurity hub with guidance on cloud security, multifactor authentication and incident response. Use it as a checklist while permissions are being rebuilt.

Turn on multifactor sign-in for every account before the move. If you want to go further, our post on setting up passkeys for your small business team shows how to roll out phishing-resistant sign-in on Microsoft and Google accounts.

Do not delete anything early. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says in its recordkeeping guidance that you must keep records as long as they are needed to prove income or deductions, and employment tax records for at least four years. Contracts, invoices and payroll files stored in the old plan fall under that rule.

Make one extra copy of the most important folders on an offline drive before you start. That copy costs little and protects you from a bad batch.

How to budget for the price difference

Start with the number you pay today and multiply by your user count. Then get a quote for the suite you plan to buy and subtract. The gap is your new yearly cost, and it is the figure your owner or finance lead needs to approve.

A short example helps. Ten users on OneDrive for Business Plan 1 at $5 per user per month cost $600 a year. If a suite costs several dollars more per user each month, the gap runs into the low thousands across a year. The suite also brings email and Office apps, so part of that gap replaces other tools you may already pay for.

Look for overlap before you buy. Teams that pay for a standalone storage plan often also pay for a separate email host, a file-sharing tool or a document editor. A business suite can replace one or more of those, and the net change may be smaller than it first looks.

Annual billing is usually cheaper per month than monthly billing, but it locks you in. If you are unsure about a switch to Google Workspace or another service, pay monthly for the first quarter, then move to annual once the migration is done.

Common mistakes to avoid

The most common mistake is waiting for the renewal notice. Microsoft will not send a warning that fits your schedule, so the date in your admin center is the only date that matters.

The second mistake is moving files without moving permissions. A folder that was private can become visible to the wrong group if you copy it into a shared library. Review access on every library before you invite the team back in.

The third is ignoring storage totals. A suite includes a fixed amount of storage per user, and a team with a few heavy users can run over. Find those users early and clean up old versions and large video files.

A simple timeline to follow

Work backward from the end of your term. Sixty days out, confirm the replacement and its price. Forty-five days out, run the test folder. Thirty days out, move the main batches. Fourteen days out, rebuild permissions and notify outside partners.

If your term ends in the first half of 2027, start in the fourth quarter of 2026. A holiday freeze and year-end work make December a poor month to move files, so use the weeks before it.

Conclusion

The retirement of standalone SharePoint and OneDrive plans is a slow change, but it ends with a hard stop on renewals. Check your term dates, count your storage, and pick a replacement while you still have a choice. Most small teams should land on a Microsoft 365 business suite and budget for the higher price.

Your next step is to open the admin center today and write down each license's end date. Little iApps will keep updating its pricing guides as Microsoft and Google change their plans, so you can compare before you renew.