OneDrive file size limits jumps to 10GB, while syncing, sharing and uploading improves

A couple of weeks ago it looked as though Microsoft was lifting the 2GB file size limit for OneDrive users. Although no announcement was made, some users of the cloud storage service found that they were able to sync files larger than 2GB. Now, the increase in supported file size is official. OneDrive users can now upload files up to 10GB in size, bringing Microsoft's service in line with Dropbox and Google Drive. This is the latest example of Microsoft responding directly to user feedback, specifically a UserVoice thread in which users called for the 2GB file size limit to be banished.

Today Jason Moore, Group Program Manager of OneDrive, responded to the demands with a simple message: "We're proud to announce OneDrive now supports up to 10 GB files". While this is not quite the unlimited file size some people were looking for, it is a big improvement and something that will be widely welcomed. Considering the free version of OneDrive offers 15GB of storage, it is now possible to fill up your account with just two files. If you're an Office 365 customer with access to 1TB of space, you'll need to upload at least 100 files.

And if you plan to try to hit the limit, things just got faster and easier. As Moore explains in a blog post OneDrive is not just benefiting from support for larger file, there are also improvement to file syncing. Microsoft claims that a new method of parallel syncing -- uploading and downloading multiple files simultaneously -- "netted an approximately threefold increase in syncing speed". Before you test upload speeds and complain that you see no difference, these particular feature will be rolling out gradually over the coming weeks.

Google Chrome users will be pleased to learn that their browser gets special treatment. Anyone accessing OneDrive.com through Google's web browser can simply drag and drop entire folders onto the website to upload them with a minimum of effort. Once uploaded, there's another new feature to use -- easy file sharing from Windows 7 and 8. Forget having to visit OneDrive.com to share files with someone, now you can just right click a file and make use of the context menu instead. Interestingly, Windows 8.1 users have a little longer to wait, as do Mac users.