How to Reduce SharePoint Storage: A Step-by-Step Playbook
There are many ways to free SharePoint storage and a few that matter most. This playbook puts them in order so you spend effort where the savings are and avoid buying storage you do not need. It links to our deeper posts on each step and to the free tools that make measuring easy.
Step 1: Know your quota and what counts
Tenant storage is 1 TB plus 10 GB per purchased license on Business, Enterprise and Office 365 plans, and 1 TB on Frontline plans, so a 100-license tenant gets 2 TB. Storage usage is more than current files: Microsoft says version history, recycle bins and Preservation Hold libraries are included in storage usage calculations. If your number looks too big, read why SharePoint says 3 TB when your files are 1 TB.
Step 2: Measure by site
In the SharePoint admin center, Active sites shows storage per site and totals for the tenant. Usage excludes the last 24 to 48 hours. To go below the site level, to libraries, folders and files, use the free Smart Storage Analyzer, which gives a treemap and an Excel export. See how to find what is using your storage.
Step 3: Trim version history
This is usually the largest saving. Microsoft's default for new libraries is manual version limits with 500 major versions and no expiration. Automatic trimming is available and Microsoft recommends it. It keeps all versions for the first 30 days, then hourly versions from 30 to 60 days, daily versions from 60 to 180 days and weekly versions after that. Microsoft's examples show version storage dropping by roughly 94 to 96 percent.
- Enable automatic trimming for the tenant with
Set-SPOTenant -EnableAutoExpirationVersionTrim $true. - Org-level changes apply to new libraries only. Existing libraries need trimming per site or library.
- Run a what-if analysis first. Microsoft recommends this before trimming.
- Items under a retention policy or eDiscovery hold ignore library version limits until the hold ends.
Our guides cover this in depth: automatic version trimming, how many versions to keep and lowering limits to reclaim storage.
Step 4: Check recycle bins and the Preservation Hold Library
The recycle bin keeps deleted items for 93 days from original deletion, across the first-stage site recycle bin and the second-stage site collection recycle bin. The first stage counts toward storage. Microsoft's own pages disagree on the second stage, so check your usage after emptying rather than assuming. Deleted sites waiting in the recycle bin do not count toward total storage.
The Preservation Hold Library is a hidden system library that holds copies when a retention policy or hold applies. It counts toward storage and cannot be emptied while the policy applies. If it is large, the answer is a conversation with your compliance team about the policy, not a cleanup script.
Step 5: Retire or archive stale sites
Sites nobody has touched in years still use storage. Site lifecycle policies can notify owners of inactive sites and set them read-only or send them to Microsoft 365 Archive. Archived content no longer consumes active quota, and Microsoft bills archive storage per GB only once archived plus active storage passes your tenant quota. Archive pricing and options are still changing, so check Microsoft's pricing page before you plan around it. See Archive cost savings with Storage Analyzer and how to reduce storage without deleting files.
Step 6: Only then buy more
Extra storage is the last step. Microsoft offers an extra file storage add-on in 1 GB increments and pay-as-you-go storage options that have been in preview, and the terms change. Check the Microsoft 365 admin center for what your tenant can buy today. If you are over quota right now, see fixing a storage quota exceeded error, noting that Microsoft's Confirm purchase button lifts read-only mode for 14 days, once per 365 days.
Want this done for you?
We run storage reviews for teams that would rather not do it themselves. See our storage and version history cleanup service, or get in touch.
Related
Frequently asked questions
How much SharePoint storage do I get?
Microsoft 365 Business, Enterprise and Office 365 plans give 1 TB plus 10 GB per purchased license. A tenant with 100 licenses gets 2 TB. Frontline plans get 1 TB. The maximum per site is 25 TB.
What is the fastest way to free SharePoint storage?
Usually version history. Libraries that keep 500 versions of every file can hold far more in old versions than in current files. Switching to automatic trimming, or lowering the limit on large libraries, often frees the most space with no user-visible change to current files.
Does emptying the recycle bin free space?
The first-stage recycle bin counts toward storage, so emptying it can help. Microsoft's pages differ on whether the second-stage bin counts, so check your own usage after emptying. Items are held 93 days from original deletion across both stages.
Does the Preservation Hold Library use storage?
Yes. Microsoft says version history, recycle bins and Preservation Hold libraries are included in storage usage calculations. You cannot trim it while a retention policy or eDiscovery hold applies, so review those policies first.
Does Microsoft 365 Archive save money?
Archived content no longer consumes active storage quota, and Microsoft's pricing page shows archive billed per GB only when archived plus active storage exceeds your quota. Check Microsoft's current pricing page before planning, because the product is still changing.
When should I buy more storage?
After measuring, trimming versions and archiving or deleting stale sites. Buying first hides the problem and keeps paying for old data. Microsoft's current options for extra storage, including pay-as-you-go previews, change often, so check the Microsoft 365 admin center.
Was this page helpful?
One click. No form, no email address.
Missing something in SharePoint Smart Permissions? Feature requests and bug reports go straight to the developer on GitHub — no account needed to read, free account to post.
Request a featureRelated tool
SharePoint Smart Permissions
Visual permissions audit + Excel export. No PowerShell. Free, MIT licensed, no sign-up.
Keep reading
SharePoint version history settings explained: Manual, Automatic, and where to change them
Version history settings live in three places and the defaults changed in 2025. Here's every option — organization defaults, library-level limits, Manual vs Automatic — and what each one does to your storage bill.
SharePoint site size report by folder (free)
The admin center gives you one number per site. Here's how to break that number down folder by folder, see which subtree is responsible, and export the evidence.
How to lower SharePoint version limits and reclaim storage
Version history is usually the single biggest hidden line in a SharePoint storage bill. Here's the safe order of operations for trimming it — measure, decide, apply, verify.
Running out of storage?
Let our team build your storage cleanup plan
We find what is driving your storage use, set version-history and retention policies that fit your organization, and help you avoid buying extra storage.
About the author
Sean Regan
SharePoint & Microsoft 365 consultant with 20+ years of hands-on experience building SPFx web parts, migration tooling and tenant-grade automation. Maintainer of the open-source SharePoint Smart Solutions suite.