Services
Storage & Version History Cleanup
Find what is using your SharePoint storage and reclaim it without deleting files people need.
Who this is for
- Tenants close to their storage limit or already seeing warnings
- Teams surprised that SharePoint reports far more storage than the files they can see
- Organizations with years of accumulated version history and stale content
- Admins who need numbers to justify a retention or archival policy
What you get
- A storage breakdown by site, library, folder and file type
- A version-history analysis that shows how much space old versions use
- A stale-file classification to support archival decisions
- Version limit and retention recommendations that fit your requirements
- A cleanup plan, with the changes done by your team or by us
- Before-and-after storage numbers so the result is visible
How it works
- 1
Measure
Scan the sites in scope and break down storage, version history and stale content, including the recycle bin and preservation holds.
- 2
Explain
Show where the space actually goes and which causes are cheap to fix and which need a policy decision.
- 3
Plan
Recommend version limits, trimming, archival and retention changes that respect your compliance needs.
- 4
Clean up
Apply the agreed changes in stages, starting with the lowest-risk ones, with nothing deleted without your approval.
- 5
Report
Re-measure and report the result, and set a simple routine so storage does not creep back.
What a typical engagement looks like
- Scope
- A tenant or a set of large sites where storage is high or growing faster than expected.
- Shape of the work
- A measurement and analysis phase, a plan reviewed with you, then staged cleanup and a final measurement.
- What you keep
- The storage and version-history reports, the cleanup plan, and recommended version limits and retention settings.
What drives the cost
These are the factors that move the estimate for this kind of work.
- The number and size of sites in scope
- How deep version history goes and whether trimming is allowed under your retention rules
- The recycle bin, preservation hold library and retention policies involved
- Whether archival of stale content is part of the work
- Whether the changes are made by your team or by us
Ways to work with us
Assessment first
A short, scoped review that produces findings and a recommended plan, so you know what the work involves before you commit to it. Larger work that follows is quoted as a scoped project through the contact form.
Monthly advisory
Ongoing hands-on help with the Standard and Priority advisory plans. Details and pricing are on the Support Plans page.
Setup only
A one-time Quick Start to get the free tools running in your tenant. Details and pricing are on the Support Plans page.
See the Support Plans page for the advisory and setup plans.
Free tools for this work
We go with the best tool for each job, whether it is ours or not. These free, open-source tools are ones we built for this kind of work, and you can inspect them or run them yourself.
Common questions
Why is SharePoint storage bigger than my files?
Version history, the recycle bins and preservation holds all count toward your quota. Our guide on this walks through each one.
Will you delete anything?
Only what you approve. We start with reports, then recommend changes in stages, and the lowest-risk changes come first.
Do we need to buy more storage?
Often not yet. Tenant storage is 1 TB plus 10 GB for each license you purchase, so reclaiming space is usually cheaper than buying more. The analysis shows how much you can recover.
Can we do this ourselves with the free tool?
Many teams can. Smart Storage Analyzer is free and shows storage, version-history size and stale files. This service is for teams that want help interpreting the results and making the changes safely.
How is the work priced?
We start with a scoped assessment and then quote any cleanup work. The factors above are what move the estimate.
Related guides
- SharePoint says 3 TB but my files are 1 TB — where's the rest?
- SharePoint Storage Quota Exceeded? 4 Steps to Reclaim Space Before Buying More
- How to reduce SharePoint storage without deleting files
- How to see how much storage SharePoint version history is using
- How to lower SharePoint version limits and reclaim storage
- SharePoint storage: complete reference
- SharePoint storage cost savings
Tell us what you are working on
Describe the project in the contact form and we will reply with questions or next steps.
Get a quote