SharePoint Online Storage Limits

SharePoint Online, part of Microsoft 365, provides organizations with cloud-based storage for collaboration, document management, and communication. However, it comes with specific storage limits that depend on the Microsoft 365 subscription plan. Understanding these limits is crucial for effective data management, site planning, and performance optimization.

This guide covers SharePoint Online storage limits, how storage is allocated, additional storage options, and best practices for managing SharePoint storage efficiently.

1. SharePoint Online Storage Limits by Plan

✔ How Storage is Allocated

SharePoint storage is allocated at the tenant level, meaning all sites share the same storage pool.
Each Microsoft 365 subscription plan provides a base storage plus extra storage per licensed user.
Storage increases automatically as you add more users.

✔ Default SharePoint Storage Limits

Microsoft 365 Plan	Base Storage	Additional Storage Per User	Maximum Storage
Microsoft 365 Business Basic/Standard/Premium	1 TB	+10 GB per licensed user	25 TB per site
Microsoft 365 E3 / E5	1 TB	+10 GB per licensed user	25 TB per site
Microsoft 365 F3	1 TB	+2 GB per licensed user	25 TB per site
Office 365 E1 / E3 / E5	1 TB	+10 GB per licensed user	25 TB per site

✔ Storage for SharePoint Sites

Default storage per site collection: Up to 25 TB per site (excluding OneDrive).
Personal OneDrive storage is separate from SharePoint storage.
Microsoft Teams stores files in SharePoint, so Teams file storage counts toward SharePoint limits.

2. How to Check SharePoint Online Storage Usage

To monitor storage consumption, follow these steps:

✔ Using SharePoint Admin Center

Sign in to Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
Go to SharePoint Admin Center.
Click Settings → Storage Metrics.
View the total storage used and site-wise usage breakdown.

✔ Using PowerShell to Check Storage

Open PowerShell and connect to SharePoint Online:powershellCopyEditConnect-SPOService -Url https://yourtenant-admin.sharepoint.com
Run the following command to get storage usage:powershellCopyEditGet-SPOSite | Select Title, URL, StorageUsageCurrent
This will list all sites with their current storage usage.

3. What Happens When You Reach Storage Limits?

If your SharePoint storage reaches its limit:
🔹 Users can’t upload new files until storage is freed up.
🔹 File version history may stop saving new versions.
🔹 Performance issues may occur if sites are overloaded.

4. How to Increase SharePoint Online Storage

If you need more storage beyond your allocated limit, you have two options:

✔ Purchase Additional Storage

Go to Microsoft 365 Admin Center → Billing → Purchase Services.
Select “Additional SharePoint Storage”.
Buy extra storage in 1 TB increments ($0.20 per GB/month).

✔ Free Up Storage Space

Delete unused files, old versions, and recycle bin items.
Archive large documents that are rarely accessed.
Move non-essential data to OneDrive or Azure Blob Storage.

5. Best Practices for Managing SharePoint Storage

✔ Enable Storage Quotas for Sites

Set maximum storage limits for each SharePoint site.
Prevents a single site from consuming all storage.
In SharePoint Admin Center, go to Active Sites → Edit Storage Quota.

✔ Manage File Versioning

Limit version history (default is 500 versions).
Reduce to 100 versions or fewer for large libraries.
Go to Library Settings → Versioning Settings.

✔ Use Retention Policies Wisely

Retention policies keep files even after deletion, consuming storage.
Review retention settings in Microsoft Purview Compliance Center.

✔ Monitor Storage Usage Regularly

Check Storage Metrics in SharePoint Admin Center.
Set up alerts for high storage usage.

6. Key Takeaways

✔ SharePoint storage is shared across all sites in a tenant.
✔ Each Microsoft 365 plan includes base storage + extra per user.
✔ Sites have a maximum storage limit of 25 TB.
✔ Additional storage can be purchased separately.
✔ Use storage quotas, file versioning limits, and retention policies to manage storage efficiently.