The SharePoint storage limit for most Microsoft 365 business plans is 1TB for your whole organisation plus 10GB for every licensed user, shared across all SharePoint sites and Teams files rather than applied to each document library. It isn’t only the files you can see, because older file versions and both stages of the recycle bin count towards the same total. A library that looks small can therefore be using far more space than expected. OneDrive storage is counted separately. 

SharePoint 1TB Storage Limit: What Counts and What to Do 

What Is the SharePoint 1TB Storage Limit? 

People often describe this as a limit on a SharePoint document library, but it’s worth knowing that it’s really one shared pot for the whole business. Microsoft 365 gives your organisation 1TB of SharePoint storage to start with and adds 10GB for every licence you hold, so a business with 15 users has roughly 1.15TB in total. Every SharePoint site shares that pool, including the ones quietly created behind the scenes for each Microsoft Teams team, while files in OneDrive are counted separately. It sounds like a lot, and for a long time it is, right up until the day it isn’t. 

What Counts Towards Your SharePoint Storage? 

The files themselves are only part of the story, which is where the surprises come from. SharePoint keeps previous versions of your documents so you can roll back when someone saves over the wrong thing, and every one of those versions takes up space. A modest spreadsheet that has been edited hundreds of times can quietly be using many times its visible size, and a large file that gets edited often, such as a presentation full of photos, is even worse. Then there are the recycle bins. When you delete something, it goes to the site recycle bin and then on to a second-stage bin, where it can sit for up to 93 days while still counting against your total, which means deleting a big folder doesn’t free any space on the day you delete it. Think of it like a loft: the room looks tidy, but all the boxes are still up there. 

What Happens When You Reach the Limit? 

Once you reach your allowance, SharePoint can stop people from adding or saving new files until the problem is sorted, which tends to happen at the least convenient moment, usually the day before a deadline. Extra storage can be bought in blocks, but it’s a recurring cost, so it’s worth clearing out the waste before reaching for the credit card. 

How Can You See What Is Using the Space? 

The SharePoint admin centre shows how much of your allowance you’ve used and which sites are the biggest, and that’s the right place to start because the culprit is rarely where you’d guess. Often it’s one old project site, a Teams channel where people shared large videos or photo folders, or a library where someone has been using SharePoint as a dumping ground for backups and software installers, which it really isn’t designed for. 

How Do You Free Up SharePoint Storage? 

Start with the version history. Reducing the number of versions a library keeps, so that you hold a sensible number of recent ones rather than hundreds, and trimming the old ones that already exist, can free up a surprising amount of space without anyone noticing. Next, tidy up genuinely old and unneeded files, move big media files somewhere more suitable, and clear the recycle bins once you’re sure nothing in them is needed. That last step needs care, because emptying the second stage bin deletes things permanently, so check first and make sure you have a proper backup, since the recycle bin isn’t one. 

A quick check once or twice a year is usually enough to keep things under control, and it’s far less stressful than discovering the problem on deadline day. If you’d like help working out what is using your storage, or what sensible limits look like for your business, get in touch with the team at Lucid Computer Solutions, and we’ll talk it through with you. 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 

Is the SharePoint 1TB limit for each document library or for the whole business? 

It’s for the whole business. Microsoft 365 gives your organisation a shared pool of 1TB plus 10GB per licensed user, and every SharePoint site draws from that same pool, including the sites behind Microsoft Teams. An individual site can technically grow much larger than 1TB, but it can only do so while there is space left in the shared pool. 

How much SharePoint storage will my business get? 

The sum is 1TB plus 10GB for each licence you hold. A business with 10 users has roughly 1.1TB, 20 users has roughly 1.2TB, and 100 users has roughly 2TB. The allowance grows slowly for small businesses, which is why it’s worth keeping an eye on it rather than assuming it will always be enough. 

Do file versions and recycle bins really count towards SharePoint storage? 

Yes. Every saved version of a file counts, and so do deleted items sitting in the site recycle bin and the second-stage recycle bin, which can hold them for up to 93 days. That’s why the space used can be much higher than the size of the files you can see in a library. 

Does OneDrive storage count towards the SharePoint limit? 

No. OneDrive storage is allocated to each user separately, and most business plans give each person 1TB of their own. Files saved in a Teams channel or a SharePoint library are the ones that count towards the shared SharePoint pool. 

Is it safe to empty the SharePoint recycle bin? 

It’s safe once you’ve checked that nothing in it is needed, but it can’t be undone. Emptying the second-stage recycle bin permanently deletes the contents, so look through what’s there first and make sure you have a separate backup of anything important. If you’re not sure, ask someone to check before you empty it. 

Can I buy more SharePoint storage? 

Yes, extra storage can be added in blocks through the Microsoft 365 admin centre, and it’s charged as an ongoing monthly cost. It’s usually worth tidying up old versions, deleted items and unneeded files first, because that often recovers a lot of space for nothing. 

Gavin Moorhouse is the CEO of Lucid Computer Solutions, a leading Worcestershire-based IT Services business. Give them a call on 01527 908646.