Storage overages in Microsoft 365 rarely come from a single misstep or event —they build up quietly over time —version history accumulating in active libraries, inactive content lingering long after projects end, and legacy sites that were migrated as-is and never revisited. Because the growth is gradual, many organizations only notice the issue when a storage alert appears in the admin center.
Microsoft 365 now offers more ways to manage where content lives and new ways to manage the costs of retaining that content. Many IT teams still need a simple framework to see where savings can come from, plus a practical way to apply it across many sites – all without turning storage cleanup into a recurring fire drill. That’s where Microsoft capabilities, paired with governance and lifecycle tools like Orchestry, can help.
What Microsoft offers today
Microsoft 365 provides two primary ways to reduce storage consumption without deleting content.
Site-level archive (available now)
Admins can use Microsoft 365 Archive to move entire SharePoint sites from primary storage into a lower-cost, long-term, cold storage tier where content remains intact and restorable. Microsoft 365 Archive helps organizations maintain Microsoft 365-compliant security and retention policies, including sensitivity labels and data loss prevention. This is ideal for completed projects, old content or retired work or employee information that must be retained.
File-level archive (coming soon in 2026)
Microsoft 365 Archive will soon support archiving individual files, in addition to whole sites. This is especially useful for large, mixed-activity sites where only parts of the content are inactive.
Both options preserve important content while lowering ongoing storage costs. Early reporting for archived material is available through admin tools such as PowerShell, with more insight expected to expand as Microsoft 365 Archive matures.
In practice, many organizations pair these native capabilities with tooling that helps apply policies consistently, route decisions to owners, and reduce manual effort.
The three levers that reliably reduce storage
In many tenants, storage reduction comes from three repeatable actions:
- Set sensible version limits
Versioning is important, but defaults can create silent growth. SharePoint libraries can hold up to 50,000 versions of a file. For large, frequently edited documents, especially PowerPoint decks, that can mean thousands of near-duplicate versions consuming huge amounts of storage.
- Clean up existing version history
Many organizations have years of accumulated versions across their libraries. Removing older, unnecessary versions often frees a significant amount of space without touching the current file. This is one of the most effective ways to reduce storage quickly, especially in high-churn areas where large files get updated frequently. Large-scale version cleanup helps organizations better manage content recovery and meet differing regulatory and business requirements.
- Archive inactive content
When sites or files are no longer active, moving them into Microsoft 365 Archive places them on a lower-cost tier while keeping them preserved and restorable. Site-level archiving works well for completed workspaces. File-level archiving, once available, will make it easier to handle large, mixed-activity environments.
Many organizations benefit from combining archiving with version management so they aren’t simply moving unnecessary version history into a cheaper tier.
Putting it into practice: a simple starting plan
You don’t need a major project to start reducing storage. Most organizations see results by focusing on a few high-impact moves:
- Check your current position
Review storage usage and any overage in the Microsoft 365 admin center. This sets the baseline for measuring improvement. - Lower version limits where it matters most
Start with libraries that hold large, frequently updated files, such as presentations, training materials, or media assets. - Trim old versions on a few large sites
Use targeted clean-up on long-running project or department sites with years of history. Trimming versions on even a small number of sites can release noticeable capacity. - Archive clearly inactive workspaces
Move completed project sites and retired department spaces into Microsoft 365 Archive so they remain available without consuming higher-cost storage.
If you want to make these steps repeatable at scale, governance and lifecycle platforms can help.
What organizations gain by getting ahead of storage
A more intentional approach to storage pays off quickly. Reducing hot storage usage helps lower or eliminate overage fees, and moving inactive content into Microsoft 365 Archive creates a more predictable long-term growth pattern. Cleaning up old versions and inactive areas also reduces operational risk by shrinking the pool of unmanaged or outdated content.
These improvements strengthen your environment for AI as well. Less version-noise and ROT in active libraries means cleaner signals for tools like Copilot and search, while archived content sits outside the active dataset users rely on day-to-day.
Together, these steps help organizations keep costs predictable, reduce clutter, and maintain a more reliable foundation as Microsoft 365 continues to evolve. Orchestry helps keep storage management proactive by combining version standards, controlled cleanup, and owner-driven archiving into one ongoing process.
About Orchestry
Orchestry builds on Microsoft 365 to provide an experience that’s intuitive, actionable, and easy for both IT admins and end users so you can run a more secure environment, keep costs under control, and roll out AI with confidence.
Tools like Orchestry build on Microsoft 365 Archive and native versioning controls to standardize version limits, automate version cleanup, and surface inactive sites in a predictable and governed way. By addressing configuration drift, removing reliance on opaque or script driven processes, and operationalizing cleanup at scale, Orchestry ensures storage decisions are consistent, auditable, and aligned with customer intent. This allows archive and cleanup decisions to be routed to the right stakeholders, turning storage optimization into a continuous, manageable process rather than a one-time project.
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