Your SharePoint storage limit has two layers. The tenant gets 1 TB plus 10 GB for every license, and one site can hold up to 25 TB. Check both in the admin center under Active sites. To increase it, free space first, then buy Extra File Storage in 1 GB steps.
I get this question when a team cannot upload a file, or when finance asks why the Microsoft 365 bill grew. Both come down to one thing. You need to know your SharePoint storage limit and what is using it.
Microsoft sets the limit in two layers, one for the tenant and one for every site. This guide shows where to read both, how to raise them and how to free space before you pay for more.
What is the SharePoint storage limit for your tenant?
Your tenant gets one shared pool. Microsoft sizes it as 1 TB plus 10 GB for every license you buy on Business, Enterprise and SharePoint plans. Frontline plans, F1 and F3, get the 1 TB base only.
A tenant with 100 licenses gets about 2 TB. That is Microsoft's own example. The pool is not unlimited, and you can buy more in 1 GB steps.
There is also a limit for every site. One site can hold up to 25 TB. That figure is a ceiling, not a promise, because a site can only use what is left in the tenant pool. SharePoint counts in binary gigabytes, where 1 GB is 1,073,741,824 bytes, so some numbers will look a little different from a plain decimal count.
When a site fills up, people blame the latest upload. Look at old versions and full recycle bins first. They hold more space than most people expect.
Jamie Kaler Marketing Head and Content Strategist, RecoveryTools
How do you check the SharePoint storage limit step by step?
Use this order to check the SharePoint storage limit and fix a shortage. Steps 1 to 4 read the numbers. Steps 5 to 8 change them.
- Check your role. You need to be a SharePoint Administrator or above. Microsoft says to use the role with the fewest rights and to keep Global Administrator for emergencies.
- Open Active sites. Sign in to the SharePoint admin center and go to Active sites. The top right shows the available and total storage for your tenant.
- Find the big sites. Sort the list by storage used. The numbers can lag by 24 to 48 hours, so do not trust a change you made an hour ago.
- Check the storage mode. Go to Settings, select Site storage limits and see if the tenant is on Automatic or Manual.
- Set a site limit in manual mode. Select the site, open the General tab, select Edit under Storage limit, enter the size in GB and keep email alerts on. The most you can enter is 25600 GB.
- Empty the recycle bin. Deleted items in a site recycle bin still count toward your total, so clear what you no longer need.
- Trim old versions. Set version history limits to Automatic and trim versions on busy libraries, after a what-if check.
- Buy more storage if you still need it. A billing admin can buy Office 365 Extra File Storage in the Marketplace. Check the numbers again after 48 hours.
If you cannot open the admin center, your role is too low. Ask a SharePoint administrator to read the numbers or to give you access.
How can a site owner see storage usage?
Site owners cannot open the admin center, but a site collection administrator can still see one site. Open the site, go to Site settings and select Storage Metrics under Site Collection Administration. In the upper right, Request more quota sends your request by email to the Global Administrators.
| Method | Who can use it | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Active sites in the admin center | SharePoint administrator | Tenant total and used storage, plus storage used and the limit for every site |
| Storage Metrics in Site settings | Site collection administrator | Usage for one site, with a Request more quota button |
| PowerShell with Get-SPOSite | SharePoint administrator | Usage, quota and warning level for one site or many sites |
How do you check the SharePoint storage limit with PowerShell?
PowerShell helps when you manage many sites. Connect to the SharePoint Online Management Shell as a SharePoint administrator, then read the numbers for one site.
Get-SPOSite -Identity https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/marketing | Select-Object Url, StorageUsageCurrent, StorageQuota, StorageQuotaWarningLevelThe values come back in MB, so divide by 1024 to get GB. To set a limit, use Set-SPOSite. It also takes MB.
Set-SPOSite -Identity https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/marketing -StorageQuota 10240 -StorageQuotaWarningLevel 8192A per site limit only applies when the tenant is in manual mode, so check the mode before you rely on the command. I always set a warning level too, so the site owners get an email before the site fills.
What counts toward the SharePoint storage limit?
More than the files you see. Storage includes version history, so a library can report more than its current files add up to. The site recycle bin counts too. Deleted sites in the tenant recycle bin do not count.
Versions are the usual surprise. A file edited a hundred times can hold a hundred copies. Microsoft's Automatic setting thins them by age. It keeps all versions in the first 30 days within a count limit of 500, hourly versions from day 30 to 60, daily versions from day 60 to 180 and weekly versions after that. In Microsoft's own examples this cut version storage by about 94 to 96 percent compared with a count limit alone.
Versions matter in a move too, and I explain how they travel in how SharePoint version history moves in a migration.
Trimming existing versions queues a job that deletes them for good. Do a what-if analysis on a site or library first, so you see the effect before anything goes.
How do you increase the SharePoint storage limit?
There are five routes. Only one of them adds space, and that is buying it.
| Option | What it does | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Raise a site limit | Gives one site a bigger share of the pool, up to 25600 GB | Works in manual mode only. It moves space around and adds none |
| Free space | Empty recycle bins, trim versions and remove old files | Trimmed versions are deleted for good |
| Archive inactive content | Microsoft 365 Archive moves it out of active storage and lowers cost | Check the licensing before you plan on it |
| Buy Office 365 Extra File Storage | Adds space to the tenant pool in 1 GB steps | Needs a billing role. Not sold direct if you bought through Volume Licensing or a Cloud Solution Provider |
| Request more quota | A site collection administrator asks from Storage Metrics | The request goes by email to Global Administrators |
Raising a site limit feels like a fix. It is not one. If the tenant pool is full, a higher site limit gives you nothing, so read the tenant total first. Microsoft does not list a price on its help page, so check the price in the purchase flow before you commit.
Need to archive a site before you delete it
RecoveryTools SharePoint Migrator has a storage scan that shows where space goes. It can export a site or library to disk with versions, permissions and metadata, and restore it to SharePoint later. Lookup and calculated columns, workflows and Power Automate flows stay behind, so check those before you delete anything.
No credit card, no sign-up. Works on Windows 11, 10 and Windows Server 2022.
Which mistakes make a storage shortage worse?
Four mistakes show up again and again.
First, raising site limits in manual mode without a look at the tenant total. Second, trimming versions on a live library with no what-if check. Third, trusting a number that is a day old and buying storage you did not need, since usage can lag by 24 to 48 hours. Fourth, leaving the tenant on Automatic with no alerts, where one large upload from one team uses the shared pool for everyone.
Big sites cause other trouble too. A site with more than 15 million documents cannot be renamed, as I explain in how to change a SharePoint site name safely. If you plan to move a large site, the target tenant needs room for it first. My guide on how to migrate a SharePoint site to another tenant covers the move, and the Microsoft 365 migration planning checklist puts storage on the same plan as everything else.
My verdict on the SharePoint storage limit
Read the tenant number first and the site number second. Free space before you buy it.
Most shortages I see come from old versions and recycle bins, not from new files. Set version history to Automatic, keep alerts on and check the pool once a month. Buy Extra File Storage only when the numbers still say you need it. A clear view of your storage saves more money than any add-on.
Frequently asked questions
What is the storage limit for one SharePoint site?
One site can hold up to 25 TB. The admin center shows this as 25600 GB. A site can only use what is left in your tenant pool.
How much SharePoint storage does my organization get?
Business, Enterprise and SharePoint plans get 1 TB plus 10 GB for every license. Frontline plans F1 and F3 get the 1 TB base only. You can buy more in 1 GB steps.
How do I check my SharePoint storage and usage?
A SharePoint administrator opens Active sites in the admin center and reads the storage bar. A site collection administrator can open Storage Metrics in Site settings. PowerShell reads usage with Get-SPOSite.
What happens when you reach the SharePoint storage limit?
Microsoft can put the tenant in read only mode, so people cannot add content. Free space or buy more storage to fix it. Empty recycle bins and trim versions first.
Can I buy more SharePoint storage?
Yes. A billing admin can buy Office 365 Extra File Storage in 1 GB steps from the Marketplace. If you bought through Volume Licensing or a Cloud Solution Provider, contact your representative or partner.
Does version history count toward SharePoint storage?
Yes. Every stored version uses space. Set version history limits to Automatic to thin old versions by age, and trim existing versions after a what-if check.
Jamie blends strategic marketing insight with technical writing, turning migration and recovery topics into guidance that works for technical and general readers alike.
Published 13 October 2026. Numbers and steps come from Microsoft Learn pages on managing site storage limits, SharePoint limits, planning version storage, SharePoint storage planning and adding storage space.