Best Antivirus for Windows 7: Protect Your Legacy System in 2025
26 November 2025
How to clear space in Microsoft SharePoint
If your Microsoft SharePoint is running out of storage space, here’s our Syn-Star guide to clearing space to save money.
If your Microsoft SharePoint is running out of storage space, here’s our Syn-Star guide to clearing space to save money.
Anyone using SharePoint probably relies on it and values the fact that documents can be stored centrally for easy access. But when that storage space starts to fill up, you need to manage SharePoint storage effectively and get rid of unnecessary files instead of buying more storage.
SharePoint is a popular Cloud-based collaboration platform where documents can be created, accessed, edited, shared and stored centrally by staff with approved access. This means you no longer need multiple versions of one document that each individual keeps in their own drive and works on remotely from other collaborators; instead everyone can collaborate on the same liv document.
Accessible from a range of devices, SharePoint also enables teams to manage data through workflows and databases as well as use it for sharing information via websites and intranets, which can also be created on SharePoint.
SharePoint Storage is the total amount of Cloud storage that each organisation has for storing its documents put on SharePoint.
As standard, Microsoft provides 1 TB of storage and then an additional 10GB for each licensed user.
Once you’ve used up this storage, you are notified when you are starting to run out of storage so that you can purchase additional storage, which will be necessary if you want to upload any more files and documents.
Without extra storage documents will switch to read only because there’s also no more storage for editing changes.
If this happens to you before you buy more storage, here are some tips on how you can clear space in SharePoint; you may be surprised just how easy it is to save space.
It’s easy to accumulate files that aren’t being used any more but have still been left on SharePoint. These are unnecessarily taking up space and should be deleted. It’s a good exercise to review files regularly, because users will know best which files are still relevant and in use, and which can be removed to reclaim more storage space back.
It may seem like an obvious solution and it is an easy one to do, but one that can easily be forgotten. Deleting an online SharePoint document sends it to the site’s recycling bin. The intention is that if you need to restore it within a certain time period, it’s still available, but while it’s sitting in the recycling bin the document is still taking up storage space.
It’s easy to think that a deleted item is gone and forget that it’s just in another area of your storage, that you’re paying for. But it hasn’t gone and in order to delete unwanted documents you have to empty your recycling bin as well. You can choose to empty the whole bin or select individual documents to delete permanently.
In SharePoint you have an option to track versions of a document, which form a history of changes. This can lead to many versions of one document being retained, each taking up storage space. Deleting old and multiple versions of one document is a good way to free up more storage space if there’s no longer a reason to retain them all.
If you don’t want to manually delete files, SharePoint gives you the option to set up a ‘Retention Policy’ that will automatically delete files for you according to a set of specific criteria. This helps you to keep on top of your storage space, but you need to be mindful of how long some documents need to be kept, for example, for legal reasons, and ensure that an automatic process doesn’t lose any essential documentation.
Clearing space in SharePoint is about managing it effectively so you can benefit from SharePoint’s superpower, its ability to facilitate collaboration to boost team effectiveness and productivity. And because it’s Cloud-based, it doesn’t matter where each member of a team is based, whether in one location, several, or working from home.
If you aren’t sure if you’re managing your SharePoint site as well you could, or you don’t yet use SharePoint and would like to learn more about it, then it’s time to talk to Syn-Star.
We support many of our clients with our Microsoft 365 and SharePoint Services, making it easier for them to get started and ensuing that they continue to fully utilise, and benefit from, the complete range to tools available on SharePoint, with access to our unlimited support.
Contact us today to learn more about our SharePoint services and how our experts can support your business.
Have a Question?
Get in touch
You’re device is on an Unsupported Windows Operating System for your security, please contact us.
Team Productivity:
You and your team are able to see where they are using their time and how productive they are actually being. Also they are able to clock in and out, so really good for flexi-working.
Team Monitoring:
If you would like to know what your team is doing and how productive they are being, we are able to monitor them and create screenshots of what they are working on. This can be run in normal or stealth mode.
Book a FREE fact finding session to discuss the different options.
We proactively seek opportunities to support good causes for our community.
From sponsoring local community football teams, to engaging with charity fundraiser days, we believe it’s important to continually strive to do good for the better of others.
We have members who volunteer with youth organisations, are engaged with the Round Table, run marathons and volunteer at events where we may be needed. Every charity receives a discounted IT and Telecoms service too.
Protecting your digital data is crucial for every business and this can start with the industry-leading security we offer. The Syn-Star specialists can help with identifying any vulnerabilities within your IT systems and act accordingly to ensure cyber-attacks and data breaches are mitigated.
Your business will never fall behind with its technology when you work with Syn-Star.
We understand IT and Telecoms for your business is an investment, but it’s important to use the best resources available to enable the growth of your business. Our IT Consultancy and Virtual IT Director Services are available to support you with how you use your business technology for years to come.
Syn-Star can conduct quick and easy phishing exercises to identify people within your team who need to improve on their knowledge around fraudulent emails and how they can be alerted to these threats.
At Syn-Star, our experts can proactively work to understand exactly what software you need to support with the business operations. Whether you need a listening ear on what software to choose, or would like to seek some specialist knowledge, we’re here to help where we can.
At Syn-Star, we keep Telecoms simple. There’s so much available to help UK companies with their communications. VoIP systems, fixed landline, cloud phone systems, SIP trunking and more. Contact us for further details.
Desk phones, cordless phones or conference phones, Syn-Star can provide you with whatever you need.
From conference calling facilities to the headsets which work best for your team, we’re able to provide all the equipment you need and complete any telecoms job from start to finish.
There is no need to be in the office to make and receive phone calls from your company’s number. Our market-leading Telecoms platform gives you the flexibility of desk phones, soft phones and mobile apps as standard.
Whether your team works remotely, or perhaps staff are on a business trip anywhere in the world, calls can still be made, and people are reachable via phone wherever they go.
With a range of products, our team can support you by installing exactly what you need for internet connectivity. We work with the very best products to provide speedy bandwidths which play a part in the increased productivity of your team.
