SharePoint storage basics

SharePoint and OneDrive provide scalable storage, but it is neither infinite nor inexpensive. Each Microsoft 365 tenant receives a pooled allocation of 1 TB plus 10 GB per licensed user. Once that allocation is consumed, administrators must either purchase additional storage or undertake cleanup across the tenant.

In practice, most storage overruns are not caused by active collaboration. They are driven by stale content, uncontrolled versioning, and abandoned sites. Left unmanaged, storage sprawl increases costs, disrupts business operations, confuses users, and even degrades AI-driven tools such as Microsoft Copilot.

Next steps

In the following articles, we’ll show you why storage management is important, storage management best practices, and more.