Stale files detection: See where your storage savings are hiding
Every tenant is full of content nobody has touched in years. But without visibility into where stale files are concentrated, archive efforts start without clear priorities or measurable impact. Admins can't see how much storage they could save, or where.
The bigger problem is trust. Microsoft only exposes when files were last modified, not when they were last accessed. Files that are read every day but rarely edited look stale when they're not. Archive based on modified date alone risks archiving files teams still rely on, and that's how admins lose trust in automation.
Syskit Point has supported file-level archive in public preview since earlier this year. With Microsoft's file-level archive now rolling out to general availability in July 2026, the capability is officially ready, and this release adds the intelligence to use it at scale. With scoped, multi-criteria staleness rules and tenant-wide visibility, admins can focus archiving where the biggest savings are with no false positives. There's never been a better time to put file-level archive to work.
How it works
- Set different staleness rules for different parts of the tenant: Scoped, configurable rules match your organization's actual stale files policies instead of forcing a single rule to fit everything. For example: a 1-year rule for intranet and communication sites, a 3-year rule for project files, and legal and compliance archives excluded entirely.
- Combine multiple conditions to avoid false positives: Last modified, last accessed, file type, and file size together give a complete picture of content activity. Archive decisions are based on real usage, not guesswork.
- See where the biggest savings are before taking any action: Tenant-wide visibility shows which sites hold the stalest files and how much storage could be recovered, so admins know exactly where to focus first.
- Archive opportunities on the main dashboard: A direct view of potential savings, right on the home screen.
- Archive opportunities on Storage Metrics: Potential savings and archive opportunities broken down by stale files, tenant-wide.
- Bulk archive on Site Storage Metrics: Storage optimization opportunities per site, with the option to archive stale files in bulk.
Why it matters
- Storage cost reduction: Identifying stale files at scale gives organizations a clear, prioritized path to recovering storage. Admins see exactly which files are driving costs and how much could be saved before they take any action.
- Better AI results: AI runs on your SharePoint content. Stale, outdated files pollute its knowledge base and lead to inaccurate or irrelevant answers. Archiving stale files directly improves the quality of AI outputs across the organization.
- Archive admins can trust: Multi-criteria rules mean files that are still read every day don't get flagged, so automation earns trust instead of losing it.