Tips for cleaning up a SharePoint site

Access the SharePoint site

1. Log in to Microsoft 365.

2. Click the SharePoint icon. To see an expanded list of applications, click All Apps in the bottom left corner of the page.

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3. Navigate to the appropriate SharePoint site.

Manage content

Delete orphaned content

Remove any orphaned content, such as files or lists, that are no longer associated with a site or user, such as unused or outdated project documents and temporary files.

Set up automated alerts to notify administrators when a site exceeds a certain percentage of allocated storage.

Sort and delete old or duplicate files

Organize and clean up outdated and duplicate data. See:

• Use sorting to modify a SharePoint view

• Delete files in SharePoint

How to find and delete outdated files in SharePoint

1. Go to the SharePoint site you're looking to free up space for.

2. Click the gear button on the top right of the page.

3. Click Site contents.

4. Click on a folder of your choice.

5. Click All Documents at the top right of the page.

6. Click Edit current view.

7. Scroll down until you see the section titled Filter.

8. Under the tab Show items only when the following is true: change the sections under Show the items when column to Modified, is less than or equal to, and then the date of your choice.

9. Click Ok at the bottom.

10. SharePoint should now be showing you all files that were last modified before that date. Select the files you wish to delete and then delete them.

Manage file versions

Decrease the number of file versions in Version settings.

• Library settings > Versioning settings > modify "Keep the following number of major versions" and "Keep drafts for the following number of major versions" value

• Delete unnecessary versions of SharePoint files

How to delete previous individual versions of items in SharePoint Online

1. Go to the list or library where you want to delete previous document versions.

2. Right click the space between the item or document name and date. From the menu select Version History. A list of versions of a file should come up.

3. In the Version History dialog, hover next to the version you want to get a list of options on the right. Select the down arrow and click Delete.

4. To delete the version, select OK.

How to delete all previous versions of items in SharePoint Online

1. Go to the list or library where you want to delete previous document versions.

2. Right click the space between the item or document name and date. From the menu select Version History. A list of versions of a file should come up.

3. In the Version History box, click Delete All Versions.

4. To delete all versions of the item, click Ok.

Access Storage Metrics

1. Navigate to the SharePoint site in your browser

2. Click Settings (gear icon) at top right 

3. Click on "Site Contents"

4. Click on "Site settings"

5. Under Site Collection Administration, click on "Storage Metrics."

6. You will see your total storage usage and available space on this page.

Clean up the Recycle Bin

Regularly empty the recycle bin to free up storage space as deleted items are moved to the recycle bin, where they continue to occupy storage space. 

1. Site Settings > Site Collection Administration > Recycle bin > Empty recycle bin

2. To delete items permanently, go to the recycle bin and click "Delete". 

See: Delete items or empty the Recycle Bin of a SharePoint site

Enforce retention policies

Set retention policies to automatically move or delete files after a set period of time. 

Compress and optimize large files

Large media files such as videos, high-resolution images, and design files can consume significant storage space. Consider compressing files to reduce their size.

• Optimize images: Compress images to reduce file size and improve page load times.

• Use Content Search Web Part: Use the Content Search Web Part instead of the Content Query Web Part for better performance.

• Minimize the use of web parts: Reduce the number of web parts on a page to improve performance. 

• Move files to alternate storage: Transfer to another storage. Move or copy files in SharePoint

• Organize folders: Sort files into logical folders to aid in site organization and avoid duplicates.
   

Manage sharing and permissions

Review permissions and clean up access to shared files.

• Manage sharing in SharePoint

Identify and delete large and/or duplicate files

• Check storage metrics: Site owners can view storage metrics to identify large files and those consuming significant space.

  • Note, you will see your total storage usage as "#.## GB free of #.## GB".

  • In addition, there is a list of different folders with their information including the size of the asset and the last date of modification.

  • Check Your OneDrive and SharePoint Storage Capacity and Usage

• Sort and delete: Use sorting to identify and delete old or duplicate files.

• Delete files: Select the files you want to delete and click "Delete". 

Data lifecycle management

Data Classification

Categorizing data based on its sensitivity, usage frequency, and retention needs.

Add image tags to documents

Use image tags to make visual content searchable in your documents. Image tags such as logos or icons help users discover and locate essential documents more efficiently. Image tags represent the content of each document and allow real-time identification of critical files.

Use metadata effectively

• Improve your SharePoint sites by assigning relevant metadata to documents and items. Metadata helps categorize information and improves searchability within document libraries.

• Be sure to use a consistent naming convention for metadata fields, including keywords, for easy retrieval, and regularly review and update metadata to maintain accuracy over time.

Document access and owner

Regularly check the site permissions for Communications and Teams sites that you own to make sure only those who need to have access. SharePoint sites linked to Teams will have updated any changes you made there. Access to sites that live in SharePoint only can be checked and managed from the site homepage. (Top right-hand corner, ‘Site access’)

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Adding extra columns for a Content Owner and Review Date to your site pages and documents library can help establish and a regular review process.

Delete Unnecessary Sites or Subsites

1. Navigate to the Site or Subsite you want to delete.

2. Select Settings and click the gear icon for Site Settings.

3. Under Site Actions select Delete this site.

4. On the Delete This Site page, verify that you are deleting the correct site, and then select Delete. 

Related articles

• Tips to reduce your OneDrive storage quota

• https://uwaterloo.atlassian.net/wiki/x/RgMCYwo

• Outlook (Microsoft 365) email quota management

• Microsoft 365 storage quotas and information | FAQs regarding this change