Who This Affects and What Fixes It
This guide is for small-business employees whose SharePoint site is showing an “out of space” message even though storage should be available. The issue is often caused by a display glitch, a misconfigured storage quota, or space being consumed by items in the recycle bin or old file versions. Working through the steps below — adjusting the quota, clearing your browser cache, reviewing storage metrics, and cleaning up unnecessary files — resolves the problem in most cases. If it does not, your SharePoint administrator or Microsoft support can help.
Step 1: Rule Out a Glitch
- Adjust the storage quota temporarily. Go into the site’s storage quota settings, change the value to something different, save it, then change it back to the original value. This can clear a caching or display problem that makes the site appear full when it is not.
- Clear your browser cache and cookies. Outdated information stored in your browser can cause incorrect storage figures to appear. Clear the cache, then reload the SharePoint site and check whether the message is gone.
- Restart the site or service. If the error persists, try restarting the SharePoint site or the relevant service to clear any temporary glitch.
Step 2: Investigate Actual Storage Usage
- Check Storage Metrics. Navigate to Site Settings → Site Information → View all site settings → Storage Metrics. This shows exactly how much space your site collection is using and where that space is going.
- Empty the Recycle Bin. Open the site collection’s recycle bin and empty it. Deleted files remain in the recycle bin and continue to count against your storage until they are permanently removed.
- Review file versioning. Go to the settings for each document library and check how many versions are being kept. Reducing the number of retained versions can free up a significant amount of space.
Step 3: Free Up or Expand Storage
- Delete unnecessary files. Identify and remove outdated or unused files and folders across your SharePoint libraries.
- Compress large files. Consider compressing large files such as videos or images before uploading them to reduce the amount of storage they occupy.
- Purchase additional storage. If the site genuinely needs more space, consider purchasing additional storage or upgrading your Microsoft 365 plan. Microsoft Learn provides guidance on available options.
- Contact your administrator. If you have worked through all of the steps above and the issue is not resolved, reach out to your SharePoint administrator or Microsoft support. You can also contact ACS for assistance.
Common questions
Why does SharePoint say it is out of space when there is storage available?
This is usually caused by a display glitch, a misconfigured storage quota, or space being used by items in the recycle bin or old file versions that are not immediately visible. Adjusting the quota temporarily, clearing your browser cache, and checking the recycle bin resolves the message in many cases.
How do I check what is using up storage in SharePoint?
Go to Site Settings, then Site Information, then View all site settings, and finally Storage Metrics. This page shows a detailed breakdown of how storage is being used across your site collection.
Does emptying the SharePoint recycle bin actually free up storage?
Yes. Files deleted from SharePoint are moved to the recycle bin but continue to count against your storage quota until the recycle bin is emptied. Clearing it permanently removes those files and recovers the space they occupied.