Manage Versioning to Reduce SharePoint Storage with Orchestry

They say the best things in life are free, but unfortunately, this does not include SharePoint storage. 

As the Director of Success at Orchestry, one of the most common concerns I hear from new partners and customers is how to manage SharePoint storage effectively. A key part of this is establishing proper lifecycle management to free up storage space.

One of the biggest culprits in consuming SharePoint space is document drafts and older major versions. While versioning is an essential aspect of document management, it's important to understand the storage impact that multiple versions can have.

In the Microsoft Learn article on  Versioning in SharePoint we are given the details:

“All versions count against your SharePoint storage usage, as do files in the recycle bins and files preserved due to retention policies. In calculating the SharePoint storage usage, the full file size of each version counts towards the total usage. For example, if only metadata changes were made to a 10 MB file with no change to its file size, the total storage usage will be 10 MB (original version) + 10 MB (updated version) = 20 MB.”

So, how can you ensure that versioning is properly configured without exceeding your storage quota?

Great question! You’ve come to the right place.😉

SharePoint Versioning

By default, SharePoint document libraries are created with versioning enabled, set to 500 major versions and no drafts. You can adjust this setting in the Library Settings for each individual library.

With Orchestry, you can configure these settings in your Live Templates, ensuring that the correct number of versions is set for all sites, including Teams-connected team sites and communication sites, at the time of provisioning.

I tested Orchestry’s version settings by modifying the versioning in my live template’s Shared Documents library to 300 major versions and 100 minor versions.

Fun fact: You can’t have fewer than 100 versions. I tried. #NotReallyFun

Image: Testing Orchestry's version capabilities by changing the live template’s Shared Documents versions to 300 major/100 minor.

I then created a secondary library called Reference Content and set its versioning to 100 major versions and no drafts.

 Image: Testing Orchestry's version capabilities by changing the live template’s Shared Documents versions to 100 major and no drafts. 

When I provisioned a team based on this template, the custom versioning settings were successfully applied.  🎉

Department Reference Content:

Image of cloned site settings. 

It’s really that simple! Once you understand your organization’s needs—whether from content owners, editors, or compliance teams—you can manage versioning at the provisioning stage to minimize its impact on SharePoint storage.

For more on storage management, discover how you can save on SharePoint storage space and storage costs.

Using SharePoint as a Document Management System

1. Make sure versioning is configured to meet the content creator’s needs and is in line with any compliance/governance policies.
2. Even if a specific number of document versions are not required from a compliance stance it can still be a helpful safety net for content creators and editors.

And remember, Orchestry’s versioning capabilities go beyond workspace templates and provisioning. When it's time to archive content, Orchestry helps with lifecycle management policies to ensure everything is handled smoothly.

Unleash the Full Power of Microsoft 365 with Orchestry

Most organizations are not using Microsoft 365 to its full potential.

Orchestry makes Microsoft 365 simple for all users.

Orchestry is an adoption and governance platform that allows End Users, Workspace Owners, IT admins and organizations to take full advantage of Microsoft 365.

To see Orchestry in action, request a demo and download our Features Sheet to learn more!