Microsoft 365 Business Basic: Unlocking SharePoint's Storage Limit Potential

Microsoft 365 Business Basic has become a popular choice for businesses looking for cost-effective productivity solutions. One integral part of this suite is SharePoint, a web-based collaborative platform that integrates with Microsoft Office. A common query among users is: 'What are the SharePoint storage limits in Microsoft 365 Business Basic? Let's delve into this, understanding the storage in the context of teams, sites, and the entire organization.

Microsoft 365Business Basic offers a substantial amount of storage to keep your organization's files and data safe and accessible. But understanding the nuances of SharePoint storage limits can help you manage your storage efficiently and avoid any potential oversights.

SharePoint Storage Limits in Microsoft 365 Business Basic

Microsoft 365 Business Basic comes with 1 TB of storage per user. This storage is pooled across all the services like SharePoint, OneDrive, and Exchange. So, let's break down how this storage is allocated within SharePoint.

SharePoint is usually the first stop for storing and sharing team and organization-wide files. The primary storage unit in SharePoint is the site collection, which can be thought of as a collection of sites (subwebs) that share the same set of administration settings and storage quota.

Site Collection Storage Limits

A SharePoint site collection is allocated a certain amount of storage. In Microsoft 365 Business Basic, the site collection storage limit is set at 1 TB by default. This limit cannot be increased; however, organizations can create multiple site collections to accommodate larger storage needs.

Within the site collection, every subsite has its own storage limits as well, with the total limit equating to the site collection's limit. Essentially, each subsite within a site collection is granted 250 MB by default, up to the site collection limit of 1 TB.

Document Libraries and Lists in SharePoint

In terms of individual document libraries and lists, each has its own storage quota. By default, the maximum upload size for a document library or list is 250 MB, but this can be increased to the maximum upload size for OneDrive - currently 25 TB.

However, the overall total size of a document library or list cannot exceed the 1 TB limit of its site collection. This limit includes all items (files, folders, version history, etc.) in the list.

Organizational Storage Limits

As previously mentioned, the 1 TB storage limit in Microsoft 365 Business Basic is pooled across all services. Here's how it breaks down across the organization:

Each user is entitled to 1 TB of storage pooled across SharePoint Sites, OneDrive, and Exchange mailboxes. So, if your organization has 50 users, you'd have a total of 50 TB of pooled storage across all these services.

SharePoint Tenant-level Storage Limits

The total storage limit at the SharePoint Online tenant level for Business Basic subscriptions is 1 TB per user, with no maximum number of users. However, there are different plans available with higher limits, such as Microsoft 365 Business Standard and Microsoft 365 E3 that offer 1 TB per user with unlimited storage for the entire organization.

Moreover, the storage limits for SharePoint Online are soft limits, meaning if you reach the limit, you will not be able to create new content, but existing content will not be deleted until it's past its retention period.