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Quick Answer

Click the blue OneDrive cloud icon in your system tray, click the gear icon, and select Settings. Your total storage quota and current usage will be displayed in the bottom left corner.

How to Manage Your OneDrive and SharePoint Storage Quota ​

Applies to: Windows 11, OneDrive for Business, SharePoint Online, Microsoft 365
Article Type: How-To
Last Updated: 2026-06-17

Summary ​

This article shows you how to check your OneDrive and SharePoint storage usage, identify what is consuming space, free up quota, and set up habits that prevent storage-full errors from interrupting your work.

Prerequisites ​

  • A Microsoft 365 work or school account with OneDrive for Business enabled.
  • Access to a web browser (Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome).
  • No admin rights are required for any step in this article.

Instructions ​

1. Check Your OneDrive Storage Usage ​

Knowing how much space you have — and how much you have used — is the first step.

  1. Open your web browser and go to https://onedrive.com. Sign in with your work or school account if prompted.
  2. Click the Settings gear icon (top-right corner of the page).
  3. Select OneDrive settings.
  4. In the left sidebar, click More settings, then click Storage metrics.
  5. The page displays your total quota (typically 1 TB for most Microsoft 365 business plans) and how much is used.
  6. Review the breakdown — OneDrive shows usage by folder so you can identify which areas consume the most space.

Verification: If your usage is below 80% of your quota, you have healthy headroom. If it is above 90%, proceed to Method 3 to free up space before you hit the limit.

2. Check Your SharePoint Site Storage Usage ​

SharePoint storage is shared across your team or project site. Individual users cannot increase it, but you can see how much space your uploads contribute.

  1. Navigate to the SharePoint site you want to check (e.g., https://yourcompany.sharepoint.com/sites/YourTeam).
  2. Click the Settings gear icon (top-right corner).
  3. Select Site information, then click View all site settings.
  4. Under Site Collection Administration, click Storage Metrics.
  5. The page shows total storage allocated to the site, current usage, and a breakdown by library and folder.
  6. Sort by Size to identify the largest document libraries.

Verification: If the site is approaching its quota, coordinate with your team to clean up or ask your SharePoint administrator to request additional storage.

3. Find and Remove Large or Unnecessary Files in OneDrive ​

Large files you no longer need are the fastest way to reclaim space.

  1. Open https://onedrive.com in your browser.
  2. Click My files in the left sidebar.
  3. Click the Sort option at the top of the file list and select Size (largest first).
  4. Review the largest files. Common space consumers include:
    • Old video recordings (Teams meeting recordings, training videos).
    • Large PowerPoint presentations with embedded media.
    • ZIP archives and database exports.
    • Duplicate files or obsolete drafts.
  5. Select files you no longer need by clicking the circle to the left of each filename.
  6. Click Delete in the toolbar.
  7. After deleting, click Recycle bin in the left sidebar and click Empty recycle bin to permanently free the space.

Verification: Return to the Storage Metrics page (Method 1) and confirm your usage has decreased. Recycle bin items still count toward your quota until they are permanently deleted.

4. Clean Up Old Teams Meeting Recordings ​

Teams meeting recordings stored in OneDrive are often the single largest storage consumer — a one-hour meeting can use 400 MB to 1 GB.

  1. In OneDrive (web), open the Recordings folder. This is the default location for Teams meeting recordings since 2021.
  2. Sort by Date (oldest first) to find recordings you no longer need.
  3. Watch or skim any recording you are unsure about before deleting.
  4. Select outdated recordings and click Delete.
  5. Empty the Recycle bin to free the space immediately.

Verification: Check your storage usage again. If you had dozens of old recordings, this step alone may recover several gigabytes.

5. Move Files to SharePoint Instead of Storing Everything in OneDrive ​

OneDrive is for personal work files. Files shared with your team long-term belong in SharePoint, where storage is pooled and managed separately.

  1. Identify files or folders in OneDrive that are shared with multiple people and unlikely to change frequently (e.g., completed project archives, reference documents, templates).
  2. Open the target SharePoint document library where the files belong.
  3. Click Upload > Files or Folder to upload the items to SharePoint.
  4. After confirming the files are accessible in SharePoint, return to OneDrive and delete the original copies.
  5. Update any shared links — old OneDrive links will break after you delete the originals.

Verification: The files now live in SharePoint (team storage) instead of consuming your personal OneDrive quota. Anyone with access to the SharePoint site can still reach them.

6. Use OneDrive Files On-Demand to Free Local Disk Space ​

Files On-Demand lets you see all your OneDrive files in File Explorer without downloading them, freeing space on your local hard drive.

  1. Click the OneDrive cloud icon in the system tray (bottom-right of the taskbar).
  2. Click the Settings gear icon, then select Settings.
  3. Under the Sync and backup tab, confirm that Files On-Demand is turned on.
  4. Open File Explorer and navigate to your OneDrive folder.
  5. Right-click any large file or folder you do not access daily.
  6. Select Free up space. The file's icon changes to a cloud, indicating it is online-only and no longer uses local disk space.
  7. When you need the file again, open it normally — Windows downloads it on demand.

Verification: Check your local disk usage by opening Settings > System > Storage. Local space used by OneDrive should decrease after freeing up files.

7. Set Up a Quarterly Storage Checkup ​

Preventing quota issues is easier than reacting to them. A simple habit keeps your storage healthy.

  1. Open Outlook and create a recurring calendar event titled OneDrive Storage Checkup.
  2. Set it to repeat every 3 months (quarterly).
  3. In the event notes, paste these reminders:
    • Check OneDrive storage usage at https://onedrive.com > Settings > Storage metrics.
    • Delete old meeting recordings from the Recordings folder.
    • Move shared project files to SharePoint if they belong to a team.
    • Empty the Recycle bin.
  4. Save the event.

Verification: When the reminder fires each quarter, follow Methods 1, 3, and 4 to keep your usage below 80%.

Troubleshooting ​

WARNING

When your OneDrive quota is full, syncing stops completely — new files you save locally will not upload to the cloud, and changes made on other devices will not appear. Free up space immediately to restore sync.

Symptom / ErrorPotential CauseSolution
"Your OneDrive is full" notificationQuota exceededDelete large or unnecessary files and empty the Recycle bin (see Method 3).
OneDrive sync icon shows a red XStorage quota exceeded or sync pausedFree up space. If the red X persists, right-click the OneDrive icon and select Resume syncing.
Deleted files but storage didn't decreaseRecycle bin still holds the filesOpen OneDrive web > Recycle bin > Empty recycle bin to permanently free space.
Cannot upload a file — "not enough space"Single file exceeds remaining quotaFree up more space than the file's size, or move the file to SharePoint instead.
SharePoint site says "out of storage"Site collection quota exhaustedAsk your SharePoint admin or IT team to increase the site's storage allocation. Individual users cannot change this.
Files On-Demand not availableFeature disabled or OneDrive not runningEnsure OneDrive is running (check the system tray), then enable Files On-Demand in OneDrive Settings.