Clean Up Your OneDrive: Declutter Personal Files & Organize Department Content

Running low on OneDrive storage? Here is how to find and clear out files you no longer need, plus where to keep personal versus department content so your team can always find it.

Instructions

Find what is using your space

1. Sign in to Microsoft 365 (External Link) and open OneDrive, or go to OneDrive (External Link) directly.
2. Open My files.
3. Click the File size column heading to sort largest first. Your biggest files are usually where the quickest gains are.

Delete what you no longer need

1. Select the files or folders you no longer need.
2. Click Delete.
3. In the left sidebar, open the Recycle bin and click Empty recycle bin.
4. Open the Second-stage recycle bin from the bottom of that page and empty it as well.

Deleted files keep counting against your quota until both recycle bins are emptied, so the last two steps are what actually frees space. Anything left in place is removed automatically after 93 days.

Clear old versions of files

OneDrive saves a copy of your file every time it is edited, and every one of those versions counts against your storage. A large file you work on regularly can take up several times its own size without appearing any bigger in your file list. This is a common reason for a OneDrive that seems full when the files in it look small.

1. Right-click a large file and select Version history.
2. Review the list of versions and delete the ones you no longer need.
3. Empty both recycle bins afterwards. Deleted versions go to the recycle bin first and hold space until it is emptied.

Restore a previous version of a file stored in OneDrive — Microsoft Support (External Link)

Move department content to SharePoint

Files that belong to your department rather than to you personally are better kept in a SharePoint site, where the whole team can find them and they do not disappear when someone leaves. For help deciding what goes where, see What should I store where?

Moving a file to a SharePoint site frees that space in your own quota, because the site takes ownership of the file. The content still occupies University of Maine System (UMS) storage, though, and each department site has its own limit. Move what genuinely belongs to the department rather than using a site as overflow.

For the steps, see Migrate Content to SharePoint.

Additional resources

• OneDrive Storage Quotas
• What should I store where?
• How to Tell if a Folder or File Is in OneDrive or Actually in SharePoint

Environment

• Microsoft 365 (UMS)
• OneDrive
• SharePoint