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What to do when your tenant is about to go read-only

Microsoft can put a tenant that stays over its SharePoint storage into read-only mode. The fix for this week is buying enough room to stop the clock. The fix that lasts is getting finished work out.

This week, in order

  1. Measure. In the SharePoint admin center, open Active sites and note how far over you are. The figure lags by 24 to 48 hours.
  2. Buy a bridge. Add Office 365 Extra File Storage for the overage plus headroom, or turn on pay-as-you-go SharePoint Storage, which bills only what is over. Extra File Storage can be reduced again later.
  3. If you are already read-only, make the purchase, then use Confirm purchase: it lifts read-only mode for up to 14 days while the capacity is applied, once in any 365 days.
  4. Clear what costs nothing. Empty the second-stage recycle bins of the largest sites, run the version storage report on them, and check whether a retention policy is holding deleted files in the Preservation Hold library.
  5. Find the finished work. A handful of sites hold most of the storage, and most of that has not changed in years.

This month

  1. Move the finished work out, checked file by file, with a note left where each folder was. How to do that without leaving dead links.
  2. Reduce the bridge once usage is back under the quota.
  3. Set a rule for what counts as finished, so the same thing does not happen next year.

What not to do

A shed is not a same-day fix: the first library is copied and checked before anything is removed. Buy a month of extra storage to cover the gap, then let the shed take the finished work.

Questions

Can people still open files when the tenant is read-only?

Microsoft describes read-only mode as people being unable to add or modify content. It does not describe blocking people from opening what is there, so expect work to stall rather than files to vanish.

How long does Confirm purchase give us?

Up to 14 days, while the capacity you bought is applied. It can be used once in a 365-day period.

How fast can Shed take files out?

Most sheds are running within a week: the first day to register Shed Sweep in your tenant, the second to list what it would move, and the rest of the week to copy and verify the first library before anyone approves the removal.

Sources

Related
What happens when SharePoint storage is fullOne pool for every site and Team. What counts against it, what Microsoft does when you go over, and the three ways out.How to archive a SharePoint library without breaking linksStrictly, you can't keep every link. You can make sure nobody ends up at a dead end. The steps, in order.What Microsoft's extra file storage really costsUS$0.20 per GB a month, counted in binary. How the pooled quota is worked out, what a year of overage costs, and the cheaper routes.All guidesEvery question we answer, on one page.
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Start with one library.

Tell us which libraries or drives are full and roughly how large they are. We size a shed, set up the first sweep with you, and most are running within a week.

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