Changing file version settings in Sharepoint Online document library

Question

Hi

We have a document library in Sharepoint Online, where versioning is enabled in library Settings/Versioning Settings.

We have about 1,6TB of data on that library and many Office files takes a lot of space in the library, because they may have 150 versions or more for one file.

At the moment, versioning settings are set to keep 500 latest major versions for any file.

What if I change the amount of version to keep to, for example, 80 versions. What happens to existing files which have over 80 versions? Does Sharepoint just strip versions over 80 from these files or does this setting take effect only to new files stored in the library?

Answer 1

Hi @IMK ,

Please refer to this document for the procedure to change the number of reserved versions to 80:https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/enable-and-configure-versioning-for-a-list-or-library-1555d642-23ee-446a-990a-bcab618c7a37

When you change the versioning settings in a SharePoint Online document library, the new settings will apply to all files in the library, including existing files that have more than 80 versions. Therefore, if you change the versioning settings to keep only 80 major versions for any file, SharePoint will automatically delete all versions beyond the 80th version for all files in the library.

Please note that this action is irreversible and you will not be able to recover the deleted versions. If you want to keep a copy of the deleted versions, you should download them before changing the versioning settings.

I hope my answer has provided you with a little help. Have a nice day!

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