SharePoint Licensing / Space issue.

Question

Our SharePoint space utilization is incorrect, but not sure why. I

It shows we have 0 MB of 3.41TB of space. ( fine I understand we can get more space).

HOWEVER.

On 12/9 we purchased additional space we had 192.92 GB of 3.97 TB of space

We lost 500 GB of total space. We cannot find why.

SKU x #Licenses = Quota in GB

SharePoint Online Add-On Storage SSL x 1800 = 1800

SharePoint Online OneDrive Basic USL x 9 = 4.5

SharePoint Online Project Add-On USL x 6 = 0

SharePoint Online Enterprise USL x 63 = 630

SharePoint Online Visio Edit Add-On USL x 9 = 0

SharePoint Online WAC Edit Add-On USL x 65 = 0

SharePoint Online Standard USL x 3 = 30

Total tenant quota eligibility : 3488.5GB (3.41TB)

Total tenant quota usage : 3974.01GB (3.88TB)

I suspect license, but we have 63 Enterprise USL, and that about matches our user account. (We use a combo of E3 / E5 licenses.)

I am unsure if USL license counts to OneDrive or SharePoint.

From our license export we have 50 licenses from 3 CSP's not sure why, 1 is ending, which will leave us 100 till March. I am suspecting that are total storage will go down when the 50 E5 expire?

I have heard from support that this could be a false positive, our users have not reported any issues.

Any help to track this down would be great.

Answer 1

Dear fxkeough),

Thank you for reaching out regarding the SharePoint storage and licensing concerns. I understand the importance of resolving this issue efficiently, and I’d be happy to help you track down the root cause of the storage reduction.

To better assist you, could you please provide a few additional details:

1. Licensing Details:
   Could you please share a screenshot of all your current licenses from the Microsoft 365 Admin Center? You can find this under Billing > Your products (Link to Admin Center). The screenshot should include the subscription name, license status, number of accounts, and any other relevant details. If you’ve noticed any licenses expiring recently, that could potentially be the cause of the storage reduction.
2. License Data Source:
   How did you obtain the license details listed in your email? To verify the licensing and storage allocation, could you please click here and provide a screenshot of the results from the SharePoint and OneDrive diagnostics tool? This will help us perform further checks and assist you more effectively.

Once we have these details, we can proceed with a more thorough investigation.

Looking forward to your response.

Best regards,
Community Moderator | Sophia

Answer 2

Sophia

First, let me thank you for your quick response an assistance.

Here is the licensing page, let me know if it too small, I can break down. I have some subscriptions that will expire tomorrow my time I guess, but they have been in that state before we lost the 500 gb

Also, I am getting a banner notification that some of the licenses have expired, including 365 E5, SharePoint Plan2. Again out space issue began before the expiration of the subscriptions.

The report above on licenses is from the SharePoint Tenant Storage Test.

You asked me to run the OneDrive Diagnostic tool, but I do not see one listed on the available diagnostic page that matches the request. I did run the OneDrive Storage limited to 5 TB against myself and it came back8 saying my quota limit is less that 5TB,

The OneDrive site's quota limit is currently less than 5TB.

You may change this user's OneDrive storage space by clicking on their Active Users page and following the instructions on Change a user's storage space in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

I am not sure if that is the one you wanted me to run

Thank you,

Frank Keough

Answer 3

Dear Frank,

Thank you for providing the additional information and for your detailed follow-up. I appreciate your proactive efforts in troubleshooting the SharePoint storage issue.

Let me address your concerns and clarify the storage calculation:

Storage Calculation

SharePoint storage is allocated based on the following formula:
Initial 1024GB + 10GB per license (containing SharePoint services)

Related statement: SharePoint limits - Service Descriptions | Microsoft Learn

From your licensing details which contributes to SharePoint storage, I have marked highligjted in the picture:

• 66 licenses (1+3+3+47+2+3+6+1): These include the licenses explicitly contributing to SharePoint storage, as well as 2 from Teams-related licenses.
• 9 Visio Plan licenses: These add 0.5GB for each.

Your total calculated storage is:
1024GB + (66 × 10GB) + (9 × 0.5GB) = 3488.5GB

This matches the 3.41TB displayed in your tenant storage.

2. 500GB Storage Drop

The reported 500GB reduction is likely linked to license expirations. From the image you provided, I noticed that some licenses expired on 2025/1/3, which would contribute to a decrease in storage. From the picture, the approximate storage drop should be 10GB * (3+6+1) + 0.5GB * 9 = 104.5GB

However, the reduction you’ve reported (500GB) is greater than the estimated impact of the expired licenses alone. It’s possible that there are more licenses were removed recently, which would account for the discrepancy. I recommend:

• Checking the "Deleted" or "Failed" filters in the license management view to identify if more licenses were removed recently.

Let me know if you encounter discrepancies in the diagnostic data or have questions about the calculation.

If this response is helpful, I would greatly appreciate your feedback through the voting option. Let me know if anything remains unclear or if you need further assistance.

Best regards,
Community Moderator | Sophia