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Understanding and using Microsoft 365 Archive for SharePoint effectively
Over time, a lot of content accumulates in SharePoint that you almost never need in your day-to-day work. This includes completed project documents, older documentation, or files from previous versions of the work. That doesn’t mean you should or are allowed to delete them. At the same time, they take up storage space and are kept next to the documents you’re currently working on.
Microsoft 365 Archive allows you to archive this content within SharePoint and reactivate it as needed. A distinction is made between entire sites and individual files. Additional storage costs can be reduced depending on the tenant’s storage utilization.
However, the impact on usage is also an important factor in the decision: How can you find the archived content again? How quickly will you be able to resume access? What about record retention and compliance? This post explains how Microsoft 365 Archive works, the changes for employees, and its pricing model.
What is Microsoft 365 Archive?
Archived content no longer counts toward the tenant’s active SharePoint storage quota. Instead, it is allocated to the archive storage. The data remains within the Microsoft 365 environment. It is not necessary to export the data to another storage system for this purpose.
You can archive both entire SharePoint sites and individual files. For a complete site, this includes things such as document libraries, folders, files, and lists. Permissions and metadata are retained.
For your completed project, this means that the project documents can continue to be stored without being a permanent part of the active work environment.
Archiving, storing, and backing up: different tasks
Before we dive into how to use it, we need to clarifying a few terms. In everyday life, the term “archive” is used to refer to a wide variety of things.
| Function | What question does it answer? |
| Microsoft 365 Archive | How do we store SharePoint content that is rarely accessed outside of active storage? |
| Retention policies | How long should or must content be retained (even if it has been deleted by the user), and when should it be deleted? |
| Backup | How do we recover data after a loss or unauthorized changes? |
These questions should all be addressed together in a data management plan. The decision to archive content does not replace the need to establish a retention period or a recovery strategy.
The entire site, or individual files?
Which option makes sense depends on how the collaboration is structured.
A complete website belongs to a finished workspace. If your project has its own SharePoint site and nothing is actively being worked on there anymore, the entire site may be a candidate for archiving.
Individual files are suitable for mixed storage. But maybe the project documents are on a department site where the next project has long since gotten underway. In that case, it would be impractical to archive the entire section. Archiving individual files lets you selectively choose older documents while keeping the rest of the site active. Microsoft now lists this feature as generally available.
What changes for employees?
The most important change is access: An archived file can only be read again after it has been reactivated. An archived site is also no longer available for normal use.
Users with read access can reactivate individual files. SharePoint Administration is responsible for ensuring that a site is fully archived. Who is allowed to archive files manually depends on whether the feature has been released and on the user’s editing permissions.
The duration depends on the archiving status:
| Time point | Reactivation |
| Within the first seven days after archiving | Possible immediately |
| After these seven days | Can take up to 24 hours |
This time span applies to files and sites.
Here’s what this might look like for your project: Six months after the project has been completed, a colleague needs some old documentation. If a file is archived individually, the user can initiate its reactivation themselves using their read permission. If the documentation is located on a fully archived site, it requires IT support.
Therefore, before archiving anything, I would clarify two things: Who else might still need this content, and how soon does it need to be available again?
Will archived content remain available for the search and for Copilot?
Archiving does not automatically mean that nobody can find the files anymore.
You can use Microsoft 365 Archive to control which content remains relevant for Copilot’s current information searches and responses.
Archived files are removed from the active Copilot index. This helps to ensure that outdated project documents or obsolete documentation are no longer used as the basis for responses. Therefore, before archiving, you should check whether a piece of content is actually outdated or continues to serve as an important source of information.
Archived content remains easy to find in SharePoint Search. By selecting “Archived” under the file type, you can include them in the search. In this process, existing permissions are still taken into account, and the file content is also searched. However, to open a file that has been found, you must first reactivate it.
A search result doesn’t necessarily grant you immediate access. Reactivation is still required to open it.
Information can be stored long-term and retrieved as needed, while Copilot’s active response system focuses on the knowledge currently required. This is another good reason to think about the life cycle of information. An old project document may be worth keeping, even if it no longer serves as a current guide for day-to-day work.
What about record retention and compliance?
Features such as retention labels and eDiscovery continue to apply to archived sites. Archiving therefore does not freeze existing deletion processes. For example, content can still be deleted in accordance with retention policies.
Purview Content Search and eDiscovery can still search and export archived content. However, the export can take a while.
What does Microsoft 365 Archive cost?
How is this calculated?
The graphic shows five scenarios. The dashed line indicates the current SharePoint storage quota. Blue represents active content within this quota, red represents additional standard storage required, and green represents archived content.
As shown in the chart, the calculation is based on $0.20 per GB of additional standard storage and $0.05 per GB of paid archive storage. The total costs shown include both types of storage.
| Scenario | What happens? | Additional costs per month |
| A: Without archiving | The active content exceeds the quota by 200 GB. This requires additional standard storage. | 200 × $0.20 = $40 |
| B: 200 GB archived | The active content fits into the quota exactly. The 200 GB in the archive is billed completely. | 200 × $0.05 = $10 |
| C: 400 GB archived | Archiving frees up 200 GB of the quota. This will be deducted from the 400 GB of archive storage. Only 200 GB will be billed. | 200 × $0.05 = $10 |
| D: Partially archived | The active content exceeds the quota by an additional 100 GB. There is an additional 100 GB in the archive. Both of these storage types incur costs. | $20 standard storage + $5 archive storage = $25 |
| E: Within the quota | For every 100 GB of archived content, 200 GB of free storage is still available. Therefore, the archive does not incur any additional costs. | $0 |
This means that archiving more data does not automatically mean higher archiving costs. This shows scenarios B and C: Although twice as much data is archived in C, the costs remain the same. This is because, at the same time, more space is freed up in active memory.
What does reactivation cost?
There is no separate fee for reactivating archived SharePoint content. Afterward, the content will need active memory again. You should therefore check in advance to see if there is enough of the quota left available.
Archiving will be disabled for four months after reactivation. This rule applies to SharePoint content. Archived, unlicensed OneDrive accounts are subject to their own rules and fees.
When Microsoft 365 Archive makes sense
Archiving can therefore be useful even when there is no shortage of storage space. As long as active and archived content remain within the available storage quota, no additional archive storage costs will be incurred. Above this limit, archiving can help you reduce the costs associated with additional storage requirements.
The key question is what role the content still plays: If you need it regularly, immediately, or as a relevant source of information for Copilot, you should keep it active. If you mainly keep it for possible future reference, archiving is an option. The potential wait time during reactivation must fit within the workflow.
With clear criteria and responsibilities, you can seamlessly integrate Microsoft 365 Archive into SharePoint management. This ensures that information worth keeping is preserved, while active collaboration focuses on the content that is currently needed.
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