Sites has exceeded its maximun file storage limit

Question

Sites has exceeded its maximun file storage limit

Ngoc Thien 20

Hi all

Any one can explain me:

In Sharepoint admin center, why I receive the message "Your pooled storage is 293.34GB over the limit ..." while I just use 121MB of 300GB ?

BTW, Now I also can't upload to Onedrive anymore. Athough the free space is still available.

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Answer 1

Ana Le 2,600 Independent Advisor

Hi,

The message “Your pooled storage is xxx GB over the limit” refers to your tenant’s total SharePoint storage pool, not the storage usage of an individual site.

Even if a specific site shows only 121 MB used, the tenant’s pooled SharePoint storage may already be fully consumed. Since OneDrive storage is also allocated from the same SharePoint storage pool, uploads to OneDrive can also be affected when the tenant has exceeded its available SharePoint storage.

To verify this, please check:

SharePoint admin center > Active sites > Storage usage
SharePoint admin center > Settings > Site storage limits

If the tenant storage has indeed reached its limit, you will need to free up storage by deleting unnecessary content (and emptying both first-stage and second-stage recycle bins), or increase the available SharePoint storage by purchasing additional storage or eligible licenses.

If the storage usage shown in the admin center still appears inconsistent, please let me know:

Your Microsoft 365 subscription.
The total SharePoint storage and storage used shown in the SharePoint admin center.
A screenshot of the storage warning (with any personal information removed).

I’ll be happy to help you investigate further.

Ngoc Thien 20 Reputation points

2026-07-24T02:12:23.0333333+00:00

Hi

As your explanation, a found that total used storage Onedrive of all user was exceed 300GB.

Error in top page Sharepoint: "Your pooled storage is 293.35 GB over the limit and your trial wll end on MMM DD, 2026, 14:11:35 (UTC) Trial-only tenants are limited to 30 days and 300G8 of pooled storage. Purchase a license or manage storage to free up space to remove read-only restrictions. Learn more about trials"

Follow your advise, I free up storage by deleted some file (and emptying both first-stage and second-stage recycle bins) to make sure total used storage of tenant under 300GB.

But It have been 24 hours since I free up storage under 300GB, the system not yet update my current storage until now.

Can you tell me how long does it take to update my new pool storage ?
Ana Le 2,600 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-07-27T07:47:25.3+00:00
Hi @Ngoc Thien,

Thank you for the update.

There isn't a published SLA for how long SharePoint Online takes to recalculate pooled storage after content is deleted.

In most cases, the storage usage is updated within 24–48 hours, although it can sometimes take longer depending on the amount of data removed and the background processing in your tenant.

Since you've already:

Reduced the total storage below the 300 GB limit, and

Emptied both the first-stage and second-stage recycle bins,

I'd recommend waiting another 24 hours and then checking the SharePoint admin center again.

If the pooled storage still hasn't been updated after 48 hours, it would be best to contact Microsoft Support, as they can verify whether the storage recalculation is still in progress or if there's an issue preventing the tenant's storage usage from being refreshed.

In the meantime, could you also confirm whether the trial has already expired, or is it still within the 30-day trial period? The warning message mentions that trial tenants become read-only when they exceed the storage limit or when the trial expires, so this detail will help determine whether the behavior is related to storage recalculation or the trial status.