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Archive and restore containers

Applies to: Developer

Use SharePoint Embedded container archival when a container must be retained but no longer needs to be active accessed or used for collaboration. Archival uses Microsoft 365 Archive, a cold-storage tier that reduces storage cost while keeping the same security, compliance, and search standards. For the Microsoft 365 Archive overview, see Microsoft 365 Archive.

Important

Microsoft 365 Archive is in Preview for SharePoint Embedded. Validate tenant availability, billing, and API behavior before you expose archive actions to users.

Enable archival on a container type

Archival must be enabled on the container type. Use SharePoint Embedded admin PowerShell for an existing container type.

Set-SPOContainerTypeConfiguration -ContainerTypeId <id> -IsArchiveEnabled $true

Enable archival when you create a new container type by passing -IsArchiveEnabled $true.

New-SPOContainerType -ContainerTypeName <name> -OwningApplicationId <id> -IsArchiveEnabled $true

Only show archive commands in your app after the owning application and consuming tenant are configured for the container type.

Archive a container

Call the Microsoft Graph beta archive action for the target container.

POST https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/storage/fileStorage/containers/{containerId}/archive

The caller must have the Owner or PrincipalOwner role on the container. Global Administrators and SharePoint Embedded Administrators can act on all containers. The app must also have write permission on the container.

An archived container is inaccessible until it's reactivated. Stop uploads, background processors, webhook-dependent workflows, and interactive edits before submitting the archive request.

Get archived containers

Read one archived container with the normal container get operation.

GET https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/storage/fileStorage/containers/{containerId}

List archived containers for a container type by filtering for containers that have archival details.

GET https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/storage/fileStorage/containers?$filter=containerTypeId eq {containerTypeId} and archivalDetails ne null

Use this list for lifecycle views, admin reports, or reactivation flows. Make the archived state visible in your UI so users understand why files can't be opened.

Reactivate a container

Call the Microsoft Graph beta unarchive action to reactivate an archived container.

POST https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/storage/fileStorage/containers/{containerId}/unarchive

Reactivation is instantaneous during the first seven days after archival. After seven days, reactivation can take up to 24 hours. Keep the container read and write actions disabled until the service reports that the container is active again.

Design lifecycle controls

Require explicit user intent before archive and unarchive requests. Record the container ID, actor, timestamp, and Graph request correlation data in your application logs. Don't treat archive as deletion; retention, eDiscovery, audit, and compliance requirements still apply to archived data.

If a lifecycle operation fails, check the caller role, app write permission, container type archival setting, and whether the target container is already in the requested state.

Next steps