Important! Your USNH OneDrive for work or school account is not intended as the primary source for storing large amounts of department owned data (like SharePoint). It does NOT retain permanency and is subject to deletion when your employment or student status expires. If you are a collaborator in a OneDrive file that belongs to a departing individual, you will also lose access to that data unless it is moved or copied into a folder you own. See FAQ's for Graduating Students, Moving Institutional Files to SharePoint before leaving USNH and Copying Personal Files/Folders before Leaving the University for more information. 

Step 1 - Identify large files: Sort files by size and delete those you own that are no longer needed*.

• Login to OneDrive and navigate to https://universitysystemnh-my.sharepoint.com/largestfiles 
• See also: Check Your OneDrive and SharePoint Storage Capacity and Usage

*IMPORTANT! Pay attention to Shortcuts to Shared Folders (they appear as illustrated above) these do not take up storage space in your OneDrive unless downloaded, however they may appear in OneDrive's "largest files" list due to the way Microsoft lists these items. Only delete items you own. 

Step 2 - Move files for retention: Move files you own to external storage or department SharePoint locations. Consider moving department video files to Kaltura.

• M365: Moving or Copying Files in SharePoint and OneDrive
• Moving Institutional Files to SharePoint before leaving USNH
• Kaltura: Upload or Create Media

Step 3 - Sort and delete old or duplicate files: Organize and remove old files you own, remove any shortcuts linked to files or folders you no longer wish to collaborate on. 

• Organize and find files in OneDrive
• Delete files or folders in OneDrive
• Manage Shortcuts in OneDrive 

Find and remove duplicate files

Unfortunately, OneDrive does not have a built-in option for locating duplicates. Some steps you can take include:

• Sort by name or date: In OneDrive online, sort your files alphabetically or by “Modified” date. Files with the same or similar names (e.g., ProjectPlan(1).docx, ProjectPlan – Copy.docx) are often duplicates you can review and remove.
• Check older folders: Historical folders such as Archive, Old Desktop, Old Documents or backup folders created during migrations often contain redundant copies.
• Use search keywords: Search for common duplicate patterns like copy, duplicate, (1), (2), final, v2, old, etc.
• Compare file details: Before deleting, open each file to confirm ownership and content. Remember—only delete files you own.
• Review automatically uploaded content: Some applications (like mobile photo uploads) can create redundant versions. Consolidate and remove extras as needed.

Step 4 - Clear recycle bin: Empty the OneDrive recycle bin to free up space.

• Restore or empty the OneDrive recycle bin

Step 5 - Organize folders: Group similar files together into folders for better structure.

• Sort, rename and move files or folders in OneDrive

Step 6 - Review shared files: Clean up unnecessary shared files and permissions.

• Stop or change sharing of OneDrive files

Step 7 - Manage versions: Review version history and delete older versions to avoid excess storage usage.

• Manage versions in OneDrive

Step 1 - Identify large files: Site owners can view storage metrics.

• Check Your OneDrive and SharePoint Storage Capacity and Usage

Step 2 - Sort and delete old or duplicate files: Organize and clean up outdated and duplicate data.

• Use sorting to modify a SharePoint view
• Delete files in SharePoint 

Step 3 - Move files to alternate storage: Transfer to another storage or move video files to Kaltura.

• M365: Moving or Copying Files in SharePoint and OneDrive
• Move or copy files in SharePoint
• Kaltura: Upload or Create Media

Step 4 - Clear recycle bin: Free up storage space.

• Delete items or empty the Recycle Bin of a SharePoint site

Step 5 - Organize folders: Sort files into logical folders to aid in site organization and avoid duplicates.

• Manage SharePoint document libraries

Step 6 - Review shared files: Review permissions and clean up access.

• Manage sharing in SharePoint

Step 7 - Manage versions: Control file version history to limit storage consumption.

• Delete unnecessary versions of SharePoint files  

Step 1 - Delete Teams that Are No Longer Needed: If a team is no longer required and doesn’t need to be archived, consider deleting it to free up space. Deleted teams will be removed entirely from the Teams interface, but data can be recovered for 30 days. IMPORTANT: Deleting a team removes the team mailbox and calendar from Exchange, deletes the corresponding SharePoint site and all its files, and deletes the associated M365 Group and resources – so any OneNote notebook, Planner plan, PowerBI workspace, or Stream group affiliated with the team will also be deleted.

• Delete a Microsoft Team

Step 2 - Archive Inactive Teams: Team Owners should regularly review active teams and decide which ones can be archived. Archiving a team hides it from active use but preserves the content for reference. USNH Teams administrators can complete this request for you. 

• Submit a request to Archive a Team 

View the table below to determine which option is best for your Team.

Step 3 - Organize and Delete Unused Channels: Within each team, review the channels. Delete any unused or redundant channels to declutter the workspace. Note that deleting a channel also removes its messages and files from the team’s view. Files shared in the channel are still accessible in SharePoint.

• How to manage channels

Step 4 - Leave or Mute Old Conversations: If you’re part of old chats that are no longer relevant, consider leaving them or muting notifications.

• How to leave a group chat

Step 5 - Clean Up Files in Teams: Files shared in Teams are stored in SharePoint (for teams and channels) and OneDrive (for individual chats). Review and delete files you own that are no longer necessary.

• Manage files in Teams

Step 6 - Organize Teams Tabs: Review and remove outdated tabs in channels, especially those linking to files or apps that are no longer relevant.

• Manage tabs in Teams

Step 7 - Use Tags to Organize People by Function: To streamline communication, use tags to group members of a team by their role or function, making it easier to reach the right people without creating unnecessary channels.

• How to use tags in Teams