Microsoft archives inactive SharePoint sites in cold storage
Microsoft 365 Archive automatically moves inactive SharePoint sites to a low-cost cold storage tier. These sites retain full metadata, permissions, search indexing, and compliance features like retention and eDiscovery. They stay out of Copilot training data to prevent outdated content from influencing AI responses. Admins must manually reactivate sites if needed, a process that can take up to 24 hours.
SharePoint admins faced sprawling lists of hundreds of sites, many abandoned from old Teams, with no easy way to hide them without deletion battles or leaving clutter that baffled users and drove ticket volumes. Archive now quietly removes them from active views and quotas, preserving access for rare needs while cutting costs and AI noise. Small IT teams gain breathing room to focus on live sites and intranets instead of manual hunts.
Analysis
Those 300-plus team sites cluttering your admin center? Archive is your no-drama dump without the 'we might need it' pushback. Pull the site usage report from the SharePoint admin center today and configure Archive policies for sites inactive over six months.
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