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Migration Tools Overview Structure and content OneDrive ↔ SharePoint Content only Structure only Move / Copy Upload from this computer Download to this computer Dropbox to SharePoint Resume and incremental runs
Recycling Bin Overview Browse a site's recycle bin Empty recycle bins in bulk Restore and purge history
Archive Overview Configure the tenant On Demand Archive Restore Archived Files Archive Savings Report Blob Viewer
Optimise Storage Tools Overview Delete all items in a list Delete all files and folders in a library Remove empty folders Remove duplicate files Reduce image sizes Delete sites and subsites
SharePoint Tools Overview Tenant Explorer SharePoint Explorer Easy Settings Fix renamed groups List Explorer Search the Preservation Hold Library
Replace Overview Replace in SharePoint Replace in local files Find password-protected files
Shared Links Overview Report shared links Report unique permissions Remove a person from sharing links Remove shared links Remove unique permissions
Version History Overview Version trimming Version trimming report Reset file version
Reports Overview Inventory report Folder inventory Site and subsite storage Security matrix Teams permissions Pre-migration analysis Compare items Dropbox to Microsoft 365 compare Duplicate file report Empty folder report Image size report Recycle bin report Unused licences Report history
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What this costs, and how to undo it

Charges, and getting every file back out

Archive trades SharePoint storage for Azure storage, which is cheaper per gigabyte but not free, and adds a charge each time somebody reads a file back. This page says where the money goes and how to reverse the whole thing.

Reads only. Nothing in SharePoint is changed.
On this page What it tells you How it runs What it will not do Read next

What it tells you

  • You pay Azure directly for the storage, on your own subscription. Nothing is charged until files are actually archived.
  • The main lines are storage per gigabyte per month at the tier you chose, and a read charge each time a file is fetched back.
  • Redundancy is the biggest multiplier on the storage line. Geo-redundant roughly doubles it.
  • Nothing is deleted to save space. An archived file's contents exist in your storage account, with versioning and soft delete on.

How it runs

  1. To stop archiving one site. Remove the site's grant. Placeholders stay, contents stay, and restoring still works, because a restore runs as the user rather than as the application.
  2. To stop archiving entirely. Delete the Archive application in Entra. That removes the .shurl file type with it.
  3. To remove the SharePoint command. Retract the app from your app catalog. The page stays until you delete it.
  4. To get every file back. Use Restore Archived Files: pick the libraries or folders, and every placeholder found in them is written back into SharePoint where it was. Then the storage account holds nothing you need.

What it will not do

  • Deleting the storage account before restoring would destroy the only copy of every archived file. Soft delete gives 30 days of grace on individual blobs; it does not protect you from deleting the account.
  • Restore Archived Files is never locked by a lapsed ShareMaster subscription. A click on a placeholder asks ShareMaster whether the subscription is active and is refused only when the answer is no; if the question cannot be answered, the click still works.

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