How to Archive Old SharePoint Files to Azure Storage

Microsoft's own answer to cold files is Microsoft 365 Archive, and it now archives individual files as well as whole sites. It keeps them inside SharePoint, though: an archived file still counts toward your tenant's storage (as archived storage rather than active), still sits in its site's usage figure, and cannot be opened until somebody reactivates it. There is no native option that moves a SharePoint file into an Azure storage account you own and leaves a link behind in the library.

That second thing is what this guide covers. ShareMaster Archive Master copies cold files to Azure Blob Storage in your own subscription, replaces each one with a small placeholder that keeps its name, folder and permissions, and puts the file back when somebody clicks it. Read the native section first, because for plenty of tenants Microsoft's tier is the better fit.

What Microsoft 365 Archive does with individual files

File-level archiving is on by default once an admin has enabled Microsoft 365 Archive and connected pay-as-you-go billing. From then on:

• Anyone with edit permission can select files and choose Archive, or archive a whole folder with Archive all files (up to 20,000 items per folder). Microsoft also documents admin-defined policies that archive eligible files automatically.
• Archived files keep every version, their metadata and their permissions, and retention, eDiscovery and search keep working.
• An archived file cannot be read until it is reactivated. For the first seven days that is instant; after that it can take up to 24 hours. Reactivation is free, but a reactivated file cannot be archived again for 120 days.
• Archived storage is billed at US$0.05 per GB per month, and only when active plus archived storage exceeds the tenant's quota. Extra standard storage is US$0.20 per GB per month.
• OneNote, SharePoint pages, agents and anything in the Site Assets library cannot be archived, and some apps (Word and PowerPoint for the web, the mobile apps, older sync clients) do not yet handle archived files cleanly.

One line in Microsoft's FAQ decides a lot of cases: file-level archive does not change a site's storage usage or quota. The tenant total stays the same and is simply reclassified. Our alert on file-level archiving in Microsoft 365 Archive covers the rollout, and if whole sites are what has gone cold, archiving a SharePoint site with Microsoft 365 Archive is the simpler job.

Microsoft 365 Archive vs Azure storage you own: key differences

	Microsoft 365 Archive (file level)	Archive Master to your Azure storage
Where the bytes live	Inside SharePoint, in a colder tier	A private container in your Azure subscription
Tenant storage	Still counted, as archived storage	Leaves SharePoint once older versions and the recycle bin are cleared
Opening an old file	Reactivate first: instant for seven days, then up to 24 hours	Click the placeholder; it downloads or restores straight away
Version history	Archived with the file	Only the current content moves; older versions stay or are recycled
Search, retention, eDiscovery	Keep working on archived content	Apply to the placeholder, not to the copy in Azure
Who pays	A pay-as-you-go archive meter, only above quota	Your own Azure bill at your agreement's rate, plus the Archive Master licence

The compliance row is the honest cost of moving data out. Once a file's content sits in Azure, it is governed by your storage account's controls rather than by Purview, which is either the point (you wanted it out of SharePoint) or a reason to stay native.

How archiving to Azure works in ShareMaster

Archive Master is part of the ShareMaster V2 beta, downloaded from the members area with any ShareMaster account. The archive tiles live on the Archive menu.

1. Measure first with the Archive Savings Report. Pick libraries or folders and set the rules a real run would use: age, size, file types, site files. The report lists every file those rules select, how much they hold, and what moving them would be worth per month after the Azure storage they would need. It changes nothing, needs no Azure setup and is not limited to a paid plan.
2. Run Configure Tenant once. It creates or checks a storage account in your subscription (one private container, anonymous access off, account key access off, blob versioning and 30-day soft delete on, Cool tier and locally redundant recommended), sets up the endpoint that serves a click, and registers the placeholder file type. Microsoft can take up to 48 hours to make a new file type work everywhere in the tenant, so do this a few days ahead.
3. Start an On Demand Archive. Choose the configured tenant, then sites, libraries or folders. Set Not modified for at least (years), a minimum size and any file types to skip, or leave Archive all files ticked. Choose Just report to see the exact list before anything changes; Archive for real does the work.
4. Each file is copied, then checked, then replaced. The content is uploaded to your container and read back so its hash can be compared with the original. Only after that match does SharePoint change: the file is renamed in place (Budget.xlsx becomes Budget.xlsx.shurl) and its content becomes a small placeholder. Because it is the same item, it keeps its ID, version history, people columns and unique permissions.
5. Release the space. Older versions are not archived, and while they stay they still hold the original content and still use storage. When the quota is the reason you are here, tick Recycle previous file versions. Those versions then sit in the site recycle bin, still counted, until the bin is emptied; ShareMaster leaves that last step to you.

What is never archived

Some files are refused whatever you choose, and a few more are off until you opt in.

• Site Pages, always. A page turned into a placeholder is a page that no longer exists, so there is no setting for it.
• Site Assets, unless you tick Include Site Assets libraries. That is where a site keeps the logos and images its pages load. Tick it only for a site being retired.
• Files SharePoint itself reads (.aspx, .master, .css, .js, web parts, templates, forms), while Leave site files alone is on, which it is by default.
• Shortcuts. A .url or .lnk somebody saved is a pointer, not content.
• Anything carrying a retention label, and anything checked out, locked open, or in a library that requires check-out.
• Files under 4 KB. A placeholder can be up to roughly 900 bytes, so archiving a tiny file saves nothing and can make the library bigger. Also archive files under 4 KB lifts that floor for anyone who wants every file copied out regardless.

One gap to close yourself: a retention policy applied to a whole site leaves no label on each file. Under a retention policy, SharePoint copies the original into the Preservation Hold library whenever a file changes, and versions cannot be deleted, so archiving that site would free nothing. Check which Purview policies cover a site before you include it.

Getting archived files back

Each run decides what a click on its placeholders does. Restore, the default, writes the file back into the library where it was, editable, and opens it. Download hands over a copy and leaves the placeholder in place, so the space stays reclaimed. Either way the person clicking is signed in and the file is read as them, so nobody gets an archived file they could not already open.

For a whole library or folder, the Restore Archived Files tile finds every placeholder in the locations you tick and puts the real file back with its original name, contents and authorship. Files that are checked out, or where something already sits at the original name, are left alone and listed. Two caveats:

• Versions you recycled come back from the SharePoint recycle bin, not from the restore.
• Restore can also delete each archived copy once its file is verifiably back. That is off by default, a deleted blob only survives within the account's soft-delete window, and Cool tier storage carries an early deletion charge inside its first 30 days.

When should you archive to Azure instead of using Microsoft 365 Archive?

• You need the bytes out of SharePoint, not reclassified inside it, for example to stop a site's usage figure climbing or to hold a copy outside Microsoft 365.
• People occasionally need an old file today, not after a reactivation that can take a day.
• You want the archive under your own Azure controls, redundancy and billing.

Stay with Microsoft 365 Archive when the content must stay searchable, discoverable and under Purview retention, when version history matters, or when your tenant is still under quota and archived storage would cost nothing extra. Before either, trimming version history often frees more than archiving would; trimming SharePoint version history shows how to measure that first. And if you only want a copy of some files in Azure, with SharePoint untouched, that is a plain SharePoint to Azure Blob copy, not an archive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Microsoft 365 Archive reduce SharePoint storage for individual files?

At tenant level it moves the bytes from active storage to archived storage, which is billed at a lower rate once the tenant is over quota. It does not change a site's own storage usage or quota, and the files still count toward the tenant total.

Can I move SharePoint files to Azure Blob Storage natively?

Not as an archive. Microsoft 365 Archive keeps archived files inside SharePoint. You can copy files to Azure yourself with scripts, but nothing native replaces the SharePoint file with a link that brings it back.

Why did archiving files free less space than expected?

Usually version history or the recycle bin. Older versions still hold earlier copies of the content, and anything recycled keeps counting against the quota until the bin is emptied. A retention policy on the site can also keep a copy of each changed file in the Preservation Hold library.

Can users still search the content of archived files?

With Microsoft 365 Archive, yes: search, eDiscovery and retention keep working because the file stays in SharePoint. Once a file's content has moved to your own Azure storage, SharePoint search and Purview see only the placeholder, not the archived copy.

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