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Versioning Settings

Versioning settings control how SharePoint keeps the history of your files. With versioning on, every change is saved as a version you can compare or restore, giving you a reliable safety net - though each version counts against your storage. By default a library keeps the last 500 versions (the range is 100 to 50,000), and you can choose how versions are retained - manually, manually with an expiration period, or automatically - at the tenant, site, or library level.
Related Features
Check-In/Check-Out, Co-Authoring, List, Version History

Common Use Cases

  • Recover edits: restoring a file to an earlier version
  • Control storage: capping versions on large, frequently edited files
  • Automatic pruning: letting SharePoint remove insignificant versions
  • Tenant standards: setting a default retention rule for new sites
  • Library tuning: a stricter or looser limit on a specific library
  • OneDrive: applying the same controls to a personal library

Benefits

  • Safety net: mistakes can be rolled back to an earlier version
  • Storage control: retention options stop versions consuming endless space
  • Automatic option: let SharePoint prune insignificant versions for you
  • Flexible scope: configure at the tenant, site, or library level
  • Predictable: clear rules for how many versions are kept and for how long
  • Foundation: powers version history, content approval, and append-changes

How It Works

  • Three retention modes: choose Manual with no time limit (versions accumulate to a maximum you set, such as 500), Manual with a time limit (older versions are deleted after a set period, on top of the maximum), or Automatic (SharePoint prunes less significant versions, the option Microsoft recommends)
  • Default is 500: a new library keeps up to 500 versions of each file until you change it
  • Count range: the maximum can be set anywhere from 100 to 50,000
  • Current version is protected: the latest version is never deleted under any retention option
  • Three configuration levels: set limits at the tenant level in the SharePoint admin center, the site level through PowerShell, or the library level in the library’s versioning settings
  • Lowest level wins: a library setting overrides the site, which overrides the tenant
  • Settings flow down: tenant defaults inherit to site and then to library, and tenant changes apply to newly created sites and libraries rather than existing ones

Limits and Nuances

  • Libraries only: these settings apply to document libraries and site pages libraries, not lists
  • Tenant changes are forward-looking: existing sites and libraries are not retroactively changed
  • Lowest level wins: library settings override site and tenant settings
  • Latest version is protected: the current version is never deleted
  • Retention overrides: a retention policy takes precedence over versioning settings
  • Library expiration is not retroactive: a new library limit applies only to versions created after the change

Common Questions About the Versioning Settings

What are the three ways to manage version history in SharePoint?

Modern SharePoint offers three retention options. Manual with no time limit accumulates versions up to a maximum you set, such as 500, and is the default. Manual with a time limit also deletes versions older than a period you specify. Automatic lets SharePoint remove older, less significant versions using an internal algorithm, and it is the option Microsoft recommends because it balances history against storage automatically.

Where can I configure version settings?

You can set them at three levels. The tenant level lives in the SharePoint admin center under Version history limits and applies to newly created sites and libraries. The site level is currently configured through PowerShell and applies to all libraries on a site. The library level is set in a library versioning settings and applies to that single library. When they differ, the lowest level wins, so a library setting overrides the site and tenant.

How many versions does SharePoint keep by default?

By default, a document library keeps the last 500 versions of each file, and those versions do not expire under the default manual option. You can change the maximum, which can range from a minimum of 100 up to a maximum of 50,000. This is a big improvement over earlier versions, when controls were far more limited and you could not reduce the count as freely.

Which retention option does Microsoft recommend?

Microsoft recommends the Automatic option. Instead of keeping a flat number of versions forever, Automatic uses an algorithm that weighs how significant each version is and removes older, less important ones. For example, if a file gained 200 versions two years ago and only a few recently, most of those older versions would be pruned, keeping meaningful history while reclaiming storage.

Do versioning settings apply to lists?

No. These version history settings apply to document libraries and to site pages libraries, but not to lists. They also apply to OneDrive, since a personal OneDrive is simply a private document library, and you configure it through the library versioning settings in the same way. A couple of other nuances matter too: the current version is never deleted, and an applied retention policy overrides the versioning settings.

How should I configure versioning settings?

Match the setting to the content and let storage guide you. Greg Zelfond, the consultant behind LookBook 365, generally favors the Automatic option that Microsoft recommends, since it preserves the versions that matter while quietly trimming the ones that do not. For libraries holding very large or constantly edited files, a sensible limit or expiration prevents version history from silently consuming a tenant storage allocation.