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Microsoft Storage Hub

All Australian universities are responding to major changes in Microsoft 365 (M365) storage. Learn more about the upcoming changes across M365 tools including OneDrive, Teams and SharePoint and how to organise, reduce and manage your storage. 

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Important Update:

Microsoft Teams recordings will now automatically expire after 60 Days for Professional Staff members. 

If you require a recording of a Teams meeting for teaching, HR, compliance or operational purposes, please make sure you save the recordings. Learn more about how and when to save Teams recordings below. 

Changes to M365 Storage in 2026

From October 2026, Microsoft is reducing UNSW’s included storage capacity by 95%. Any storage held above the new limit will incur additional cost. This is an industry-wide shift and every Australian university is navigating the same challenge. Reducing unnecessary storage is something we can all contribute to as good digital citizens, and it directly reduces costs the university would otherwise carry.

To support the management of M365 storage, we have developed a range of guides and practical steps that you can take to reduce your storage footprint. You do not need technical knowledge to use these guides. 

Guides and how-to

Use the Tabs below to learn how to reduce your storage footprint. 

  • Use OneDrive to check your current usage and understand which documents are taking up the most space
  • Switch to Transcription only instead of Recording Microsoft Teams meetings
  • Only download and save MS Teams recordings that you need
  • Empty your OneDrive Recycle bin after you have deleted files

 

How to use OneDrive to check what is using up space

  1. Open the 'Largest Files in your Onedrive' webpage: To view a list of the largest files in your OneDrive, open https://unsw-mysharepoint.com/largestfiles in your preferred browser and log in using your zID and password if required.
  2. Review files: Identify files that are unneccessary such as duplicates, drafts and working papers.

    If you are unsure what files you need to keep, visit the UNSW Records & Archives Normal Administrative Practice (NAP) page and FAQs

  3. Delete files: Delete files by clicking on the three dots next to a file name. An option to delete the file will apear in the drop down. A pop up will appear to confirm the action. Select Delete to proceed.

 

How to use transcribe instead of record for MS Teams meetings

You can only record or transcribe meetings in MS Teams. You cannot record or turn on Transcription in unscheduled calls.To reduce your overall data storage footprint, we recommend using 'Transcribe only' to record meetings. 

What is a Transcription?

During a Teams meeting, you can start live transcription to capture everything being said. The transcription appears in real time as text in a pop-up box and includes each speaker's name as well as time stamps. Transcripts can be downloaded and saved once the meeting has ended to provide a record of the meeting.

Is this the same as a Recording?

No. A recording of a Microsoft Teams meeting will generate a MP4 file, which is a digital multimedia files that stores video, audio, subtitles and images in a compressed file. They are usually large files, with the most common example of these being recordings of Microsoft Teams meetings. Recordings of Microsoft Teams meetings record the video and audio elements as well as the transcription.

 

Turn on Transcribe in a Teams meeting

  1. Select More (three dot symbol) in your meeting controls.
  2. Select Record and transcribe, then select Start Transcription
  3. Confirm the Language being spoken in the meeting
  4. Everyone in the meeting will now see a pop-up banner that says the call is being transcribed.

It is encouraged that you announce to participants that Transcription has started. You can stop the transcription any time by repeating the same steps of More actions > Record and transcribe > Stop Transcription

 

How to keep a Microsoft Teams transcript

MS Teams meeting transcripts are saved into the Meeting Chat History, where you can download it as a .docx or .vtt file and save to your preferred location.

Please note that for Professional staff, recordings will automatically expire (move to the Recycle Bin) after 60 days. To keep a recording longer than 60 days you will need change the expiry date or save it in your preferred long term storage location.

  1. Select the Chat for the meeting you have Transcribed. You can do this via your chat feature in Teams, or by clicking on the meeting inside your Teams Calendar, and selecting the Chat option.
  2. In the Chat there will be a Recap once the meeting has finished.
  3. In the Recap, click on Transcript. This will open a new window.
  4. Select Download and choose between the file types:
    • .docx is a formatted text file for reading, editing and sharing
    • .vtt is designed for video captions with precise timing
  5. When you click Download, the file will appear in your 'downloads' folder. Hover over the file name and select the folder icon 'open containing folder' to show the document in your file structure.
  6. Move this document to your preferred location, this might be a folder on your computer, or into a specific folder in a Teams Channel.

 

How to keep your Microsoft Teams recording

We encourage you to use Transcription only instead of recordings where possible to reduce your storage footprint. If you need a recording for education, project, accessibility, legal or HR purposes, then you can follow the steps below to create, change the expiry date and safely save your recordings.

Please note that for Professional staff, recordings will automatically expire (move to the Recycle Bin) after 60 days. To keep a recording longer than 60 days you will need change the expiry date or save it in your preferred long term storage location.

This change to 60 day expiry does not impact Academic and teaching staff members with recordings expiring after 120days.

Start a MS Teams recording

  1. Select More (three dot symbol) in your meeting controls
  2. Select Record and transcribe, then select Start Recording
  3. Confirm the spoken language of the meeting
  4. Adjust the recording options via the drop-down menu. Remember that all recordings will include a transcript
  5. Everyone in the meeting will now see a pop-up banner that says the call is being recorded
  6. To stop the recording, end the call or repeat the same steps of More > Record and transcribe > Stop recording

 

Navigate to your meeting recording (two options)

  1. Select the Chat for the meeting you have recorded. You can do this via your chat feature in Teams, or by clicking on the meeting inside your Teams Calendar, and selecting the Chat option. 
    1. In the Chat there will be a Recap once the meeting has finished.
    2. In the Recap, click on the video in the bottom right hand side. This will open a new window.
    3. Click on the 'Watch in browser' option in the top right hand corner. This will open a new window.
       
  2. Go to your M365 app or M365.cloud.microsoft and open the apps section
    1. Select Clipchamp to open your video hub. (https://unsw.sharepoint.com/_layouts/15/videohub.aspx) 
    2. Choose the meeting recordings to view your recordings.
    3. Click on the recording heading/name.

 

Amend your MS Teams meeting recording expiry (delete) date

  1. Navigate to your meeting recording (as above)
  2. Below the video title (underneath the play back controls) are the creation date and expiry date i.e. "Expires in 86 days"
  3. Click on the expiry date and "Select a date" to choose your new expiry date.

 

Download or Move your MS Teams meeting recording

  1. Navigate to your meeting recording (as above)
  2. In the top left navigation choose Download or "Move to" and select the new long term storage location

Reminder: If you choose "Move to" then you will still need to amend the meeting recording expiry date.      

Tip: moving allows you to tick a box when choosing the location to notify your colleagues and keep their existing access! 

 

How to review and empty your OneDrive Recycle bin

Emptying your Recyle bin helps to reduce your storage footprint faster. Any document added to the Recycle bin during a deletion process will live in the active storage space for another 30 days. By emptying the Recycle bin you'll see how much storage you've saved almost immediately. 

 
  1. Open OneDrive in your browser: to access your OneDrive, open Home - OneDrive in your preferred browser and log in using your zID and password if required.
  2. Open the Recycle bin: Select the Recycle Bin option in the navigation pane on the left hand side of the window.
  3. Review your files: Make sure you are comfortable permanently deleting these files. If you are unsure what files you need to keep, visit the UNSW Records & Archives Normal Administrative Practice (NAP) page and FAQs.
  4. Empty the Recycle bin: At the top of the Recycle bin page there will be an option to Empty Recycle bin. When you click on this option, a pop up will appear to confirm the action. Select Yes to proceed.

Remember: If you have deleted files from your recycling bin that you need, you can retrieve these files from a holding zone for up to 63 days after deletion. After 63 days these files will be permanently deleted. 

 

 

How to empty your OneDrive Second-stage recycle bin

When you delete a file in OneDrive, the file goes to your Recycle bin for 30 days. If you choose to empty your Recycle bin, or these 30 days elapse, then the file will automatically move to the Second-stage recycle bin. When it is in the second-stage recycle bin, it is kept for an additional 63 days.

If you choose to empty the second stage recycle bin, storage consumed by deleted files will be released immediately (instead of the standard 63 days). This means that your reduced usage will show in reporting straight away.

  1. Open OneDrive in your browser: to access your OneDrive, open Home - OneDrive in your preferred browser and log in using your zID and password if required.
  2. Open the Recycle bin: Select the Recycle Bin option in the navigation pane on the left hand side of the window
  3. Open the Second stage recycle bin: at the far bottom of the page, there will be a small hyperlink and the text: "Can't find what you're looking for? Check the Second-stage recycle bin". Click on the hyperlink Second-stage recycle bin. 
  4. Select Empty recycle bin: Once this page loads, select Empty Recycle bin at the top of the page. When you click on this option, a pop up will appear to confirm the action. Select Yes to proceed.

Note: Depending on how many items you have in the Second-stage recycle bin, this may take some time. Do not close your browser until it is complete.

 

Looking for support with M365 file management and storage? 

IT are currently setting up drop-in sessions to provide guidance and support. In the mean time, you can log a ticket, visit a service centre hub or call the IT Service Centre.
Contact the IT Service Centre

FAQs

About the changes

  • M365 is short for Microsoft 365.

    Microsoft rebranded Office 365 into Microsoft 365. This includes applications such as OneDrive, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Outlook and OneNote.  

  • From October 2026, Microsoft is reducing UNSW’s included storage capacity by 95%. Any storage held above the new limit will incur additional cost. This is an industry-wide shift and every Australian university is navigating the same challenge. You can learn more about why Microsoft is making these changes on the Microsoft website for M365 Storage Options.

    Reducing unnecessary storage is something we can all contribute to as good digital citizens, and it directly reduces costs the university would otherwise carry.

  • No. The change in storage capacity is impacting all institutions in the Higher Education sector that have been using M365 applications and storage solutions. 

    You can learn more about why Microsoft is making these changes on the Microsoft website for M365 Storage Options.

  • No, you do not need to delete all of your files.

    What we are asking is for our UNSW community to support IT by cleaning up files and folders and removing unnecessary or outdated files such as drafts, working papers and duplicates. For more information on what you can delete, visit the UNSW Records & Archives Normal Administrative Practice (NAP) webpage.

  • Unfortunately we cannot automate the process for you.

    IT cannot scan the contents of individual files, which means we can't tell if a document is a duplicate, and we also don't know what you may or may not need!

    This means that we need you to remove any unnecessary, outdated or duplicate files yourself. Support is available via the IT Service Desk if you have any questions. 

  • What we're asking you do to is:

    1. Check your current storage usage in OneDrive and Sharepoint
    2. Look at what documents are taking up the most space
    3. Review your files and folders for any duplicates, copies, drafts or working papers.
    4. Clean up your files by organising and deleting non-record documents
    5. Empty your recycling bin once you are finished 

    For more infomration and guides on how to complete these steps, scroll up to our guides at the top of this page. 

     

    You can also help by:

    • Switching to Transcription only instead of recording Microsoft Teams meetings
    • Storing only personal work or draft documents in your OneDrive 
    • Storing project, shared and group documents in SharePoint
    • Sharing links to documents on SharePoint or OneDrive instead of attaching documents to emails

OneDrive and file management

  • There are two ways to do this: 

    1. The easiest way is to open the Largest Files in your Onedrive webpage in your preferred browser and log in using your zID and password if required.
    2. The other option is to go to the Onedrive My files page and Sort your files by File size (Descending) in each of your folders. 

  • At UNSW, a record is any information created or received during University business that provides evidence of decisions, actions, transactions, or activities.

    If you find a UNSW record in your OneDrive when you are reviewing your files, do not delete it. Visit the Records & Archives Frequently Asked Questions for more information on what to do next.

     

  • A Version History is a stored collection of previous iterations of a document. Any document saved in OneDrive or SharePoint will automatically have a Version History.

    When changes or edits occur to a document e.g. a word document, powerpoint presentation or excel spreadsheet, OneDrive saves a 'version' of the document before and after changes are made. Documents saved in OneDrive can accumulate up to 500 historical versions over time. 

    For support viewing historical versions of a file in OneDrive or SharePoint, use the Microsoft - View previous versions of office files online guide. 

    Updates to Version History Controls will be occurring as part of the M365 storage changes and will be communicated shortly. 

    At UNSW, versions that have minor changes such as edits to grammar can be deleted. If a version has a major change such as a significant decision or change in direction, then this version is considered a record. At UNSW, we are required by the NSW State Records Act 1998, opens in a new window, to make and keep records of activities. This Act sets out the conditions for managing these records, including when and how to lawfully destroy them. For more information on how to keep or destroy records, visit the Records & Archives Frequently asked questions webpage. 

  • Sharing a link to a document creates a single central version of a file instead of multiple copies sitting in inboxes and download folders.

    We recommend where possible to Share a link to documents instead of attaching a document to your email or MS Teams message.  

  • It can be easy to mix up OneDrive and SharePoint as they do look quite similar, and both applications are used for storing and sharing documents. 

     

    What is OneDrive?

    Microsoft OneDrive is an individual storage space for personal work files, such as draft documents, notes, working files or temporary collaboration. These files are owned by an individual account within UNSW.

    • You can share files from your OneDrive with other people
    • However, other people cannot access your OneDrive folders or files without your permission

    Examples of files on OneDrive include:

    • Draft documents 
    • Initial research before collaboration
    • Personal notes

    For more information setting up and using OneDrive, head over to the myIT Microsoft OneDrive page. 

     

      What is SharePoint?

      SharePoint is a group storage space designed for teams such as schools, faculties and projects. Unlike OneDrive, files that are stored in SharePoint belong to a particular team or area, instead of an individual.

      • Files can be accessed by anyone who is included in the SharePoint group
      • Files can be shared outside of the group
      • People outside of the group cannot see the SharePoint files and folders unless you make the group public

      Examples of files on SharePoint include:

      • Share department documents
      • Official policies
      • Useful resources
      • Project and team documentation
      • Intranet pages

       

      What is Microsoft Teams (MS Teams)?

      Microsoft Teams is a collaboration application that uses both storage spaces. You can think of MS Teams like the front counter of a Post Office, while OneDrive and SharePoint are two storage areas behind the counter. If you think of different files as different items that you are requesting (e.g. letters, parcels, larger packages), the Microsoft Teams is the Post office staff, running to fetch the different items. This all happens behind the scenes so you often don't notice where the file is stored. 

      When you create a new Team in MS Teams, you will automatically create a SharePoint site for that group, where any shared files will be stored.

      For more information on using MS Teams, visit the myIT Using Microsoft Teams page. 

    • IT are working with ResTech to identify best practice for Research storage on OneDrive in light of the new storage changes. IT and ResTech will communicate directly to researchers if there are any changes that may impact Researchers and their data.

      If you have urgent questions about Research data storage, please email the ResTech team via RDM@UNSW.edu.au. 

      However, if you have any duplicate files or old versions then now is a great time to clean up your folders. 

    Microsoft Teams recordings

    • Previously, when you recorded a MS Teams meeting, the recording and transcript were kept on file for 120 days. We're now reducing that timeframe down to 60 days. 

      Once 60 days has passed, the recordings will expire and move to the relevant Recycle bin where they are kept for another 30 days before being deleted. If you need to keep a recording, please scroll up to view our guide on Recording and Storing MS Teams meetings for how to find a download a recording. 

      This shorter retention period for MS Teams recordings means that storage is not used up for months at a time holding un-used recordings. 

      Transcripts are now encouraged instead of recordings due to their lower storage requirements, and in many cases, are equally useful as recordings. Transcripts are effective for decision making, reporting, and can be easily used by AI to generate summaries and meeting notes. 

      For more information on how to use Transcription, scroll back up to our guide on Recording and Storing MS Teams meetings. 

    • Recording retention depends on your role:

      • Professional staff: 60 days

      • Academic staff: 120 days

    • Thank you for using transcription instead of recording! This dramatically reduces our storage footprint. 

      A handy guide is on this webpage, simply scroll up and click on the tab labelled Recording and Storing MS Teams Meetings and follow the steps.

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