Dataverse Storage Capacity Exceeded (Customer FAQ)

Information on what to do if your storage capacity is exceeded

Overview

You may receive notifications from Microsoft indicating that your Dataverse storage capacity has been exceeded.

This is a common outcome as your system grows, particularly where large volumes of emails, activities, attachments, and audit data are stored over time.

I received a "Dataverse storage capacity exceeded" message

You may see a message similar to:

"Functionality and data loss expected. Your organization has exceeded its allocated Dataverse storage capacity. Delete unneeded data and contact your IT department to request more storage space."

This message is generated by Microsoft when your Dataverse environment exceeds its allocated storage capacity.

Although the wording can appear alarming, most environments continue to operate normally for day-to-day use. However, Microsoft may restrict certain administrative actions and expects organisations to remain within their licensed storage entitlement.

The remainder of this guide explains what the notification means, how to identify what is consuming storage, and the options available to resolve it.

Example Microsoft notification displayed when Dataverse storage capacity has been exceeded.

Why am I seeing this notification now?

Microsoft has been increasing enforcement of Dataverse storage limits over time.

  • These notifications are part of that enforcement.
  • You are seeing them because your usage has now exceeded your allocated capacity.
  • This is typically caused by gradual data growth over time rather than a sudden issue.

Will this affect my users?

In most cases, no. Existing environments continue to function for normal day-to-day operations even when capacity has been exceeded.

However, Microsoft expects customers to remain within their licensed entitlement and may change enforcement policies over time.

The restrictions listed below reflect Microsoft's published behaviour as of June 2026 and may change without notice.

When over capacity, certain platform actions are restricted:

  • Create a new environment (requires a minimum of 1 GB available capacity)
  • Copy an environment
  • Restore an environment
  • Convert a trial environment to a paid environment (requires a minimum of 1 GB available capacity)
  • Recover an environment (requires a minimum of 1 GB available capacity)
  • Add Dataverse database capacity to an environment

Microsoft may introduce additional restrictions in the future and expects customers to remain within their licensed capacity entitlement at all times.

What is using my storage?

Dataverse storage consumption is typically driven by:

  • Email and activity records
  • Attachments and notes
  • Audit history
  • Custom tables storing large volumes of data
  • Additional sandbox or unused environments

You can review your storage usage in the Power Platform Admin Centre:

https://admin.powerplatform.microsoft.com/billing/licenses/dataverse/overview

This will show how your capacity is being consumed across Database, File, and Log storage.

If you need help interpreting the results or understanding what is driving growth in your environment, please log a support case.

What are my options to resolve this?

1. Clean up data

Look for opportunities to remove data you no longer need:

  • Remove old sandbox environments that are no longer required
  • Run bulk deletion jobs to remove low-value historical data
  • Review audit retention settings. Audit history can consume significant storage, particularly in long-running systems where retention has been set to "Forever"

2. Archive data

For organisations experiencing ongoing growth, archiving is often the most predictable long-term approach.

Mercury Archive can move selected historical activity data out of Dataverse storage while maintaining access when required. This can help manage growth more effectively and provide a more predictable cost model.

👉 View Mercury Archive Overview

3. Increase storage capacity

If data has already been cleaned up and archived where appropriate, additional capacity may be required.

Microsoft offers additional Database, File, and Log capacity add-ons that can be purchased separately.

As well as purchasing Database, File and Log storage, you can also increase your tenant's included Dataverse database capacity from 30 GB to 45 GB by purchasing a single Dynamics 365 Sales Premium licence through Mercury.

Contact your Customer Success Manager for information on this option and available Mercury customer discounts.

Microsoft Documentation

For further information on Dataverse storage management and enforcement:

Next Steps

If you're receiving these notifications, the best approach is to review your storage usage and agree a plan early.

👉 Contact your Customer Success Manager

We can help you:

  • Analyse your storage usage and identify the primary drivers of growth
  • Recommend quick wins to reduce capacity consumption
  • Advise on clean-up versus archive strategies
  • Review licensing and capacity options
  • Identify the most cost-effective approach for your organisation

Taking action early can help avoid future restrictions and keep storage costs under control.

Have any feedback on this article? Let us know or ask the Community if you need more help.