SharePoint Outer Limits: SharePoint 2013 & Office 365 File Library List Limits

A Spooky Halloween Post for you…

Office 365 really has made some impact to how we look at setting limits to support larger files, more sites, larger videos, and more file types.   I felt it was important to revisit these classic file and folder restrictions. There appear to be so many random blog posts, KB articles, and TechNet articles, and MSDN articles. I decided I’d try to put the data all in one place.  Note this is subject to change, so be sure to verify anything you read here.

I highly recommend architects start planning for a minimum of 5GB My Sites and Sky Drive Pro.  We really need to start planning for 25GB SkyDrive Pro on-premises to compete with the improvements in the online services in order to compete with the online service.  If you’re going to do this… seriously consider external storage systems.  There are some great very cheap solutions.

Office 365 limits to SharePoint Online & SkyDrive Pro:

• Single file upload: 2 GB and expanded support for a broader range of file types. (increased file upload limit from 250MB and is by default 50MB on-premises often increased by admins to 100 or 200MB)
• # of total Site collections per tenant: 10,000 and list lookup threshold to 12 lookups. (was 3,000)
• File retention: 90 day recycle bin retention duration with turning versioning on by default for new SkyDrive Pro libraries. (by default 30 days on-premises with versioning off)

Notes:

“We just significantly increased the default SkyDrive Pro storage per user, from 7 GB to 25 GB, with the ability to further increase to 50 GB or 100 GB. To complement this, we’re also increasing the per file upload limit, from 250 MB to 2 GB. Users will now be able to upload and share larger files like CAD drawings, video files, larger project documents and more-both to their personal SkyDrive Pro and to team site document libraries. And it is possible to upload more than one file at a time via drag and drop, the standard file upload dialog box or via SkyDrive Pro Sync for Windows.”

SharePoint Online Blocked File Types

Blocked Files Updated:

SharePoint Online now accepts a broader range of file types, specifically .exe and .dll. See the list below.

Blocked file types for SharePoint Online Note this is a much smaller list than on-premises listed at the bottom of this post.

FYI: The updated 10/31/2013 reduced list of blocked file types cannot be changed for a SharePoint Online site.

FILE EXTENSION	FILE TYPE
.ashx	ASP.NET Web handler file. Web handlers are software modules that handle raw HTTP requests received by ASP.NET.
.asmx	ASP.NET Web Services source file
.asp	Active Server Pages
.aspq	Active Server Pages
.axd	ASP.NET source file
.cshtm	ASP.NET web page
.chtml	ASP.NET web page
.json	JavaScript Object Notation file
.rem	Blackberry Encrypted Data file
.shtm	HTML file that contains server-side directives
.shtml	HTML file that contains server-side directives
.soap	Simple Object Access Protocol file
.stm	HTML file that contains server-side directives
.svc	Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) service file
.vbhtm	ASP.NET Razor web page
.vbhtml	ASP.NET Razor web page
.xamlx	Visual Studio Workflow service file
FEATURE	DESCRIPTION
Storage per user (contributes to total storage base of tenant)	500 megabytes (MB) per subscribed user.
Site collection quota limit	Up to 100 GB per site collection.SharePoint admins can set storage limits for site collections and sites. The minimum storage allocation per site collection is 24MB.
Total available tenant storage	10 GB + 500 MB per user.For example, if you have 10 users, the base storage allocation is 15 GB (10 GB + 500 MB * 10 users).Up to a maximum of 100 GB. Additional storage for Small Business plans is not yet available.
Personal site storage	25 GB per user, as soon as provisioned.This amount is counted separately, and does not add to or subtract from the overall storage allocation for a tenant. Personal site storage applies to a user’s SkyDrive Pro library and personal newsfeed. For more information, see Additional information about SkyDrive Pro limits.
Public Website storage default	5 GBA SharePoint admin can allocate up to 100 GB (the limit for a site collection).
File upload limit	2 GB per file.
Number of users	1 – 25 users
Maximum number of external users invitees	Up to 500 unique external users in the directory (external users who have accepted sharing invitations).What is an external user?

“When reviewing the information on the previous table, remember that the base storage limits for Office 365 for Small Business (10 GB + 500 MB per subscribed user) will affect some of these values. For example, although SharePoint Online for Small Business imposes a limit of 100 GB per site collection, your particular tenant might not have enough storage available to contain a site collection of 100 GB.”

Site, Folder and File Name Restrictions

KB Article 905231 I’ve added some additional symbols and recommendations.

• Site Names
  • Not Allowed: | # { } % & <TAB>” ~ + / : * ? ” < >
  • Avoid starting sites with an underscore (_) or with the period character.
  • Site names can cause confusion and corruption if they have periods, apostrophes or commas
  • They should not have consecutive periods or end with a period.
    • You cannot use the period character at the end of a site name
  • Many other symbols are not recommended such as $^()-_=+[]`! (other international currency symbols and international symbols should be avoided in site names, but some are more acceptable in file names. Ascii is preferred when possible.
• Folder Names and File Names
  • Do not use: ” # % & * : < > ? / { | } ~
  • File names cannot be longer than 128 characters
  • Do not use the period character consecutively in the middle of a file name.  For example, “file..name.docx” is invalid.
  • You cannot use the period character at the end of a file name
  • You cannot start a file name with the period character
  • Many other symbols are not recommended such as $^()-_=+[]`! (other international currency symbols and international symbols should be avoided in site names, but some are more acceptable in file names. Ascii is preferred when possible.
• In addition, file names and folder names may not end with: (Many of these are international symbols)
  • .files, _files , -Dateien , _fichiers , _bestanden , _file ,_archivos ,-filer,_tiedostot ,_pliki ,_soubory ,_elemei , _arquivos ,_dosyalar ,_datoteke ,_fitxers,_fails ,_bylos ,_fajlovi,_fitxategiak

Examples of Legal File Names

• AllItems.docx
• Dept_1234.doc
• Long.Name.With.Dots.txt

Examples of Illegal Site Names

• Intranet/sites/People & Process
• Intranet/sites/My Math is 10% Here
• Intranet/sites/_foobar
• Intranet/sites/#FAIL
• Intranet/sites/Jimmy+Bean

Examples of illegal file names:

• HailCæsar.wav.
• Wow…BadStuff.txt
• 揵.htm
• Roger&Hamerstein.mp3
• WhatsUp?.doc

Note that windows may let you save filenames that SharePoint won’t support uploading. Sometimes you’re even allowed to upload it through the explorer view, and it will block you from the web interface.  If a file that’s uploaded prior to the file extension being blocked you will be unable to download the file.

File and Folder name lengths

• Link list items are restricted to 256 characters and will truncate links to SharePoint documents (or anything else) with lengths longer than this.
• When storing files the structure and files (entire path including sites, folders, and file name) cannot add up to more than 260 characters or they will see an error message or form validation error with the explanation around the URL length.

When using multi file upload interface: Make sure the total size of all your files is not greater than the upload limit set for your web application.

NOTE: This is now different for SharePoint 2013/SharePoint Online.  Now you can drag and drop many files over the limit.  The interface may time out, and a page refresh should reflect what was upgraded.  A failure may or may not display depending on the interface timeout.

File Size Maximums

Max File Size Default: 50MB Maximum setting: 2GB (per file NOTE: 2GB is the new SkyDrive Pro limit)

List data: Max of 8kb of data

200 MB is what I recommend for most typical environments as a great compromise, but don’t recommend more than 500MB for most environments without External or Remote Blob storage.

(If you set it to 0 or 2047 MB, it will be the same as 2GB file.) Realistically a few hundred MB is really all you can get, unless you have fast LAN access. MS is now supporting 2GB.  Be sure to do some testing before setting this as the limit in your on-premises environment.

NOTE: I understand that even if you use RBS or Remote Blob Storage and most third parties, you still can’t support files over 2GB, but you’ll have to check with your vendor.

Note:

Each Web Application contains a list of blocked file types that is based on file name extensions. For example, you can block files that have the .exe extension. By default, many file types are blocked, including file types that are treated as executable by Internet Explorer. Files, whose names include braces, (for example, filename.{doc}) are also blocked by default.

Blocked File Types SharePoint 2013

Here are a few file types I typically remove from the blocked file list below: URL, LNK, CHM, HLP (if you want you can make the blocked list consistent with the online list)

I often add .MP3, PST, OST, and sometimes MP4. Some will add .ZIP, but I recommend allowing the .zip, arj, rar, etc… file as a common mechanism for compressing lots of files into a single file.

On-Premises SharePoint 2013 Blocked File Types

File name extension	File type
.ade	Microsoft Access project extension
.adp	Microsoft Access project
.app	Application file
.asa	ASP declarations file
.ashx	ASP.NET Web handler file. Web handlers are software modules that handle raw HTTP requests received by ASP.NET.
.asmx	ASP.NET Web Services source file
.asp	Active Server Pages
.bas	Microsoft Visual Basic class module
.bat	Batch file
.cdx	Compound index
.cer	Certificate file
.chm	Compiled HTML Help file
.class	Java class file
.cmd	Windows NT command script
.com	Microsoft MS-DOS program
.config	Configuration file
.cpl	Control Panel extension
.crt	Security certificate
.csh	Script file
.dll	Windows dynamic-link library
.exe	Program
.fxp	Microsoft Visual FoxPro compiled program
.hlp	Help file
.hta	HTML program
.htr	Script file
.htw	HTML document
.ida	Internet Information Services file
.idc	Internet database connector file
.idq	Internet data query file
.ins	Internet Naming Service
.isp	Internet Communication settings
.its	Internet Document Set file
.jse	JScript Encoded script file
.ksh	Korn Shell script file
.lnk	Shortcut
.mad	Shortcut
.maf	Shortcut
.mag	Shortcut
.mam	Shortcut
.maq	Shortcut
.mar	Shortcut
.mas	Microsoft Access stored procedure
.mat	Shortcut
.mau	Shortcut
.mav	Shortcut
.maw	Shortcut
.mda	Microsoft Access add-in program
.mdb	Microsoft Access program
.mde	Microsoft Access MDE database
.mdt	Microsoft Access data file
.mdw	Microsoft Access workgroup
.mdz	Microsoft Access wizard program
.msc	Microsoft Common Console document
.msh	Microsoft Agent script helper
.msh1	Microsoft Agent script helper
.msh1xml	Microsoft Agent script helper
.msh2	Microsoft Agent script helper
.msh2xml	Microsoft Agent script helper
.mshxml	Microsoft Agent script helper
.msi	Windows Installer package
.msp	Windows Installer update package file
.mst	Visual Test source files
.ops	Microsoft Office profile settings file
.pcd	Photo CD image or Microsoft Visual Test compiled script
.pif	Shortcut to MS-DOS program
.prf	System file
.prg	Program source file
.printer	Printer file
.pst	Microsoft Outlook personal folder file
.reg	Registration entries
.rem	ACT! database maintenance file
.scf	Windows Explorer command file
.scr	Screen saver
.sct	Script file
.shb	Windows shortcut
.shs	Shell Scrap object
.shtm	HTML file that contains server-side directives
.shtml	HTML file that contains server-side directives
.soap	Simple Object Access Protocol file
.stm	HTML file that contains server-side directives
.url	Uniform Resource Locator (Internet shortcut)
.vb	Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition file
.vbe	VBScript Encoded Script file
.vbs	VBScript file
.ws	Windows Script file
.wsc	Windows Script Component
.wsf	Windows Script file
.wsh	Windows Script Host settings file