The unchecked proliferation of file versions has long been a silent consumer of storage and a hidden compliance risk in SharePoint Online. This challenge is amplified exponentially when dealing with large media files, specifically audio and video. A 500MB video, updated just twenty times, can consume 10 GB of storage.
So, from mid-December 2025, SharePoint Online will introduce file-type-specific version expiration policies for audio and video files.
This introduces granular, file-type-specific controls to automate the lifecycle of these storage-intensive media versions!
Manage Versions for Audio & Video Files in SharePoint Online
Media files behave very differently from Office documents. Videos and audio files are often replaced entirely rather than incrementally edited, yet SharePoint still stores full versions every time. Over time, this leads to version sprawl, unexpected storage growth, and inconsistent governance across sites.
This update addresses a real operational gap: we can now define expiration rules specifically for audio and video files, rather than treating all file types uniformly. The goal is not to remove versioning, but to make it predictable and storage-aware.
Detailed Info Regarding Version History
Microsoft is delivering this capability primarily through new parameters within the familiar SharePoint Online Management Shell cmdlets. This layered approach at the Tenant, Site, and Document Library levels gives maximum flexibility for governance that ranges from a broad organizational policy to highly specialized library configurations.
With this update, admins can:
- Apply file-type-specific version expiration policies for audio and video files.
- Define maximum retained versions or time-based expiration periods.
- Enable auto-trim behavior to clean up older versions.
- Override policies at the tenant, site, or document library level.
- Run trimming jobs to reclaim storage from existing versions.
Policies apply forward by default. Existing versions are only affected if trimming or sync jobs are explicitly run.
- This capability is scheduled for General Availability worldwide, with rollout beginning in mid-December 2025 and completing by mid-January 2026.
- It applies to SharePoint Online sites and document libraries that store audio or video content.
The feature is managed entirely through PowerShell and requires SharePoint Online Management Shell version 16.0.26712.12000 or later.
Manage Version Expiration for your Organization:
The Set-SPOTenant now allows setting the organizational default for all new sites and libraries. This is the simplest way to establish a baseline governance standard for media versions across the tenant.
New parameters include FileTypesForVersionExpiration and RemoveVersionExpirationFileTypeOverride
To configure a tenant-level override that automatically applies version history limits to video and audio file types across all newly created document libraries.
Set-SPOTenant -EnableAutoExpirationVersionTrim $true -FileTypesForVersionExpiration @("Video", "Audio")
The -FileTypesForVersionExpiration parameter takes an array of strings, giving you the choice to govern “Video”, “Audio”, or both. You can check the current policy using the Get-SPOTenant cmdlet and examining the new VersionPolicyFileTypeOverride property.
Site-level Version Expiration Controls in SharePoint
For sites that house critical media (like a dedicated corporate training portal), you might need a more generous policy than the tenant default. A marketing video library and a legal evidence repository have very different requirements.
New parameters: FileTypesForVersionExpiration, RemoveVersionExpirationFileTypeOverride.
To set up a policy that keeps up to 500 versions of audio and video files, without automatically deleting older versions based on time. Older versions will only be removed when the version limit is exceeded. This policy will automatically apply to all new document libraries on the site.
Set-SPOSite -Identity https://zava.sharepoint.com/sites/test
-EnableAutoExpirationVersionTrim $false
-MajorVersionLimit 500
-ExpireVersionsAfterDays 30
-FileTypesForVersionExpiration @("Video", "Audio")
-ApplyToNewDocumentLibraries
Document Library-Level Version Expiration Controls in SharePoint Online
The most precise control comes at the library level using Set-SPOListVersionPolicy. This is ideal for specific libraries where unique media workflows demand a different version retention strategy. For the most granular control, policies can be applied directly at the document library level.
- Set-SPOListVersionPolicy
New parameters include FileTypes, Sync, and RemoveVersionExpirationFileTypeOverride
To enable automatic version history expiration for video and audio files in the “Documents” document library, so older versions are trimmed automatically based on the library’s version policy:
Set-SPOListVersionPolicy `
-Site https://zava.sharepoint.com/sites/test`
-List "Documents" `
-EnableAutoExpirationVersionTrim $true `
-FileTypes @("Video", "Audio")
Managing Version Policy Jobs
A key administrative task is ensuring the new policy addresses the pre-existing version sprawl. New policies only apply forward by default. To retroactively enforce a policy and reclaim storage, you must run a dedicated job.
For that, SharePoint introduces dedicated job cmdlets:
- New-SPOSiteManageVersionPolicyJob
- Get-SPOSiteManageVersionPolicyJobProgress
- Remove-SPOSiteManageVersionPolicyJob
These jobs synchronize policies across libraries and can apply expiration logic retroactively when required.
You can monitor the progress of this asynchronous job with Get-SPOSiteManageVersionPolicyJobProgress.
Compliance and Retention Considerations
This feature is storage-focused, not compliance-bypassing. Microsoft Purview retention policies and legal holds always take precedence. If a file or site is under retention or hold, version expiration and trimming jobs will not delete protected versions.
Admins should review existing retention configurations to avoid unexpected conflicts, especially in regulated environments.
To prepare:
- Install the latest SharePoint Online Management Shell
- Identify media-heavy sites and libraries
- Decide where tenant-wide defaults make sense and where overrides are needed
- Communicate clearly to site owners that older versions may be deleted
- Test all cmdlets and trimming jobs in non-production first
Finally, we have got programmatic control to manage file versions for your largest media assets!
