Archive SharePoint files without taking them away from users

ShArc moves inactive SharePoint files to your own Azure storage while keeping them visible and accessible in SharePoint. End users restore any file in one click, in seconds.

IT previews and controls what gets archived before any file moves. Storage costs drop by at least 61% in typical scenarios. Talk to an expert and see ShArc live, or calculate your savings.

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A corporation kept every file reachable through a large SharePoint migration

Savings of 60% on SharePoint storage costs even during a full migration to SharePoint Online.

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Ergobaby saved 61% on SharePoint extra storage and reduced IT support tickets

Automating archiving and uninterrupted user access make work much easier. This even results in cost savings of around 61%.

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Zooplus freed up 20TB of SharePoint data without loosing a byte

Reduction of on-site storage by 20 TB, without sacrificing instant data accessibility.

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Your storage costs per year

You have two options to maximize your SharePoint storage: purchasing additional storage in SharePoint or utilizing your Azure Blob Storage.

15TB extra SharePoint Online storage per month cost per year: $37,800

Move your SharePoint data to Azure Blob Storage and save at least 61% with ShArc

Including server costs, storage costs and the costs for ShArc you pay $14,223 SharePoint storage costs when storing your data smartly and cost-effectively in Azure Blob Storage. With our tool ShArc you can keep your data in Microsoft and automatically transfer data from SharePoint Online to Azure. On our pricing page you can see a complete calculation example.

Your savings don't change how a single person works. Files stay visible in SharePoint, and restores stay self-service.

Rapidly increasing storage costs

SharePoint's default storage allocation is quickly exhausted as businesses scale, and the cost of additional storage is steep. Many companies are paying thousands of dollars annually just to keep their data accessible, limiting their ability to allocate resources to more critical IT needs.

Meet ShArc—and optimize your SharePoint storage costs

Efficiently reduce your SharePoint storage costs by archiving data to Azure Blob Storage, all while maintaining access and control.

Start with ShArc if you need:

Uninterrupted end user access

Files stay visible in SharePoint, Teams, and OneDrive. Users restore any archived file with one click.

Savings of 61% on storage costs

Benefit from the low priced storage in Azure Blob Storage. Minimize your SharePoint costs and save at least 61%.

Extended SharePoint storage

Never run out of SharePoint storage. Ensure scalability of your storage capacities.

Set up in minutes

Integrate Azure Blob Storage with SharePoint and define your archiving rules.

Advanced security

Archived files never leave your own Azure tenant, under your existing security policies. For your security we use APIs like Graph.

Higher productivity

Focus on important tasks. No more worries about limited storage capacities or data access.

Features

✓ Direct user access: let users restore archived data through familiar SharePoint interface with one click

✓ IT keeps full control: analyze, simulate, and preview every policy before a single file moves

✓ High security: your data stays in the Microsoft environment, based on your security policies

✓ Automatic archiving: set up archiving rules for your data, based on size, last access and more

✓ Smart reporting: keep an eye on your data and create your reports with one click

✓ Intuitive dashboard: keep an eye on storage limits, react early and provide the necessary storage capacities

✓ Simple configuration: set up and configure archiving rules and policy management in minutes

✓ Automated notifications: get information about successful archiving or issues in real time through Azure Alerts

ShArc in comparison with Microsoft Archive

ShArc

Microsoft Archive

Control

Policy-based, automated/scheduled

More limited control

Granularity

File-level via policies, plus full sites and libraries

File-level (user-driven) or full-site archiving

Restore experience

Users keep working as usual and restore files in one click, without involving IT

Often requires IT to reactivate content

Restore speed

Immediate access, files are back in seconds

From a few minutes to 24 hours

Re-archiving

Works without delays

Locked for 120-days after restore

More than 35 years of Microsoft expertise

More than 3,200 companies around the world trust us as a market-leading provider for integration, synchronization and archiving software. We are certified as a Microsoft Modern Work Solution Partner, rated 4.5 stars on Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp.

Our tool ShArc is build to reduce SharePoint storage costs without slowing users down.

Microsoft Modern Work Solution Partner

More than 750,000+ active users

Since 1991

Made in Hamburg, Germany

Frequently asked questions

Here we answer the most frequently asked questions about ShArc.

What is the primary use case for ShArc? ShArc is designed to reduce SharePoint Online storage costs by offloading infrequently used or large files to Azure Blob Storage. These files remain visible and accessible in SharePoint and can be restored on a file level by end users when needed, while no longer consuming expensive SharePoint storage. This allows organizations to significantly lower ongoing storage costs without impacting user workflows.

Can end users still access files after they have been archived? Yes. Archived files remain visible in SharePoint and can be restored by end users using the one-click retrieval feature. From a user perspective, the file behaves like a normal SharePoint file and can be accessed without additional tools or training.

Will users notice when a file is archived? No, users will not notice when a file is archived. The file stays in the same SharePoint library, with the same name, folder, and permissions. Users see a small restore option, nothing else changes.

Does IT have to restore files for users? No. IT doesn't have to restore files for users. Users restore their own files in one click from SharePoint, without creating an IT ticket. IT only steps in for bulk restores of a whole site, library, or folder.

Can archived files still be found via search or used by Copilot? Metadata such as file name, properties, and custom columns remain searchable in SharePoint. However, the file content itself is not indexed while the file is stored in Azure Blob Storage, meaning full-text search and Copilot content analysis are currently limited to metadata only. Further options in this area are being evaluated for future releases.

Does Layer2 have access to customer data stored by ShArc? No. Layer2 does not have access to customer files or content. All data remains within the customer’s tenant and Azure subscription. Only limited telemetry information, such as archived and restore statistics, is collected for operational and product improvement purposes.

How much cost savings can be expected with ShArc? In most environments, 60 to 80 percent of SharePoint data qualifies as cold data. Customers typically achieve average storage cost reductions of around 60 percent, with higher savings possible depending on data volume, growth rate, and the configured minimum file age and minimum file size used for offloading.

Is there a limit to how much data ShArc can archive? There is no hard limit on the amount of data that can be archived with ShArc. Archiving large volumes of data is supported and primarily limited by SharePoint and Azure throughput, meaning larger datasets may require more time to complete.

Archive SharePoint files without taking them away from users

Read how our customers reduce SharePoint storage costs without taking files away from users

A corporation kept every file reachable through a large SharePoint migration

Ergobaby saved 61% on SharePoint extra storage and reduced IT support tickets

Zooplus freed up 20TB of SharePoint data without loosing a byte

Your storage costs per year

Move your SharePoint data to Azure Blob Storage and save at least 61% with ShArc

Rapidly increasing storage costs

Meet ShArc—and optimize your SharePoint storage costs

Trusted by IT teams who don't want to slow their users down

Start with ShArc if you need:

Features

How ShArc works

ShArc in comparison with Microsoft Archive

What ShArc offers compared to other providers

More than 35 years of Microsoft expertise

See how users get files back in seconds

Book a live demo with our experts: watch one-click restore for end users, how IT keeps full control, and how storage costs drop by at least 61% in typical scenarios.

Frequently asked questions