Microsoft Teams Sprawl: A Complete Guide to Find & Fix Teams, SharePoint, and MS 365 Group Sprawl

“Microsoft Teams Sprawl, or SharePoint Sprawl, is an outcome of too many inactive, duplicate Teams and sites piling up for a long period.”

It generally happens when teams are created without any supervision or rules. Leading to extra efforts to find the right file, sensitive data in the wrong workspaces, or hidden IT costs, etc

However, you will notice that many blogs offering solutions claim that it’s just a digital mess. Indeed, it is, but it’s more of a systematic architectural issue.

So, how to find and fix MS Teams/SharePoint sprawl? Simply practice the guidelines mentioned in this complete guide, and you’re ready for action!

How to Fix Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Microsoft 365 Group Sprawl? Prevent Workspace Sprawls!

Fixing MS Teams sprawl or SharePoint Sprawl requires a systemic cleanup. It is not all about wiping out the inactive teams and sites. So, do not delete everything at once on a whim. First, move team channels from another team, and then follow the IT checklist below to regain control.

Step 1: Find the Inactivity (Using M365 Usage Reports)

M365 Usage Reports act as a super-effective GPS to find the inactive workspaces (Teams/SharePoint/MS 365 groups). Admins can use the potential of the Microsoft 365 Admin Center to track usage metrics up to 180 days.

So, to access the respective reports,

1. Go to the Microsoft 365 Admin >> Reports >> Usage.
2. View Teams user activity and Teams usage reports.
3. Select the Teams with no recent chat messages, channel posts, or meetings.
4. View the SharePoint Site usage report >> filter out the inactive sites.
5. Lastly, hit Export. It will create a CSV spreadsheet listing all the static sites and channels for filtering.

Step 2: Identify Ghost Teams and Empty Channels

Ghost Teams are the teams with no active owners. Identifying ghost teams and empty channels is the next step to prevent Microsoft Teams Sprawl. Here are the two promising methods to find the Ghost Teams and manage teams in Microsoft Teams.

Via M365 Admin Center:

1. Go to Teams Admin center >> Teams >> Manage Teams.
2. Sort the list by the Owners Column. It will highlight the team with zero owners.

Via PowerShell:

1. Navigate to Teams Admin Center >> click & open Cloud Shell Icon (>_) in the top right corner.
2. Select PowerShell >> enter Get-Team. To make the results more precise, apply a filter with it.

To detect empty channels:

1. Open the SharePoint admin center >> click Active Sites.
2. Apply Storage Used (MB) to filter the site collections.

Sites displaying 0 MB or near-zero data are the empty channels you’re looking for!

Step 3: Archiving vs. Deleting

Archiving or deleting the inactive Teams, channels, or sites can be really tricky, especially if you’re unaware of their pros & cons.

It is every admin’s dilemma when addressing the found sprawls. But not anymore! The following tidy table is here to guide you with the negatives and positives of both actions, including the best use cases.

Actions	Archiving	Deleting
Pros	Prevents editing by freezing edits. Only provides read-only access. Content can be searchable. Can be unarchived easily.	Clear up cloud storage instantly. Eliminates data security liabilities. Wipe out search results completely.
Cons	Keeps on featuring against storage limits. It doesn’t remove data liability. Old data can be accessible from search noise.	The option to undo the deletion is available after 30 days. It removes all chat history permanently. It can wipe out critical regulatory data.
Best Use Case	Finished projects. Closed client accounts. Legally sensitive department history.	Confirmed duplicate sites Accidentally formed teams. Empty testing environments or workspaces.

Step 4: Set Up Microsoft 365 Group Expiration Policies/Rules

Setting up Microsoft 365 Group expiration policies is a healthy and proactive approach to putting a full stop to future workspace sprawls.

Admins can implement automated MS 365 expiration policies (previously configured via Azure AD). Applying it will manifest in the regular lifecycle updates.

To set up the expiration policies:

1. Go to the Microsoft Entra admin center or Azure Portal
2. Choose Groups (left navigation menu) >> hit Expiration.
3. Set a custom Group Lifetime (example: 180 days). After the chosen Group Lifetime completes the set period, it will expire automatically.
4. Choose a subsidiary email address for notifications. A team can end up as an ownerless Ghost Team.
5. Finally, select All or Selected MS 365 groups >> hit Save to apply the changes.

Pro Tip: To avoid any confusion or duplicate workspace, you can also add prefixes before the Teams’ name, such as Dept-HR-Project. Also, by revoking the access to creating teams to particular trained users or a manager’s sign-off.

You have learned the risks of Microsoft Teams and SharePoint sprawl and how to find & prevent them. But your prevention measures will be baseless unless you know how to calculate the annual workspace sprawl cost.

SysTools Recommends: How to Move a Folder in Microsoft Teams: Guide

How to Calculate the Workspace Sprawl Cost? (The Ultimate Formula)

Calculating the Annual sprawl cost is a non-negotiable step for companies. It’s a promising tool to know the financial impact of Teams and SharePoint Sprawl.

You can assume its significance simply by knowing that it can save a fortune for your company if Sprawl figures are calculated correctly.

But how can you calculate the cost of workspace sprawl? By using the Ultimate formula below

Total Annual Sprawl Cost = Productivity Cost + Storage + IT Labour Cost.

The respective formula converts an intangible IT problem into a clear dollar figure. Making it easily understandable for employees.

So, let’s see how you can apply the respective formula as a company owner or senior executive.

Suppose you have a mid-sized company of 250 people with an average hourly wage of $40/hour. And you find the following information during the Sprawl inspection:

• An average of 2 hours per week is wasted due to duplicate files and broken results.
• TBs of extra storage cross Microsoft’s free storage limit due to unchecked sprawl.
• The IT team is manually fixing sprawl-related tickets, taking 1.5 hours daily.

Note: All the given figures are estimated after a thorough assessment of studies conducted by credible institutions.

With this information, let’s calculate the productivity cost >> storage overhead >> IT labor cost.

 

Core Variables	Productivity Cost (N x W x H x 52 weeks):	Storage Overages (Excess GBs x Overage Cost per GB x 12 Months)	IT Labour Cost ( I x Tx R x 12 months)
Variables	N: Number of affected employees W: Average hourly wages ($40) H: Hours wasted per week (2 Hours)	S: TBs of extra storage company uses (2TB/20248 GB). C: Microsoft cost per GB/TB per month for extra storage (0.20/GB per month)	I: Number of Teams/SharePoint sprawl-related tickets. T: Average time spent to fix each ticket (1.5 hrs). R: Average hourly rate of an IT support technician ($35/hrs)
Total Cost Per Variable	250 x $40 x 2 x 52 = $1,040,000 per year.	2048 x $0.20 x 12 = $4,915 per year.	30 x 1.5 x $35 x 12 = $18,900 per year

 

Now you have all three core variable costs. Now, as per the ultimate formula, add them to get the annual Sprawl cost for your company.

$1,040,000 + $4,915 + $18,900 = $1,063,815

Hypothetically, as a mid-sized organization of 250 employees, you’re losing $1,063,815 per year due to Teams/SharePoint sprawl. A hefty amount that can be invested in gathering new assets & other resources, or refining the company’s existing management.

This is the cost you pay for ignoring workspace sprawl for too long.

Author’s Take

Microsoft Teams sprawl or SharePoint Site sprawl is a result of years of unsupervised and uncontrolled creation of Teams, channels, and sites.

If ignored for too long, this issue is likely to cause extreme damage to the organization. However, applying a systematic cleanup checklist as described in this guide can prevent this issue from damaging further.

Lastly, to ensure that your MS Teams, SharePoint, and MS 365 Group stay clean, safe, and organized, always remember that governance is the key.

Also Check Out: SharePoint vs OneDrive: A Practical Comparison

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q.1 What is sprawl in Teams?
Microsoft Teams Sprawl refers to an uncontrolled situation when too many unused, duplicated, or unorganized Teams/channels are stacked up. This issue raises a confusing scenario, where to find information and left-alone workspaces.

The primary reason for this issue is the convenience of creating a new team with one click and no central rules.

Q.2 What is Workspace sprawl?
Workspace sprawl (Teams, SharePoint, MS 365 Group) is a buildup of unchecked Teams, channels, and sites. It can produce severe operational, financial, and security.

Q.3 How to get Microsoft Teams back to normal?
To get Microsoft Teams back to normal, you have to audit, clean, and control Microsoft Teams sprawl. Governance is a practical and fruitful solution.

Q.4 How to prevent sprawl in Teams and SharePoint?
To prevent sprawl in Teams and SharePoint, start by finding the inactivity via MS 365 usage reports. Then detect Ghost Teams and empty channels, and archive/delete the Teams/Sites. Lastly, set up MS 365 Group expiration policies.

Q.5 How to find Microsoft Teams sprawl?
To find out MS Teams sprawl, you can analyse the MS 365 usage report and use the Admin Center or PowerShell to identify.