Delete a previous version of an item or file in SharePoint
Applies To
SharePoint Server 2016 SharePoint Server 2013 SharePoint Server 2013 Enterprise SharePoint in Microsoft 365 SharePoint Foundation 2010 SharePoint Server 2010 SharePoint in Microsoft 365 Small BusinessIf your SharePoint lists or libraries are set to track versions, you can delete a previous version, all versions, or just minor versions of an item or file. To learn how you can restore a version, see Restore a previous version of an item or file. To turn on versioning, see Turn on version history in SharePoint.
Updated February 7, 2020 thanks to customer feedback.
Delete previous versions of items or files in SharePoint
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Go to the list or library for which you want to delete a previous version.
If the name of your list or library does not appear, in the left nav, select Site contents, and then select the name of your list or library.
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Right click on the space between the item or document name and date, and from the menu, select Version History. To see Version History, you may need to scroll the menu.
If you don't see Version History, in the dialog, select the ... (ellipsis), and then select Version History.
A list of versions of the file appears.
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In the Version History dialog, hover next to the version you want, and to get a list of options, on the right side, select the down arrow. Select Delete.
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To delete the version, select OK.
: SharePoint moves versions you delete to the recycle bin. For more info, see How can I recover deleted versions of items or files in SharePoint?
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Go to the list or library for which you want to delete a previous version.
If the name of your list or library does not appear, select Site contents or View All Site Content, and then select the name of your list or library.
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Right click on the space between the item or document name and date, and from the menu, select Version History. To see Version History, you may need to scroll the menu.
If you don't see Version History, in the dialog, click the ... (ellipsis), and then select Version History.
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In the Version History dialog, select Delete All Versions.
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To delete all the versions of the file or item you've selected, select OK.
: SharePoint does not support minor versions in Lists.
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Go to the list or library for which you want to delete a previous version.
If the name of your library does not appear, select Site contents or View All Site Content, and then select the name of your library.
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Right click on the space between the document name and date, and from the menu, select Version History. To see Version History, you may need to scroll the menu.
If you don't see Version History, in the dialog, select the ... (ellipsis), and then select Version History.
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In the Version History dialog, select Delete Minor Versions.
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To delete the minor versions of the file you've selected, select OK.
The minor version and its version number are deleted when you delete a version. The other version numbers do not change. For example, if you have a document that has minor versions 3.1 and 3.2, and you decide to delete version 3.1, the resulting version history shows only minor versions 3.0 and 3.2.
Deleted versions are stored in the SharePoint Recycle bin for up to 90 days. For more info about the SharePoint Recycle bin, see one of the following:
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For SharePoint in Microsoft 365 2016, or 2013, see Restore deleted content in the Recycle Bin of a SharePoint site.
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For SharePoint 2010 see Restore a deleted object from a SharePoint Recycle Bin.
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For SharePoint 2007, see View, restore, or delete items in the Recycle Bin of a SharePoint site.
Local deletions If you deleted your file on your computer, and not from an online library, to restore it, use the Windows recycle bin. You can get to it from the desktop. If it's not there, press the Windows key and then enter recycle. Select either the Recycle bin, or Recycle bin folder.
Turn on Version History in SharePoint
Version History is turned on by default in SharePoint, but if you don't see the Version History command, version history may be turned off. Depending on how your admin has set up SharePoint, you may be able to turn on document versioning.
For info about SharePoint versioning settings, see Enable and configure versioning for a list or library.
More info about Versioning
To find out if there are is any limit to the number of versions you can use, what minor versions are, how versioning works with file check in and check out, or content approval, see How does versioning work in a list or library?
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