Guidance on Reducing Capacity Usage by Removing past Data in Business Central

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Posted on by Amrit

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Dear Microsoft Community,

We are currently exploring ways to reduce our database capacity usage in Dynamics 365 Business Central. A significant portion of our capacity is being consumed by historical data — especially tables such as G/L Entry and other related ledger tables.

We would like to understand the available options for archiving or removing past transactional data that is no longer needed operationally, without compromising the integrity of the system or compliance requirements.

Specifically, we are looking for answers to the following:

Are there any Microsoft-supported tools or processes for cleaning up old G/L entries or similar data?

What are the best practices or recommendations from Microsoft for reducing capacity usage?

Are there any retention or legal limitations we should be aware of before deleting or archiving data?

Any guidance, documentation, or examples from other customers would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your help.

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Dynamics 365 Business Central

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Mansi Soni 8,951 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hello,

Hope the following resources will give you some hints:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/admin-manage-documents
https://yzhums.com/15246/?
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/dev-itpro/administration/database-reduce-data

Regards,
Mansi Soni

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Ramesh Kumar 7,547 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi,

Standard functionality or option which might help

1. Archiving all the documents once posted ( Sales order, Invoice, Purchase, Project, their is auto archive jobs you can run)

2. Avoid the unnecessary blog or attachments

3. Change log activity off

Also please check Data admin page

https://yzhums.com/15246/?

Thanks

Ramesh

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Sohail Ahmed 11,169 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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i believe Retenion Policy could be better option see the below blog maybe this will give you a hint to resolve your problem

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/admin-data-retention-policies

✅ Mark this answer as verified if it helps you.

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Jeffrey Bulanadi 9,112 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi Amrit,

Managing database capacity in BC is critical for performance, cost control, and long-term sustainability. Microsoft provides several supported tools and strategies to help you clean up historical data without compromising compliance.

Microsoft-Supported Cleanup Tools

Data Administration Page

A centralized dashboard introduced in BC18.2 that lets you:

Delete unused companies and archived documents

Compress ledger tables (e.g., G/L Entry, Item Ledger Entry)

Schedule background refreshes and cleanup jobs

Launch a guided wizard for retention and compression setup

Explore the Data Administration page

Retention Policies

Define how long to keep log entries and archived records. BC can automatically delete expired data based on your rules.

Learn about retention policies

Date Compression

Compress historical entries into summary records (e.g., one entry per month or year). This is ideal for closed fiscal years and non-operational data.

How to use date compression

Best Practices for Reducing Capacity

Run “Adjust Cost - Item Entries” and “Compress Entries” regularly

These help reduce ledger bloat and improve performance.

Delete unused environments and companies

Especially test or demo companies that are no longer needed.

Review extensions and media files

Remove unused extensions and detached media to free up space.

Monitor growth trends

Use the Data Administration page or Admin Center to track table size growth over time.

Use filtered cleanup jobs

Target specific tables or periods to avoid blanket deletions.

Legal and Compliance Considerations

Retention Requirements

Some jurisdictions require financial data to be retained for 5–10 years. Always consult your legal team before deleting G/L or audit-related entries.

Compression vs. Deletion

Compression retains audit integrity while reducing volume. Deletion should be reserved for non-critical logs or expired records.

Audit Trail Preservation

Ensure compressed entries still reflect accurate totals and dimensions for reporting.

Helpful References
Keeping Database Size Under the Limit – Microsoft Learn
Reduce Storage Usage for BC using Data Administration – CloudFronts
Data Cleanup Tasks in BC – Dynamics 365 Lab
No More Storage Panic – 4Sight Blog

If you find this helpful, feel free to mark this as the suggested or verified answer.

Cheers
Jeffrey

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YUN ZHU 99,086 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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In addition to historical data, another important point is the attachment. You can refer to the solution below.

Dynamics 365 Business Central: Manage attachments in SharePoint (Save attachments externally and do not use BC capacity)

https://yzhums.com/60356/

Thanks.

ZHU

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