Is Your Salesforce Storage Maxed Out? These 3 Culprits Are Probably Why.
When we audit a Salesforce instance, one of the first places we look is the Storage Usage page. It's the system's vital signs. Recently, we discovered a client was at 99% of their data storage capacity and had no idea they were about to hit a wall.
This isn't just a technical issue; it's a business continuity risk.
What Happens When You Run Out of Salesforce Storage?
It’s not a gentle warning—your business processes grind to a halt.
Users can't create new records. No new Opportunities, no new Accounts, no new Cases. Period.
File uploads fail. Critical documents like signed contracts or project plans can't be saved.
Automations break silently. Processes that create records in the background start failing without obvious error messages, leading to data gaps and process failures.
This creates unnecessary angst and erodes user trust in the system. Salesforce storage is finite and expensive, but hitting your limit is more than a technical headache. It’s a clear signal of deeper problems with data governance and CRM adoption.
In this post, we’ll break down the top three culprits behind a bloated Salesforce org—and how to fix them before they cause reporting chaos, performance slowdowns, and unexpected fees.
Culprit #1: The Digital Attic — Files & Attachments
Users upload PDFs, signed agreements, images, and slide decks to records every day. But how often are they removed? These files often live in Salesforce long after they’ve served their purpose, gathering digital dust.
Why It Matters:
Separate Limits: Attachments consume File Storage, which is provisioned and charged separately from Data Storage.
Silent Accumulation: Over time, outdated versions and duplicate files pile up unnoticed, silently chipping away at your available space.
How to Fix It:
Conduct a file audit. Run a report on the File object to identify the largest files, oldest files, and most common file types.
Migrate large files. Move historical or large-format files to an external platform like SharePoint or Google Drive and simply link to them from the Salesforce record.
Establish a retention policy. Implement rules for how long certain file types should be kept, and explore AppExchange solutions for automated archiving.
Culprit #2: The Endless Conversation — Chatter & Email Messages
In an active organization, Chatter feeds and logged emails can quickly become a massive data hog. This is especially true for orgs using tools like Einstein Activity Capture, which can sync thousands of emails that no one will ever read.
Why It Matters:
Paying for Noise: You could be paying to store gigabytes of email data that provides zero business value.
Unstructured Data: Chatter usage is often unstructured, with the same information duplicated across multiple records and groups.
How to Fix It:
Audit your email logging settings. Are you logging every email by default? Refine your configuration to only capture meaningful interactions.
Archive inactive Chatter groups. Clean up old posts and remove groups that are no longer in use.
Define a clear communication strategy. Guide users on when to use Chatter versus email or other collaboration tools to minimize noise.
Culprit #3: Ghost Data - Old, Inactive Records
Accounts, Contacts, and Opportunities that haven't been touched in years are still living in your system. They were created by past employees, synced from old integrations, or simply left behind as business processes evolved.
Why It Matters:
Operational Drag: This ghost data clutters reports, skews forecasts, confuses new hires, and wastes users' time sifting through irrelevant information.
Hidden Consumption: Even if the primary record is inactive, it may still have related tasks, field history, or other child records that consume Data Storage.
How to Fix It:
Define what "inactive" means. Is it no activity in 18 months? 24 months? Create a clear, universal definition for your business.
Build reports to identify stale data. Use the Created Date, Last Modified Date, and Last Activity Date fields to systematically flag these records.
Implement an archive-and-delete strategy. After backing up the data, confidently archive and delete these records to reclaim space and improve clarity.
The Overlooked Accelerant: High-Volume Integrations
The three culprits above can go from minor issues to critical problems when accelerated by integrations. Many apps generate a massive volume of records by design, and without a retention strategy, they can overwhelm your storage in months, not years.
Be mindful of:
Marketing Automation (Pardot, Marketo): Individual Email Results, engagement events, and form submission records.
eCommerce & Billing (Shopify, Stripe): Orders, Order Line Items, and Transaction logs.
CTI & SMS (Aircall, Twilio): Call logs often stored as Task records and custom SMS message objects.
Survey Tools (SurveyMonkey, GetFeedback): Survey responses, often creating a separate record for each answer.
Integration Middleware (MuleSoft, Zapier): Custom log objects designed to track every API call or error.
Each of these can generate thousands of records daily. A proactive data management plan is essential.
Your Storage Limit Is a Symptom, Not the Disease
Maxing out your Salesforce storage is like a check engine light for your CRM. It’s not just a space issue—it’s a signal that your data governance and internal processes haven’t kept pace with your company's growth.
If your Salesforce instance is full of clutter, you don't just need a mass delete. You need a reset.
You Don’t Have to Tackle It Alone
Our Salesforce Reset & Restore service is designed for this exact challenge. We help you move from clutter to clarity by:
Pinpointing what’s actually taking up space with a deep storage analysis.
Securely archiving historical data so nothing is lost.
Systematically cleaning out the junk to free up valuable storage.
Implementing automated retention and archival plans.
Building a data governance framework to ensure it never happens again.
You don’t need to start over from scratch. You just need a strategic reset.
👉 Ready to reclaim your storage and restore performance? Learn more at https://www.waldenedge.com/resetandrestore
