If you’ve run into either of the following error messages, you may be attempting to share too large a folder, or share within a high-traffic list or library that has too many files or items already shared individually:
- “You can’t share this folder because there are too many items in the folder.”
- “You can’t share this item because too many items have already been shared in this library.”
If you want to share a folder, item, or file, there’s a limit of 50,000 uniquely shared items per list or library. So between you and your colleagues, if you’ve shared 50,000 items, files, and/or folders individually (one-off shares using the share button), you’ll need to do some sharing cleanup (remove links and access no longer needed) and consider creating additional lists/libraries or establishing improved best practices for more efficient sharing.
Additionally, the list, library, or folder for which you’re trying to initiate a new share can only have up to 100,000 items total (regardless of share count) before breaking and re-inheriting permissions is allowed. So, for example, if you want to break inheritance on a folder that has 150,000 files already, you’ll need to temporarily reduce the file count to 100,000 or fewer so you can break inheritance, then move the additional files back into it.
See these references for additional information: