A single base Dataverse licence includes 10 GB of relational database capacity, 20 GB of file and image storage and 2 GB of log, as at 22 September 2026. That is a tenant-wide pool, not a per-app or per-environment allowance, and for a firm under 20 staff it is rows and years, not gigabytes, that run out first.
10 GB, 20 GB, 2 GB: the base entitlement
| Capacity type | Included with one base licence | What lives there |
|---|---|---|
| Database | 10 GB | Table rows, metadata, relational data |
| File | 20 GB | File and image columns, attachments, notes |
| Log | 2 GB | Audit history, plugin trace logs |
| Default environment top-up | 3 GB DB, 3 GB file, 1 GB log | Included free on top, for the tenant's default environment only |
Every extra Premium user or per-app licence adds a further slice to the pool, and the capacity is pooled at the tenant, not tied to one environment. Creating a second environment, a development copy of production, which is worth having, needs at least 1 GB of free database capacity before Power Platform will let it be created at all.
What actually fills it for a firm under 20 staff
Microsoft doesn't publish a rows-per-gigabyte figure because it depends entirely on the columns, but a plain row of text, number, date and lookup fields runs one to two kilobytes. 10 GB of Dataverse database capacity is roughly five to ten million rows of a job register, client list or asset table, a ceiling a firm under 20 staff is unlikely to reach in the life of the business. What fills the capacity faster than rows is audit history left switched on for every column, multiline text columns holding pasted email threads, and full-size images stored in the database tier rather than routed to file storage. A ten-year-old Access database migrated in full is usually well under 1 GB once it lands in Dataverse.
File and attachment volume is the more common trigger for buying extra capacity, since photos, PDFs and scanned documents burn through the 20 GB file allowance far faster than table rows burn the 10 GB database allowance. The exact ceilings on a single file, image or Notes attachment, and where each one is set, are listed below.
Buying more, and what it costs
Extra Dataverse database capacity is NZ$64.70 per GB a month, paid yearly, taken from Microsoft's own NZD price list rather than a converted figure. That price, and the full licence breakdown it sits inside, is covered in Dataverse pricing in NZ, including a worked example of what a 5, 12 and 20-person firm on Premium actually gets before paying a cent more. Most firms this size never need to buy it: the included 10 GB, stacked with what a second or third Premium licence adds, is enough for years of normal use.
File, image and attachment size limits
The tenant's file allowance and the limit on one upload are separate. These column limits were checked on 22 September 2026. I set the file column's maximum deliberately when creating it, rather than waiting for a large PDF to fail.
| Type | Default | Maximum | Where to change it |
|---|---|---|---|
| File column | 32 MB | 10 GB | At creation in the designer; later changes need the API |
| Image column | 10 MB | 30 MB | Later changes need the API |
| Notes or email attachment | 5 MB | 128 MB | Environment email settings in the Power Platform admin centre |
A file larger than 128 MB needs a chunked upload even if its column allows 10 GB. File and image columns use the file storage tier. Put PDFs and documents that could exceed the image ceiling in a file column. Notes and email attachments use Organization.MaxUploadFileSize, a setting for the whole environment, separate from file and image column limits.
Common questions
How much storage does a Dataverse licence actually include?
A single base licence carries 10 GB of relational database capacity, 20 GB of file and image storage and 2 GB of log storage, pooled at the tenant rather than per environment. The tenant's default environment additionally ships with its own 3 GB database, 3 GB file and 1 GB log included on top.
What actually fills 10 GB of Dataverse database capacity?
Rarely rows on their own. A plain row of text, number, date and lookup columns runs one to two kilobytes, so 10 GB is roughly five to ten million rows of a job register or client list, far more than a firm under 20 staff will generate. What fills it faster is audit history left switched on, multiline text columns holding pasted emails, and full-size images stored in the database tier instead of file storage.
How much does extra Dataverse capacity cost in NZD?
Extra database capacity is NZ$64.70 per GB a month, paid yearly, on Microsoft's own NZD price list rather than a currency conversion. Most firms under 20 staff never buy it: the included 10 GB, plus what a second or third Premium licence adds, is enough for years.
What is the default file size limit in Dataverse, and how big can it go?
A file column defaults to 32 MB (32,768 KB) and can be raised to a maximum of 10 GB when the column is created, though the value cannot be changed afterwards through the maker designer, only via the API. Even at a 10 GB column limit, a single upload request is still capped at 128 MB, so a bigger file has to be sent in chunks.
How big can an image column be in Dataverse?
10 MB (10,240 KB) by default, up to a maximum of 30 MB (30,720 KB). This value can be changed after creation, but only through the API, not the designer. Anything larger than an image belongs in a file column instead.
What is the default attachment size limit for Notes and emails, and where do I change it?
5 MB (5,242,880 bytes) by default, adjustable up to 128 MB (131,072,000 bytes) via the Organization.MaxUploadFileSize setting, changed from the environment's email settings in the Power Platform admin centre. This limit covers the older Notes and email attachment tables, not the newer file and image columns, which each have their own separate ceiling.
Not sure how close you are to the ceiling?
Free 30-minute call. I'll look at what the tables hold and say whether capacity is years away or worth watching now.