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Manage the lock status for site collections in SharePoint Server

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APPLIES TO: yes-img-132013 yes-img-162016 yes-img-192019 yes-img-seSubscription Edition no-img-sopSharePoint in Microsoft 365

You use the lock status of a site collection to control the actions allowed on a site collection.

The following table describes the locking options that are available in SharePoint Server.

Option Description
Not locked
Unlocks the site collection and makes it available to users.
Adding content prevented
Prevents users from adding new content to the site collection. Updates and deletions are still allowed.
Read-only (blocks additions, updates, and deletions)
Prevents users from adding, updating, or deleting content. When a user attempts to add, update, or delete content, the user receives an error message that informs the user that access is denied and that the user does not have permission to perform the action or access the resource. A read-only lock can be either site collection administrator controlled if the site collection is archived or farm administrator controlled
No access
Prevents users from accessing the site collection and its content. Users who attempt to access the site receive an error page that informs the user that the website declined to show the webpage.

Note

If you want to limit the amount of content that can be stored in a site collection, you can apply a quota template to the site collection. When the content storage limit that is specified in the quota template is reached, the site collection is locked automatically until the storage limit quota has been increased or some content has been removed. For more information, see Create, edit, and delete quota templates in SharePoint Server.

Important

The steps in this article apply to SharePoint Server 2016, SharePoint Foundation 2013, and SharePoint Server 2013.

Learn about Locking and unlocking sites for SharePoint in Microsoft 365.

Manage the lock status for a site collection by using Central Administration

Use this procedure to lock or unlock a site collection by using the SharePoint Central Administration website.

To manage the lock status for a site collection by using Central Administration

  1. Verify that you have the following administrative credentials.

    • You must be a member of the Site Collection Administrators group for the site collection.

  2. Open Central Administration. On the Application Management page, in the Site Collections section, click Configure quotas and locks.

  3. If the site collection you want is not already selected, in the Site Collection section, on the Site Collection menu, click Change Site Collection. Use the Select Site Collection page to select a site collection.

  4. On the Site Collection Quotas and Locks page, in the Site Lock Information section, select one of the following options:

    • Not locked to unlock the site collection and make it available to users.

    • Adding content prevented to prevent users from adding new content to the site collection. Updates and deletions are still allowed.

    • Read-only (blocks additions, updates, and deletions) to prevent users from adding, updating, or deleting content. Choose whether you want this to be farm administrator controlled or site collection administrator controlled.

    • No access to prevent users from accessing the site collection and its content. Users who attempt to access the site receive an error message.

  5. If you select Adding content prevented, Read-only (blocks additions, updates, and deletions), or No access, type a reason for the lock in the Additional lock information box.

  6. Click OK when you are done.

Manage the lock status for a site collection by using Microsoft PowerShell

Use this procedure to lock or unlock a site collection by using PowerShell.

To manage the lock status for a site collection by using PowerShell

  1. Verify that you meet the following minimum requirements: See Add-SPShellAdmin.

  2. Open the SharePoint Management Shell.

  3. At the PowerShell command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    Set-SPSite -Identity "<SiteCollection>" -LockState "<State>"

    Where:

    • <SiteCollection> is the URL of the site collection that you want to lock or unlock.

    • <State> is one of the following values:

      • Unlock to unlock the site collection and make it available to users.

      • NoAdditions to prevent users from adding new content to the site collection. Updates and deletions are still allowed.

      • ReadOnly to prevent users from adding, updating, or deleting content.

      • NoAccess to prevent users from accessing the site collection and its content. Users who attempt to access the site receive an error message.

For more information, see Set-SPSite.

See also

Concepts

Create, edit, and delete quota templates in SharePoint Server

Other Resources

SharePoint planning guide