Does SharePoint version history use storage?

Yes. Each version is stored in full and counted against the site's quota. A file saved 100 times uses roughly 100 times its size.

How long is version history kept in SharePoint?

Until the version limit is reached (500 major versions by default) or a trim removes it. Version expiration and intelligent versioning can also age versions out.

How do I see version history size in SharePoint?

Storage Metrics (Site settings → Storage Metrics) shows totals per library and, per file, a Total Size that includes versions. PowerShell can sum version sizes per library. Neither is shown in the modern library view.

What is SharePoint intelligent versioning?

Microsoft's automatic mode that keeps all recent versions and thins older ones by age, instead of a fixed count. It can be enabled per tenant, site or library and applied to existing files with a trim job.

How much of your SharePoint storage is version history? A ten-minute audit

SharePoint keeps up to 500 versions of every file and counts each one in full. Here is how to see the share per library with Storage Metrics and PowerShell, and how to read the numbers.

Every edit in a SharePoint library keeps the previous file in full. Office autosave means "every edit" can be every few minutes. With the default of 500 major versions, a 30 MB deck that a team worked on for a month can quietly be 10 GB. Most tenants have never looked.

The fast answer: Storage Metrics

Site settings → Storage Metrics (or go straight to https://<site>/_layouts/15/storman.aspx). It lists every library with its total size, and you can drill into folders and files. The Total Size per file includes all its versions; the modern library view's File size column does not.

Two limits: it is per site collection, so a tenant audit is one site at a time, and it lags 24–48 hours behind reality.

The precise answer: sum the versions

To get "of this library's 400 GB, how much is versions", you need each file's current size and each version's size:

Connect-PnPOnline -Url https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/Finance -Interactive

$lib = 'Documents'
$items = Get-PnPListItem -List $lib -PageSize 2000 -Fields FileRef,File_x0020_Size,SMTotalSize |
  Where-Object FileSystemObjectType -eq 'File'

$current  = ($items | Measure-Object { [int64]$_['File_x0020_Size'] } -Sum).Sum
$withVers = ($items | Measure-Object { [int64]$_['SMTotalSize'].LookupId } -Sum).Sum   # SMTotalSize = size incl. versions

"{0} files | current {1:N1} GB | incl. versions {2:N1} GB | versions {3:N1} GB ({4:P0})" -f `
  $items.Count, $current/1GB, $withVers/1GB, ($withVers-$current)/1GB, ($withVers-$current)/$withVers

SMTotalSize is the same number Storage Metrics uses. On tenants where it comes back empty, fall back to Get-PnPFileVersion per file and sum Size; it is slower (one call per file) but exact.

To rank the offenders:

$items | Select-Object @{n='Path';e={$_['FileRef']}},
                      @{n='Current MB';e={[math]::Round($_['File_x0020_Size']/1MB,1)}},
                      @{n='Total MB';e={[math]::Round($_['SMTotalSize'].LookupId/1MB,1)}} |
  Sort-Object 'Total MB' -Descending | Select-Object -First 25

The top 25 usually tells the story: a handful of large, frequently-edited Office files and one folder of exported reports that a flow re-uploads daily.

Reading the numbers

Versions are 60–90% of the library. Normal for libraries with big Office files and autosave. A version limit or intelligent versioning will reclaim most of it.
Versions are under 20%. The problem is somewhere else: the recycle bin, the Preservation Hold Library, or another site. See where the missing gigabytes are.
One file has thousands of versions. Almost always a file written by a flow or a sync loop. Fix the writer, not the limit.
The number does not move after a trim. Storage usage updates on a 24–48 hour cycle. Check again tomorrow.

What to do with the answer

Set intelligent versioning tenant-wide (SharePoint admin centre → Settings → Version history limits → Automatic) so the problem stops growing.
Trim the libraries where versions dominate, after a what-if report: how to get below 100 versions and trim safely.
Leave the rest.

The audit above is what TrimVersions365's free Analyze tab does for every library on a site in one pass: files, historical versions, estimated version storage, ranked. Pro adds the what-if and the trim.