The List Is Too Large to Save as a Template. The Size of a Template Cannot Exceed 52428800 Bytes.

Have you ever tried to save a SharePoint list as a template and hit this error — “The list is too large to save as a template. The size of a template cannot exceed 52428800 bytes“?. I’ve run into this myself, and I know how frustrating it is when you’re just trying to move a list from one place to another and SharePoint throws up a wall.

In this tutorial, I’ll walk you through exactly why this error happens and how to fix it — whether you’re on SharePoint Online or SharePoint on-premises.

The full error message looks like below:

Why Does “The List Is Too Large to Save as a Template” Error Happen?

When you save a SharePoint list as a template with content, SharePoint packages everything — the list structure, items, attachments, metadata — into a single .stp file. By default, this file has a 50 MB size limit (52428800 bytes, to be exact).

If your list has a lot of items, attachments, or documents, it’ll easily exceed that threshold. The moment it does, you get this error:

Sorry, something went wrong. The list is too large to save as a template. The size of a template cannot exceed 52428800 bytes.

The fix depends on which version of SharePoint you’re using — Online or on-premises — so let me cover both.

Fix for SharePoint Online

I’ll be upfront with you here: you cannot increase the list template size limit in SharePoint Online. Microsoft doesn’t give administrators that control in the cloud environment. The 50 MB cap is hard-coded, and there’s no setting you can flip to change it.

But don’t worry — there are a few practical workarounds you can use:

Option 1: Save the template without content

This is the quickest fix. When you go to save the list as a template, simply uncheck the “Include Content” checkbox. This saves the list structure — columns, views, settings — but leaves out all the actual items and files. If you only need to replicate the list design elsewhere, this works perfectly.

Here’s how to do it:

• Go to your SharePoint list
• Click Settings (gear icon) → List Settings
• Scroll down to Permissions and Management
• Click Save list as template
• Give it a name and description
• Uncheck “Include Content”
• Click OK

Option 2: Delete some content before saving

If you do need the content in the template, your only option in SharePoint Online is to reduce the list size below 50 MB first. That might mean:

• Removing large attachments from list items
• Archiving older items to another list
• Moving files to a separate document library

Once the list is under the size limit, try saving the template again.

Option 3: Use Power Automate to migrate data instead

If your goal is to copy list data from one site to another (not just the structure), consider using Power Automate instead of a template. You can build a flow that reads items from the source list and creates them in the destination list. It’s more work to set up, but it handles large data sets with no size restrictions.

Option 4: Export to Excel + reimport

Another quick workaround is to export your list data to Excel, then use Quick Edit in the destination list to paste the data back in. This doesn’t move attachments, but for simple lists with lots of items, it gets the job done fast.

Fix for SharePoint On-Premises

Good news if you’re on SharePoint on-premises — you can increase the template size limit. There are two ways to do it: PowerShell or the old STSADM command. I’ll show you both.

Method 1: Using PowerShell (Recommended)

This is the cleanest and most reliable way to increase the limit. Run the following commands on your SharePoint server:

Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell

$webservice = [Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPWebService]::ContentService
$webservice.MaxTemplateDocumentSize = 209715200
$webservice.Update()

Let me break down what this does:

• Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell — loads the SharePoint PowerShell module
• $webservice — gets the content service, which controls farm-level settings
• MaxTemplateDocumentSize = 209715200 — sets the new limit to 200 MB (in bytes)
• .Update() — saves the change to the farm configuration

You can adjust the number to whatever you need. Here’s a quick reference:

Size	Bytes
50 MB (default)	52428800
100 MB	104857600
200 MB	209715200
500 MB (max)	524288000

Note: There is a hard ceiling of 500 MB (524288000 bytes). You cannot go beyond that, even on-premises.

This change applies to both list templates and site templates, so keep that in mind if you’re managing a shared farm environment.

Method 2: Using STSADM

If you prefer the old-school STSADM command, here’s how to do it. Open a command prompt on your SharePoint WFE server and run:

stsadm -o setproperty -propertyname max-template-document-size -propertyvalue 209715200

Replace 209715200 with the byte value you want. This command sets the property at the farm level, same as the PowerShell approach. Both methods achieve the same result — use whichever you’re more comfortable with.

After running either command, go back to your list and try saving it as a template again. The error should be gone.

How to Check Your Current Limit

Before you make a change, it’s a good idea to check what your current limit is set to. Run this in PowerShell:

Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell

$webservice = [Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPWebService]::ContentService
$webservice.MaxTemplateDocumentSize

This will print the current value in bytes. If it shows 52428800, you’re at the default 50 MB limit.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, I explained, how to fix the error: The list is too large to save as a template. The size of a template cannot exceed 52428800 bytes, in SharePoint Online as well as SharePoint On-Premises versions.

If you’re on-premises, a quick PowerShell command sorts it out in minutes. If you’re on SharePoint Online, your options are a bit more limited, but saving without content or using Power Automate will get you where you need to go.

I hope this helped. If you’re still seeing the error after trying these steps, drop a comment below and I’ll help you troubleshoot.

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