OneDrive API file upload and download limits

Hi @Monday Test User,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A Forum support.  

I understand your question relates to the OneDrive API. While this topic is somewhat outside my area of expertise, I’ve referred to some official Microsoft articles that may help clarify your concerns.

Microsoft doesn’t publish fixed per-minute or “max concurrent upload” numbers for OneDrive/SharePoint via Microsoft Graph. Instead, the platform enforces dynamic throttling and tells you when to back off using HTTP 429 (Too Many Requests) and a Retry-After header. Below is the information that I picked out from official documents. 

1. Throttling model (applies to OneDrive/SharePoint via Graph) 

• Graph uses dynamic throttling. When you exceed a threshold, Graph returns HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header; you must pause and retry after the indicated delay. Limits vary by scenario and may differ for reads vs writes. 
• SharePoint/OneDrive also document throttling (429 or 503) with Retry-After for REST/Graph calls. This is the service that backs OneDrive for Business. 
• Some endpoints additionally emit IETF RateLimit headers that advertise capacity remaining; Microsoft provides a sample explaining how to use them.  

2. Global Graph request ceiling 

• Graph documents a global limit of 130,000 requests per 10 seconds per app across all tenants. This is a top-level cap; service-specific limits (like SharePoint/OneDrive) can kick in earlier. 

3. SharePoint/OneDrive “resource unit” cost 

• The SharePoint/OneDrive throttling guidance shows that operations are charged in resource units (RUs). Typical costs include:  
  • Download file from a drive item = 1 RU 
    • Create/update/delete/upload operations = 2 RUs These indicative costs help explain why heavy write/upload scenarios throttle earlier than reads. 

5. Bandwidth-style throttles 

• In addition to request-rate throttles (429), OneDrive historically documents bandwidth-based throttles that can surface as HTTP 509 (Bandwidth Limit Exceeded) for atypically heavy migrations. This is rare for typical apps but worth handling. 

What is NOT published (and what to assume) 

• Microsoft does not publish fixed limits for:  
  • “Concurrent upload sessions per user” or “max concurrent uploads” 
    • “Uploads/downloads per minute” per user, site, or tenant These are explicitly left dynamic and can vary based on load and operation mix; you must design your client to adapt to 429/503 signals. 

I have also included more articles relating to your concern in case you need more information: 

Microsoft Graph throttling guidance 

Avoid getting throttled or blocked in SharePoint Online 

Using RateLimit headers to optimize the throttling behavior 

Microsoft Graph service-specific throttling limits 

can we used more than 4MB file upload using Graph API 

driveItem: createUploadSession - Microsoft Graph v1.0 

Is it possible to upload file larger than 60mb using MS graph API? 

How to upload a large file to OneDrive using Microsoft Graph 

Upload large files using the Microsoft Graph SDKs 

Restrictions and limitations in OneDrive and SharePoint 

[Question] API usage & limitations · Issue #115 · OneDrive/onedrive-api ... 

I hope it helps clear the situation and look forward for your reply. 

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