Managing the number of spaces in Confluence Data Center
This insight appears when your Confluence instance approaches or exceeds the recommended limit of 8,000 spaces. The spaces metric tracks the total number of spaces in your instance, including global, personal, and archived spaces. You can view this in System Information under Confluence Usage or query your database directly. Understanding and managing your space count is crucial for maintaining optimal performance.
Thresholds: | |
|---|---|
Optimal | Less than 8,000 spaces |
Appraching limit | Between 8,000-10,000 spaces |
Exceeding limit | Greater than 10,000 spaces |
How does high space count affect performance?
A high number of spaces impacts your instance primarily through permission checks:
Increased CPU and memory usage during dashboard loads
Slower macro rendering when displaying space-related content
Degraded performance during global permission operations
What's the recommendation?
You should aim to keep your total space count below 8,000 for optimal performance. If you're approaching or exceeding this threshold, consider the following actions:
Clean up inactive spaces
Start with identifying and managing unused spaces to reduce your overall count:
Identify inactive spaces
Review system information:
Go to Administration > System Information
Check 'Confluence Usage' section for total space count
Export space list for analysis
Query space activity:
SELECT spaceid, spacekey, spacename, lastmoddate
FROM spaces
ORDER BY lastmoddate ASC;Focus your analysis on:
Usage Patterns: Identify truly active vs. stale spaces
Space Types: Distribution between team, project, and personal spaces
Content Value: Business-critical vs. non-essential content
Growth Trends: Rate of space creation over time
Archive or remove spaces
For each inactive space:
Go to Space Tools > Overview
Review last modified date and content
Check for referenced content
Document archival decisions
Archive valuable but inactive spaces:
Back up space content
Use Space Tools > Archive
Document archived content location
Remove unnecessary spaces:
Export space for backup
Delete space through administration
Update related documentation
Enable Faster Permissions Service
Optimize permission checking performance across your instance:
Enable the service:
Navigate to Administration > Security Configuration
Locate 'Faster Permissions Service'
Enable the feature
Monitor system logs for verification
Verify performance:
Check permission calculation times
Monitor CPU usage during peak hours
Review system performance metrics
See Faster Permissions documentation
Implement space governance
Establish long-term space management practices:
Policy development
Set up space rules, including when to create new spaces, required space names and formats, who can own spaces, and when to archive unused spaces. Write step-by-step guides for checking spaces quarterly, reviewing content quality, and setting up space permissions at each stage from creation to archival. Monitoring and maintenance
Monitoring and Automation
Schedule regular checks: review all spaces every 3 months, track space usage monthly, and check space performance weekly. Set up automatic alerts for unused spaces, track how spaces are being used, and move inactive spaces to archived based on your rules. Establish regular reviews: