Health Analyzer: Database has large amounts of unused space

Problem

You find the following entry in the SharePoint 2010 Central Administration Review problems and solutions All Reports listing:

Title	Database has large amounts of unused space.
Severity	3 - Information
Category	Availability
Explanation	Following databases have large amounts of space allocated on the disk but not in use. This may be due to recent deletion of data form the database, or because the database has been pre-grown to a larger size. This database will take up a larger amount of space on the file system unless it is shrunk down to a smaller size. [databasename] on [machinename]
Remedy	The database can be shrunk in size using the DBCC ShrinkDatabase command or the Shrink Database wizard in SQL Server Management Studio. For more information about this rule, see "http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=167144".
Failing Servers
Failing Services	SPTimerService (SPTimerV4)
Rule Settings	View

 
Solution

Depending on the size of the database, run the Shrink Database task in Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio.

1. Right-click on the database
2. Go: Tasks > Shrink > Database. 

References

• SharePoint Health Analyzer rules reference (SharePoint Foundation 2010)
• Database has large amounts of unused space (SharePoint Foundation 2010)
• Database maintenance for SharePoint 2010 Products
• Databases How-to Topics (SQL 2008 R2)
• How to: Shrink a Database (SQL Server Management Studio)
• Optimizing Indexes (SQL 2008 R2)
• Reorganizing and Rebuilding Indexes