Restricting App Creation of SharePoint Online Sites
This article discusses the use of restricted site creation for third-party Entra ID apps. The feature has an allow or deny list to identify apps that can create new SharePoint Online sites. Controlling the set of apps that can create new sites contributes to limiting site sprawl and makes sure that every site has a real function. First-party apps like Teams are unaffected. https://office365itpros.com/2026/04/02/restricted-site-creation-apps/I built a free, open-source M365 security assessment tool - looking for feedback
I work as an IT consultant, and a good chunk of my time is spent assessing Microsoft 365 environments for small and mid-sized businesses. Every engagement started the same way: connect to five different PowerShell modules, run dozens of commands across Entra ID, Exchange Online, Defender, SharePoint, and Teams, manually compare each setting against CIS benchmarks, then spend hours assembling everything into a report the client could actually read. The tools that automate this either cost thousands per year, require standing up Azure infrastructure just to run, or only cover one service area. I wanted something simpler: one command that connects, assesses, and produces a client-ready deliverable. So I built it. What M365 Assess does https://github.com/Daren9m/M365-Assess is a PowerShell-based security assessment tool that runs against a Microsoft 365 tenant and produces a comprehensive set of reports. Here is what you get from a single run: 57 automated security checks aligned to the CIS Microsoft 365 Foundations Benchmark v6.0.1, covering Entra ID, Exchange Online, Defender for Office 365, SharePoint Online, and Teams 12 compliance frameworks mapped simultaneously -- every finding is cross-referenced against NIST 800-53, NIST CSF 2.0, ISO 27001:2022, SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI DSS v4.0.1, CMMC 2.0, CISA SCuBA, and DISA STIG (plus CIS profiles for E3 L1/L2 and E5 L1/L2) 20+ CSV exports covering users, mailboxes, MFA status, admin roles, conditional access policies, mail flow rules, device compliance, and more A self-contained HTML report with an executive summary, severity badges, sortable tables, and a compliance overview dashboard -- no external dependencies, fully base64-encoded, just open it in any browser or email it directly The entire assessment is read-only. It never modifies tenant settings. Only Get-* cmdlets are used. A few things I'm proud of Real-time progress in the console. As the assessment runs, you see each check complete with live status indicators and timing. No staring at a blank terminal wondering if it hung. The HTML report is a single file. Logos, backgrounds, fonts -- everything is embedded. You can email the report as an attachment and it renders perfectly. It supports dark mode (auto-detects system preference), and all tables are sortable by clicking column headers. Compliance framework mapping. This was the feature that took the most work. The compliance overview shows coverage percentages across all 12 frameworks, with drill-down to individual controls. Each finding links back to its CIS control ID and maps to every applicable framework control. Pass/Fail detail tables. Each security check shows the CIS control reference, what was checked, what the expected value is, what the actual value is, and a clear Pass/Fail/Warning status. Findings include remediation descriptions to help prioritize fixes. Quick start If you want to try it out, it takes about 5 minutes to get running: # Install prerequisites (if you don't have them already) Install-Module Microsoft.Graph, ExchangeOnlineManagement -Scope CurrentUser Clone and run git clone https://github.com/Daren9m/M365-Assess.git cd M365-Assess .\Invoke-M365Assessment.ps1 The interactive wizard walks you through selecting assessment sections, entering your tenant ID, and choosing an authentication method (interactive browser login, certificate-based, or pre-existing connections). Results land in a timestamped folder with all CSVs and the HTML report. Requires PowerShell 7.x and runs on Windows (macOS and Linux are experimental -- I would love help testing those platforms). Cloud support M365 Assess works with: Commercial (global) tenants GCC, GCC High, and DoD environments If you work in government cloud, the tool handles the different endpoint URIs automatically. What is next This is actively maintained and I have a roadmap of improvements: More automated checks -- 140 CIS v6.0.1 controls are tracked in the registry, with 57 automated today. Expanding coverage is the top priority. Remediation commands -- PowerShell snippets and portal steps for each finding, so you can fix issues directly from the report. XLSX compliance matrix -- A spreadsheet export for audit teams who need to work in Excel. Standalone report regeneration -- Re-run the report from existing CSV data without re-assessing the tenant. I would love your feedback I have been building this for my own consulting work, but I think it could be useful to the broader community. If you try it, I would genuinely appreciate hearing: What checks should I prioritize next? Which security controls matter most in your environment? What compliance frameworks are most requested by your clients or auditors? How does the report land with non-technical stakeholders? Is the executive summary useful, or does it need work? macOS/Linux users -- does it run? What breaks? I have tested it on macOS, but not extensively. Bug reports, feature requests, and contributions are all welcome on GitHub. Repository: https://github.com/Daren9m/M365-Assess License: MIT (free for commercial and personal use) Runtime: PowerShell 7.x Thanks for reading. Happy to answer any questions in the comments.The Retirement of SharePoint Alerts is a Pain in the Rear
I’ve used a SharePoint alert to create an emailed daily digest of changes made to files in a document library for seven years. Microsoft plans to retire SharePoint Alerts in July 2026, and the race is on to find a replacement. Regretfully, neither Power Automate nor SharePoint Rules seem capable of generating an equivalent daily digest, perhaps because these solutions don’t handle the number of file versions created by AutoSave well. https://office365itpros.com/2026/03/27/sharepoint-alerts-replacement/ChatGPT Enterprise Apps Grab Some Work IQ
If installed into a Microsoft 365 tenant, ChatGPT Enterprise apps can access SharePoint Online files, Exchange Online email and calendar, and Teams chats, messages, and tasks. The Entra ID apps created by ChatGPT have the necessary permissions to access information accessible to the signed-in user. Microsoft 365 Copilot can access more information, but being able to process files, emails, calendar items, and chats and channel conversations delivers access to a lot of Work IQ. https://office365itpros.com/2026/03/24/chatgpt-enterprise-apps-workiq/Modern SharePoint Architecture: Best Practices for Scalable Intranets in 2026
In 2026, SharePoint has evolved from being a basic collaboration portal into the backbone of digitally-connected organizations. With businesses demanding agility, security, and personalized employee experiences, the architecture of your SharePoint intranet isn’t just “plumbing” it’s a strategic asset that shapes how people work, share knowledge, and innovate. In this guide, we’ll explore modern SharePoint architecture principles, practical best practices, and technical steps that will ensure your intranet scales with your organization securely and intelligently. https://dellenny.com/modern-sharepoint-architecture-best-practices-for-scalable-intranets-in-2026/SharePoint Hub Sites: Building a True Digital Workplace
As an information architect, I often see organizations struggle with a familiar problem: content exists everywhere, but meaning exists nowhere. Teams build sites, departments create silos, and before long, employees are lost in a maze of disconnected information. This is where SharePoint Hub Sites step in—not just as a feature, but as a structural philosophy for building a true digital workplace. Let’s break this down from both a conceptual and technical perspective, while answering the most common questions I hear from clients. https://dellenny.com/sharepoint-hub-sites-building-a-true-digital-workplace/
Disable incessant nagware popups
I don't know about everyone else, but I am sick and tired of the nagware pop ups in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc. Every single product harasses me with pop ups trying to tell me "hey, did you know this feature was here?", "you can do this if you click that", "let me hold your hand through using products you've used for decades even though you don't want daddy Microslop to do that". This is a prime example. I keep getting the same ones again and again and again and everything I've read indicates they should only appear once. But they don't. They keep coming back like a psychotic stalker ex who wants alimony even though you were never married. How do I get this nagware to stop?!Why is my create file from OneDrive for Business node isn't working?
I have a power automate cloud flow that, in some point, gets a word .docx from my sharepoint site, then it creates the same document in onedrive so that I can convert it to PDF then returns it to sharepoint. This idea came from the necessity of converting a .docx to .pdf without the need of premium conectors. I have 2 scenarios: 1° Scenario: Flow: I get the data from the word that I need > I create the same file on OneDrive > I convert the file to .pdf > then I create the file on Sharepoint. Problem: When I run my flow, it gets a 404 error: "message": "File Not Found\r\nclientRequestId: y-f695-48b1-9556-xc\r\nserviceRequestId: x-e051-b000-efc3-y" Error image: 2° Scenario: Flow: The same as the above, the only thing I did after research, is that the node that I get content from file from my sharepoint site also returns the "$content-type", so I specified that for the create file from OneDrive I'll only want the "$content" attribute. In resume, it creates the file in onedrive but I can't open it, it appears to be corrupted, at first I thought my sharepoint file was also broken, but then I could open it with no errors as on OneDrive. Problem: When I run my flow, it gets the error that it can't convert that kind of file (as I wrote above, the file creates corrupted), the main problem is understanding why it gets corrupted, it even returs the content-type that I'm not passing anymore. Error image: Message: "message": "Error from microservice: {\"status\":406,\"message\":\"Não há suporte para a conversão desse arquivo para PDF. (cannotOpenFile / Error from Office Service. Url=https://wordcs.officeapps.live.com/document/export/pdf HttpCode=BadRequest)\",\"source\":\"api.connectorp.svc.ms\"}\r\nclientRequestId: y-13f3-4e1a-a77a-x\r\nserviceRequestId: y-a09f-b000-f272-x" NB: This flow actually worked for more than 1 year with no problems like that, the last time it ran without errors was last week (6-7 days from today).SharePoint Online Clamps Down on Company-Wide Sharing Links
Company-wide sharing links allow any authenticated user account in a Microsoft 365 tenant to access a shared file or folder. New settings are available to create an expiration policy for company-wide sharing links, with different values supported for SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business. The idea is to stop the potential for abuse of sharing links, including stale links that should not grant access to files and folders. https://office365itpros.com/2026/03/12/company-wide-sharing-links-limits/Microsoft 365 Backup Launches File-Level Restore
The Microsoft 365 Backup solution will soon be able to restore individual files and folders instead of complete sites. That’s a welcome upgrade to restore capabilities to cover situations like the inadvertent deletion of a file. It’s a wonder why Microsoft didn’t make more about this capability when they celebrated SharePoint’s 25th anniversary last week when they discussed departmental billing for Microsoft 365 Backup. https://office365itpros.com/2026/03/11/microsoft-365-backup-file-restore/
