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TonyRedmond
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Joined Jun 23, 2016
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Leverage User and Group Assignments to Limit User Access to Apps
User and Group assignments can be added to Entra ID applications. Once assignments exist for an application, only assigned users can access that application. This method is a good way to secure access to applications that have consent to use high-profile permissions like Sites.FullControl.All or Mail.Read. Microsoft 365 tenants should consider how to use assignments to control user access to applications. https://office365itpros.com/2026/04/10/user-and-group-assignments/21Views0likes0CommentsThe Open Nature of Microsoft 365 Copilot Diagnostic Logs
The Microsoft 365 admin center includes an option for administrators to send Copilot diagnostic logs on behalf of users to Microsoft for investigation. Sounds good, but the diagnostic logs are in plain text (JSON format) and the prompts and responses for Copilot user interactions can be viewed by administrators. That doesn’t seem like a good way to preserve anyone's privacy. Vote for the feedback item to close this loophole. https://office365itpros.com/2026/04/09/copilot-diagnostic-logs/19Views1like0CommentsUsing the Microsoft 365 Connector for Claude
The Microsoft 365 Connector for Claude allows Claude to access SharePoint and OneDrive files, emails, and Teams chats and meetings. The connector is now available to all users, including the free tier for Claude. Installing the connector creates two Entra ID enterprise apps (MCP server and client) and channels Graph requests to Microsoft 365 to fetch information for processing by Claude. Is that a good thing? https://office365itpros.com/2026/04/08/microsoft-365-connector-for-claude/112Views0likes0CommentsCopilot Compliance Nightmare? Microsoft Suddenly Rolls Out Flex Routing
Microsoft plans to introduce flex routing to handle situations when demand exceeds capacity for Copilot processing in Europe. This could be an issue for Microsoft 365 tenants in the European Union or European Free Trade Association who want to be sure that their data is processed in Microsoft local datacenters and not sent to the U.S. or Australia when available capacity cannot meet the demand for “large language model inferencing”. https://office365itpros.com/2026/04/07/flex-routing-copilot-europe/How to Track Changes in Microsoft 365 Groups
An old PowerShell script tracked changes to Office 365 Groups. The techniques from 2016 wouldn’t be used today because features like the unified audit log didn’t exist then. We show what’s possible now by creating a new version of a Microsoft 365 Groups Change Report script to track additions, deletions, and changes for Microsoft 365 groups in a tenant. https://office365itpros.com/2026/04/06/microsoft-365-groups-change-report/20Views0likes0CommentsViva Engage Communities Gain Support for Sensitivity Labels
Viva Engage communities now support Purview container management labels (sensitivity labels that manage settings for groups, teams, communities, etc.). The update makes it possible to manage community settings like privacy through labels instead of settings applied to individual communities. Once communities have container management labels, you can manage the labels in the same way as when applied to Teams and Microsoft 365 groups. https://office365itpros.com/2026/04/03/container-management-labels-viva/34Views0likes0CommentsRestricting 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/23Views0likes0CommentsRe: Announcing Office 365 for IT Pros (2026 Edition)
Office 365 for IT Pros Update for April 2026 Fresh from celebrating the 30th anniversary of Exchange Server, the Office 365 for IT Pros team is happy to release the 130th monthly update for the book (plus an update for the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook). Reflecting on 30 years of writing about the development of Exchange, Office 365, and Microsoft 365 reminds us about just how far we’ve come. It also reminds us that technology keeps on changing. On to update #131! https://office365itpros.com/2026/04/01/office-365-for-it-pros-130/16Views0likes0CommentsHow to Report Entra ID Group Insights
Entra ID Group Insights are a new preview feature in the Entra admin center. The lack of documentation is challenging, but it’s easy to understand what kind of insights Microsoft wants to deliver. Looking behind the scenes, we find the Graph endpoint for Group insights and can extract the data. That allows us to combine insights with other information to make them more interesting. All done with PowerShell. https://office365itpros.com/2026/03/31/entra-id-group-insights/18Views0likes0CommentsConditional Access Policies are the Best Way to Block Weekend Access to Microsoft 365
Conditional access policies are very powerful. A beta feature appears to support time-limited blocks, but maybe the new feature is not needed because the same effect can be accomplished today through a mixture of conditional access policies, dynamic groups, and Azure Automation runbooks (or scheduled PowerShell scripts). Maybe that’s why Microsoft hasn’t released any documentation for the beta feature! https://office365itpros.com/2026/03/30/conditional-access-weekend-block/27Views0likes0CommentsThe 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/107Views2likes1CommentMicrosoft Limits App Access to Sensitive Message Properties
Microsoft has announced details of a change to app permissions to restrict updates to sensitive message properties (like recipients) without consent for a new advanced mail access permission. If tenants have apps that interact with message properties, including apps developed by third parties, they should check whether the apps are updating sensitive properties. If so, the new permission must be assigned or the apps will stop working. https://office365itpros.com/2026/03/26/sensitive-message-properties-graph/46Views1like0CommentsChatGPT 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/27Views0likes0CommentsLow-Key Debut for Entra ID Backup and Recovery
Microsoft released the preview of the Entra ID Backup and Recovery solution to tenants on 19 March 2026. Although the software is functional in tenants, Microsoft didn’t make a big announcement for what is a really important piece of functionality. We've spent the last few days testing backup and recovery and put together the major points about the new solution, which is doubtless going to be welcomed by tenants if not by backup ISVs. https://office365itpros.com/2026/03/23/entra-id-backup-and-recovery/130Views0likes0CommentsRe: Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell Second Edition
Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell Update #22 The April 2026 update for the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook is now available for subscribers to download. Refreshed EPUB and PDF files can be downloaded from Gumroad.com. The Kindle and paperback editions are also updated. This month we reflect on V2.36.1 of the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK and why so little has changed in this important component (despie the addition of the beta UTCM module). https://office365itpros.com/2026/03/20/automating-microsoft-365-ps22/38Views0likes0CommentsPlanner Agent Delivers AI Help for Tasks
The Planner agent is now available to users with Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses and any Planner license. The purpose of the Planner agent is to help people understand the steps necessary to accomplish assigned tasks. Like any AI tool, the quality of the agent’s output depends on the precision and completeness of the instructions given for a task. But if you’re prepared to iterate, the agent might work for you. https://office365itpros.com/2026/03/19/planner-agent/34Views0likes0CommentsThe Sad State of Microsoft Graph and Other APIs
Some Microsoft MVPs have expressed a strong opinion that Microsoft isn’t doing enough to develop and enhance the Microsoft Graph APIs across Microsoft 365. Problems include inconsistency in implementation, undocumented APIs, assembly clashes, missing coverage, and APIs that never come out of beta. It seems like Microsoft doesn’t dedicate sufficient attention to this important topic. What do you think? https://office365itpros.com/2026/03/18/microsoft-graph-issues/49Views0likes0CommentsTeams Meetings to Block Third-Party Recording Bots
Teams will soon block third-party recording bots from being able to create transcripts and generate AI-based summaries for Teams meetings. The problem is that these bots must export information for processing outside of a tenant, which creates all sorts of compliance issues. The new feature is part of base Teams and will be enabled in all tenants. You can disable the block and allow bots if you want. https://office365itpros.com/2026/03/16/third-party-recording-bots/286Views1like0CommentsTeams Suppresses Sentiments in Meeting Chats
In December 2024, Microsoft introduced a control to block responses to sentiment-related prompts in Teams meeting chat. Now that block extends to every Teams user following a consolidation of the Teams meeting implementation of chat with Microsoft 365 Copilot. Basically, the block stops Copilot responding to prompts that look for opinions about emotions, judgement, or evaluations of other meeting participants. It’s a good thing. https://office365itpros.com/2026/03/13/sentiment-related-prompts/48Views1like0CommentsSharePoint 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/52Views0likes0Comments
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