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New in Catalog Management: Create custom group of sites
MC1413301 · build prod-20251231-200323
Category
stayInformed
Severity
normal
Major change
False
Last modified
2026-07-03 02:05:16
Summary source
Azure OpenAI (gpt-4.1)
Action by (Graph)
Action by (AI)
2026-07-15 00:00:00
Services
Microsoft 365 suite, SharePoint Online, Microsoft OneDrive
Tags
Feature update, Admin impact
Master tags
Admin, Compliance
Roadmap IDs

One-line summary

SharePoint Advanced Management adds catalog categories for classifying and organizing sites by department or business unit, enhancing governance, reporting, and admin controls.

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Details

Summary
SharePoint Advanced Management now allows creating custom site groups via CSV uploads, site properties, and Microsoft Entra ID attributes to improve governance and reporting. Rolling out worldwide June–July 2026, it affects SharePoint and Microsoft 365 admins with no required user changes or migrations.

Body (from Message Center)

[What and Why:]

Microsoft is expanding Catalog Management in SharePoint Advanced Management to help organizations classify and organize SharePoint sites by department, team, business unit, or other custom taxonomies. This release introduces new ways to create and manage catalog categories using CSV uploads, SharePoint site properties, and Microsoft Entra ID extension attributes. These capabilities improve governance, content discovery, reporting, and future administration scenarios.

[Rollout Schedule:]

  • General Availability (Worldwide): Began in June 2026; expected to complete by mid-July 2026

[Impact on Your Organization:]

Who is affected:

  • SharePoint administrators
  • Microsoft 365 administrators
  • Organizations using SharePoint Advanced Management
  • Governance and information architecture teams

Platforms/Services:

  • SharePoint Online
  • SharePoint Advanced Management
  • Microsoft 365 Admin Center (future integrations)
  • SharePoint Admin Center
  • Microsoft Entra ID

What will happen:

  • Administrators can bulk-create catalog categories from CSV uploads.
  • Administrators can organize sites using SharePoint site bag properties.
  • Category visibility can be targeted using Microsoft Entra ID extension attributes.
  • Organizations can create department, team, or business-based site taxonomies.
  • Future integrations that will use Catalog groups include:
    • Allowing organizations to define governance boundaries and include them in various SharePoint Advanced Management features 
    • Pay-as-you-go storage management capabilities that will use Catalog groupings for departmental billing scenarios.
  • No user workflow changes are introduced by this release.
  • No migration activities are required.

[Action Required/Recommendations:]

No action is required.

Recommended preparation activities:

  • Review your current SharePoint information architecture and determine whether departmental or organizational taxonomies would provide governance benefits.
  • Identify existing SharePoint site properties that could be used for categorization.
  • Review available Microsoft Entra ID extension attributes that may support category visibility targeting.
  • Communicate upcoming capabilities to SharePoint governance and administration teams.

Learn more: Catalog management in SharePoint Advanced Management - SharePoint in Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn

[Compliance Considerations:]

Area Explanation
Administrative reporting and governance Catalog categories provide new ways to organize sites and support governance-related reporting and management activities.
Admin controls and Entra targeting Administrators can manage Catalog categories and use Microsoft Entra ID extension attributes to scope visibility.

Raw JSON (for debugging)

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