Microsoft is giving SharePoint administrators a much clearer view of broadly shared content with a new permission reporting capability scheduled to roll out worldwide in August 2026.
The new Microsoft SharePoint permission report is designed to help administrators identify individual files and items that are accessible through the special Everyone and Everyone except external users SharePoint groups.
For organizations managing large Microsoft 365 environments, the update could prove particularly useful. Until now, administrators could identify sites where these broad permission groups were being used, but finding the actual files and items exposed through those permissions could require considerably more investigation.
The new report moves that visibility down to the item level.
That distinction matters.
A site may contain hundreds or thousands of documents, but only a small number may actually present a significant sharing concern. Instead of investigating an entire site because it contains a broadly permissive group, administrators will be able to identify the specific content exposed through those permissions and focus their remediation efforts where they matter most.
SharePoint permission visibility moves to the item level
Broad sharing has long been an important governance and security consideration for organizations using SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business.
The Everyone and Everyone except external users groups can provide access to a broad audience. While there are legitimate business scenarios for using these groups, broad permissions can also create unintended exposure when they are applied to sensitive, outdated, or incorrectly classified content.
Microsoft’s new reporting capability is aimed at addressing that visibility gap.
According to Microsoft’s announcement, the SharePoint admin center will provide detailed, item-level information about content that receives permissions through these special SharePoint groups.
That means administrators will have a better way to answer questions such as:
- Which individual files are broadly accessible?
- Which items are exposed through the Everyone group?
- Which content can be accessed by everyone inside the organization?
- Where is the Everyone except external users group being used?
- Which files should be prioritized for remediation?
- How widespread is the potential oversharing across SharePoint and OneDrive?
Instead of simply knowing that a site contains a potentially broad permission assignment, administrators can investigate the content behind that assignment.
Why this matters for Microsoft 365 security
The timing of this update is significant because data sprawl continues to be a challenge for organizations operating in Microsoft 365.
Companies can have thousands of SharePoint sites, OneDrive accounts, Teams-connected document libraries, and millions of individual files. As users create, share, move, and collaborate on content, permissions can become increasingly difficult to track.
In such an environment, identifying a potentially risky site is only the first step.
The real challenge is determining which content is actually exposed and deciding what needs to be changed.
The new report is designed to make that process more targeted.
For example, imagine an organization discovers that a SharePoint site contains the Everyone except external users group. Previously, an administrator might know that the group exists on the site but still need to conduct additional investigation to determine which files inherit or receive access through that permission.
With item-level reporting, the administrator can identify the affected content more directly.
That can help security and governance teams reduce the time spent investigating legitimate sharing configurations while concentrating attention on files that represent a genuine risk.
The feature does not change existing permissions
One of the most important points for administrators is that this update is primarily about visibility, not permission changes.
Microsoft says the new report does not modify existing permissions or change current sharing behavior.
In other words, organizations should not expect the rollout itself to suddenly remove access, restrict users, or alter how their SharePoint sites operate.
Instead, the report gives administrators additional information about permissions that already exist.
This makes the feature particularly useful for organizations that want to take a measured approach to SharePoint governance. Administrators can first understand where broad access exists, assess whether that access is appropriate, and then take targeted remediation steps when necessary.
That is a considerably different approach from making broad permission changes without first understanding their impact.
SharePoint and OneDrive are both covered
The new capability isn’t limited to SharePoint Online sites.
Microsoft says the reporting experience will provide visibility across SharePoint and OneDrive for Business, giving administrators a broader view of content exposed through these special groups.
This is important because data governance rarely stops at a single platform.
Employees may collaborate on files in SharePoint while storing other business documents in OneDrive. Microsoft 365 administrators therefore need visibility across multiple locations when assessing how organizational data is being shared.
Bringing item-level permission information into the reporting process can make it easier to identify patterns that might otherwise be missed.
PowerShell access adds flexibility for administrators
Another notable part of the update is that reporting will be available through both the SharePoint admin center and PowerShell.
The admin center provides a graphical experience that can be useful for administrators investigating permissions manually.
PowerShell, meanwhile, can be valuable for organizations that want to incorporate permission reporting into larger governance, auditing, or security workflows.
For larger enterprises, this could be especially useful. Security teams may want to export information, combine it with other administrative data, establish recurring reviews, or integrate reporting into existing operational processes.
The availability of PowerShell also gives experienced Microsoft 365 administrators more flexibility when dealing with large environments.
What SharePoint administrators should do
Microsoft says no action is required before the rollout.
However, organizations using SharePoint Advanced Management should prepare their administrators and governance teams for the new reporting capability.
Once the feature becomes available, administrators should consider reviewing content exposed through both the Everyone and Everyone except external users groups.
The objective should not necessarily be to remove every broad permission assignment.
Instead, organizations should determine whether each permission is intentional and appropriate for the content involved.
A company may have legitimate reasons for allowing broad access to internal communications, corporate templates, general policies, or other non-sensitive material. On the other hand, applying the same access model to confidential business documents, financial information, project data, or sensitive operational files could create unnecessary risk.
The new report can help organizations make that distinction at the item level.
Administrators should also consider updating internal governance and auditing procedures so that the new reporting capability becomes part of regular permission reviews.
A useful addition to SharePoint governance
The new report is not a dramatic change to how SharePoint permissions work. Instead, its value comes from making existing permissions easier to understand.
That may sound like a small improvement, but visibility is a critical part of effective security.
You cannot remediate oversharing effectively if you cannot identify what is being shared.
By moving from site-level awareness to item-level visibility, Microsoft is giving SharePoint administrators a more precise way to investigate broad access and prioritize remediation.
For organizations with large Microsoft 365 environments, that could mean less time spent searching through sites and more time addressing the files that actually need attention.
The rollout is scheduled to begin in early August 2026, with worldwide availability expected to be completed by mid-August 2026.
The update is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 561038.
As the rollout reaches eligible organizations, SharePoint administrators and security teams should take advantage of the new reporting capability to review broad permissions, strengthen governance processes, and identify potentially overshared content.
In an era where collaboration and security must coexist, having better visibility into who can access organizational data is just as important as controlling the access itself.
For Microsoft 365 administrators, this SharePoint update is therefore less about changing permissions overnight and more about finally getting a clearer picture of where those permissions are reaching.
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