Manage SharePoint Premium - SharePoint Advanced Management Settings Using PowerShell to protect data in Copilot for M365 Rollout

Manage SharePoint Premium - SharePoint Advanced Management Settings Using PowerShell to protect data in Copilot for M365 Rollout

SharePoint Premium - SharePoint Advanced Management offers features to help prevent data oversharing and accidental leaks, which is crucial for a successful rollout of Copilot for M365. This guide will show you how to manage these settings using PowerShell.

For an overview, read the Microsoft SharePoint Premium - SharePoint Advanced Management overview.

This post covers how to manage SharePoint Premium - SharePoint Advanced Management settings at both the tenant and site level using PowerShell.

Enabling SharePoint Advanced Management - SAM

SharePoint Premium provides pay-as-you-go billing. You can start a trial by navigating to: Microsoft 365 Admin Center > Billing > Purchase Services > Search for SharePoint Advanced Management > Scroll Down > Click on Details > Click on Start Free Trial.

Enable Trial

Once enabled SAM (SharePoint Advanced Management) settings like Restrict SharePoint site access with Microsoft 365 groups and Entra security groups, Restrict OneDrive content access,Restrict OneDrive service access, Conditional access policy for SharePoint sites and OneDrive, Data access governance reports for SharePoint sites and Restricted Content Discoverability (RCD) can be managed using PowerShell.

Refer to the video Prepare content for Microsoft Copilot w/ SharePoint Content Governance | M365 Community Conference to learn more about SAM features.

Tenant level settings

Enable Restricted Access Control

SPO PowerShell

set-spotenant -EnableRestrictedAccessControl

PnP PowerShell

set-pnptenant -EnableRestrictedAccessControl

This setting enables site-level access restriction for your organization. It may take up to an hour for the command to take effect. If the appropriate license is missing, you will receive an error message.

set-spotenant : This operation can’t be performed as the tenant doesn’t have the required license. Refer https://aka.ms/RACPolicyForSites to learn more

Restrict OneDrive access by security group

Restrict access and sharing of OneDrive content to users in specified Microsoft Entra ID security groups. Use the REST method to update this setting through PowerShell using REST method to _api/SPOInternalUseOnly.Tenant

connect-PnPOnline -Url https://reshmeeauckloo-admin.sharepoint.com -Interactive

# Prepare the REST API endpoint URL
$apiUrl = "/_api/SPOInternalUseOnly.Tenant"

# Prepare the JSON payload
$payload = @{
    AllowSelectSGsInODBListInTenant = @('c:0t.c|tenant|a50cce6c-f979-4a1a-93dd-5b8487ada96b', 'c:0t.c|tenant|c6b80bfb-2d70-424b-a3e0-7cff04dc0387')
}

# Invoke the REST API method
Invoke-PnPSPRestMethod -Method Patch -Url $apiUrl -ContentType "application/json;odata.metadata=minimal" -Content $payload

Read Restrict OneDrive access by security group for more info.

OneDrive Access Restriction

DisableDocumentLibraryDefaultLabeling

This setting turns off the default sensitivity label for SharePoint document libraries. If enabled, default sensitivity label can be set to a library to all new / modified files inside a document library.

For more information, see Configure a default sensitivity label for a SharePoint document library.

SPO PowerShell

set-spotenant -DisableDocumentLibraryDefaultLabeling $false #enables default sensitivity label for SharePoint document libraries

PnP PowerShell

set-pnptenant -DisableDocumentLibraryDefaultLabeling $false #enables default sensitivity label for SharePoint document libraries

Site level settings

Restricted Content Discoverability (RCD)

Restricted Content Discoverability (RCD) is another SharePoint Advanced Management (SAM) feature which can be an alternative to Restricted SharePoint Search - RSS to use to restrict content discoverability via Copilot and Org-wide search if oversharing is a concern. Restricted Access Control affects access to end users while Restricted Content Discoverability allows end users to work on files not impacting productivity except making contents undiscoverable within Copilot for M365.

At the time of writing this blog post , this setting is still in private preview. Again use it judiciously as less data will be available to Copilot for M365 for responses, hence less intelligent response and affects findability/search. To accelerate Copilot For M365 deployment while still reviewing governace controls, this setting can be used for those sites, e.g. sensitive sites.

Some caveats to be aware similar to SharePoint Restricted Search :

  • The setting affects both tenant-side search and Copilot for M365 with no option to set it up only for Copilot for M365
  • All users require a license
  • Affects search/findability of data at the tenant wide level

There is no known restriction on the number of sites it can be applied in comparison to SharePoint Restricted Search which can be applied to 100 sites only.

SPO PowerShell

Set-SPOSite -Identity <site-url> -RestrictContentOrgWideSearch $true

The caveat is it might take a while to see the setting being applied as it depends on all contents being reindexed which might take a while for a big site.

PnP PowerShell

This setting is dependent on the PR getting merged 4024 being merged into PnP PowerShell.

Set-PnPSite -Identity <site-url> -RestrictContentOrgWideSearch $true

Block download policy for SharePoint sites and OneDrive

BlockDownloadPolicy

Block users from downloading, printing, or syncing files from specified SharePoint sites or OneDrive accounts to reduce the risk of data loss. User will have browser-only access and won’t be able to access content through apps, including Microsoft Office desktop apps.

For more information, see block download policy

This can only be configured at site level and at not at tenant wide.

ExcludeBlockDownloadPolicySiteOwners

Exempt site owners from this policy and allow them to download any content for the site

ExcludedBlockDownloadGroupIds

Exempt users from the mentioned groups from this policy and allow them to download any content for the site

ExcludeBlockDownloadSharePointGroups

Exempts users from the mentioned SharePoint groups from this policy and they can fully download any content for the site

ReadOnlyForBlockDownloadPolicy

Marks the site as read-only in addition to preventing downloads.

If you don’t have the appropriate license, you may get the error message

Set-SPOSite : You do not have required licenses to perform this operation. Please read here for licensing related requirements : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-US/sharepoint/block-download-from-sites

Licence not activated

  • SPO PowerShell
## Block download policy 
Set-SPOSite -Identity https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/SharingTest `
            -BlockDownloadPolicy $true `
            -ExcludeBlockDownloadPolicySiteOwners $true `
            -ExcludedBlockDownloadGroupIds 21af775d-17b3-4637-94a4-2ba8625277cb,5cecaf4f-df68-414f-8029-a4e7e37df66e `
            -ExcludeBlockDownloadSharePointGroups 6c59372e-ebe5-4620-8a4c-588f2fc0c506,a50cce6c-f979-4a1a-93dd-5b8487ada96b `
            -ReadOnlyForBlockDownloadPolicy $true
  • PnP PowerShell
## Block download policy 
Set-PnPTenantSite -Identity https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/SharingTest ` 
            -BlockDownloadPolicy $true `
            -ExcludeBlockDownloadPolicySiteOwners $true `
            -ExcludedBlockDownloadGroupIds 21af775d-17b3-4637-94a4-2ba8625277cb,5cecaf4f-df68-414f-8029-a4e7e37df66e `
            <#ExcludeBlockDownloadSharePointGroups and ReadOnlyForBlockDownloadPolicy can't be set using PnP PowerShell yet#>
            ##-ExcludeBlockDownloadSharePointGroups 6c59372e-ebe5-4620-8a4c-588f2fc0c506,a50cce6c-f979-4a1a-93dd-5b8487ada96b `
            ##-ReadOnlyForBlockDownloadPolicy $true

Restrict grouped connected and non grouped connected SharePoint sites

Enable site access restriction

Before using the property , enables tenant-level access restriction for your organization first setting the property EnableRestrictedAccessControl described above.

For group-connected sites, this setting limits permissions to users in the Microsoft 365 Group. For non-grouped sites, access can be restricted to up to 10 specified Entra ID security groups or Microsoft 365 Groups.

  • SPO PowerShell
Set-SPOSite -Identity <siteurl> -RestrictedAccessControl $true
  • PnP PowerShell
Set-PnPTenantSite -Identity <siteurl> -RestrictedAccessControl $true

Reset site access restriction

  • SPO PowerShell
Set-SPOSite -Identity <siteurl> -ClearRestrictedAccessControl
  • PnP PowerShell
Set-PnPTenantSite -Identity <siteurl> -ClearRestrictedAccessControl

The following message will be displayed on resetting the site access restriction.

Restricted access control has been disabled on the site https://reshmeeauckloo.sharepoint.com/sites/SharingTest. It is recommended to review the site permissions and remove users who no longer need access to the site.

Restrict non grouped connected SharePoint sites and OneDrive access with Microsoft 365 groups and Entra security groups more settings

Read more Restrict SharePoint site access with Microsoft 365 groups and Entra security groups

Read more Restrict access to a user’s OneDrive content to people in a group

Access and sharing of individual OneDrive’s and SharePoint site content can be restricted to users in specified Microsoft Entra ID security groups using OneDrive access restriction policy. Users not in the specified group won’t be able to access the content, even if they had prior permissions or shared link.

Using the above cmdlets on a group connected site will throw the following error message

The is not updated. This site is a Microsoft 365 group connected site, refer https://aka.ms/RACPolicyForSites to learn more.

If license is missing and restricted access is not enabled , the error message and warning message will appear

WARNING: To apply restricted access control, enable the policy on the site https://reshmeeauckloo.sharepoint.com/sites/Contosoinc-hr-Finance. Refer https://aka.ms/RACPolicyForSites to learn more.  
Set-SPOSite : You need a SharePoint Advanced Management license to perform this action.

Add group

  • SPO PowerShell
Set-SPOSite -Identity <siteurl> -AddRestrictedAccessControlGroups 21af775d-17b3-4637-94a4-2ba8625277cb,5cecaf4f-df68-414f-8029-a4e7e37df66e
  • PnP PowerShell*
Set-PnPTenantSite -Identity <siteurl> -AddRestrictedAccessControlGroups 21af775d-17b3-4637-94a4-2ba8625277cb,5cecaf4f-df68-414f-8029-a4e7e37df66e

Edit group

  • SPO PowerShell
Set-SPOSite -Identity <siteurl> -RestrictedAccessControlGroups 21af775d-17b3-4637-94a4-2ba8625277cb,5cecaf4f-df68-414f-8029-a4e7e37df66e
  • PnP PowerShell*
Set-PnPTenantSite -Identity <siteurl> -RestrictedAccessControlGroups 21af775d-17b3-4637-94a4-2ba8625277cb,5cecaf4f-df68-414f-8029-a4e7e37df66e

View group

  • SPO PowerShell
Get-SPOSite -Identity <siteurl> | Select RestrictedAccessControl, RestrictedAccessControlGroups
  • PnP PowerShell
Get-PnPTenantSite -Identity <siteurl> | Select RestrictedAccessControl, RestrictedAccessControlGroups

Remove group

  • SPO PowerShell
Set-SPOSite -Identity <siteurl> -RemoveRestrictedAccessControlGroups 21af775d-17b3-4637-94a4-2ba8625277cb,5cecaf4f-df68-414f-8029-a4e7e37df66e
  • PnP PowerShell
Get-PnPTenantSite -Identity <siteurl> -RemoveRestrictedAccessControlGroups 21af775d-17b3-4637-94a4-2ba8625277cb,5cecaf4f-df68-414f-8029-a4e7e37df66e

Conditional Access Policy

This policy blocks or limits access to SharePoint and OneDrive content from unmanaged devices.

Possible values:

AllowFullAccess: Allows full access from desktop apps, mobile apps, and the web. AllowLimitedAccess: Allows limited, web-only access. BlockAccess: Blocks Access.

Refer to Control access from unmanaged devices.

Set-SPOSite -Identity https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/SharingTest ` 
            -ConditionalAccessPolicy AllowLimitedAccess  #PnP PowerShell does not have that option yet

Default Sensitivity label for sites and libraries for security

To use this feature, enable the tenant setting EnableAIPIntegration.

Set-SPOTenant -EnableAIPIntegration $true

For more information, see Enable sensitivity labels for Office files in SharePoint and OneDrive for more info.

Set Sensitivity label can be set at the site level

  • SPO PowerShell
set-sposite -identity <site url>  -SensitivityLabel b160962f-aee6-431d-891c-8f1e31ccdba3
  • PnP PowerShell
Get-PnPTenantSite -Identity <siteurl>  -SensitivityLabel b160962f-aee6-431d-891c-8f1e31ccdba3

Set Sensitivity label can be set at the library level

Default sensitivity label can be set to a library to all new / modified files inside a document library. This ensures that documents are protected even if a user forgets to specify the label. It can apply a higher priority label if a user has a default label applied.

Library sensitivity label

  • PnP PowerShell
Set-PnPList -Identity "Demo List" -DefaultSensitivityLabelForLibrary "Business"

For more information, see Configure a default sensitivity label for a SharePoint document library

Other SharePoint Avanced Management features

SharePoint Avanced Management features

  • Change history : Find who made particular site or organization setting changes and when

For more information, see Create change history reports

  • Data access governance reports : Discover potential oversharing and keep track of sites that have sensitive files

For more information, see Data access governance reports for SharePoint sites

Data Governance

  • Recent actions : Review recent site changes you made

For more information, see Review your recent changes to SharePoint site properties

  • Site lifecycle management : Automate tasks across the life cycle of your sites

For more information, see Manage site lifecycle policies

Additional AI driven SharePoint Premium Features

I followed the post Enable Pay-as-You-Go Licensing for Syntex aka SharePoint Premium. to enable SharePoint Premium using my Visual Studio Azure subscription.

Content Processing

  • Autofill columns
  • Taxonomy tagging
  • Content query
  • Translation
  • Annotations
  • Automated classification and security

Syntex Settings

References

Prepare content for Microsoft Copilot w/ SharePoint Content Governance | M365 Community Conference

Enable Pay-as-You-Go Licensing for Syntex aka SharePoint Premium.

Manage site lifecycle policies

Review your recent changes to SharePoint site properties

Data access governance reports for SharePoint sites