Microsoft 365 · Free guide
Is your SharePoint ready for Copilot?
The 10-point SharePoint check to run before you switch on Microsoft 365 Copilot (now called Microsoft Copilot).
What you will get: You get a list of risky SharePoint sites, who fixes each one and by when, and a signed sign-off from each site owner.
The key points
- Microsoft says Copilot only surfaces organisational data that a user has at least view permission to. It doesn't create new access, but it makes old oversharing easy to find.
- Start with the biggest leaks: "Everyone except external users" on sensitive sites, "People in your organisation" links on private files, "Anyone" links with no expiry, public teams, and guests who never left.
- Restricted Content Discovery keeps a site out of organisation-wide search and Copilot answers while you fix it. It doesn't change permissions, doesn't work on OneDrive, and Microsoft calls it a temporary control.
- Restricted SharePoint Search is retiring. Since 31 July 2026 it can't be newly switched on, and Microsoft points to Restricted Content Discovery instead.
- SharePoint Advanced Management tools come with your first Microsoft Copilot licence, but Microsoft lists Office 365 E3, E5 and A5 and Microsoft 365 E1, E3, E5 and A5 as the base plans. On a Business plan, check eligibility first.
- Copilot in SharePoint began rolling out to general availability on 30 September 2026. The preview PowerShell on/off settings stop being honoured on 1 November 2026. After that, use Site AI settings and Restricted Content Discovery.
- Make site owners part of the fix: send site access reviews from the Data access governance reports, then re-run the activity reports monthly and the snapshot reports quarterly, as Microsoft suggests.
Inside the guide
- Why Copilot finds overshared files
- Licence notes: what you need for each tool
- The 10-point check: 1 to 5
- The 10-point check: 6 to 10
- Restricted Content Discovery explained
- Copilot in SharePoint dates and your 30-day plan
- Your risky sites list (worksheet)
- Site owner sign-off
- Your next step
- Jargon buster and sources
Who it is for
- Microsoft 365 and SharePoint admins
- IT leads planning a Copilot rollout
- SharePoint site owners
Sources
- Microsoft Learn, Data, Privacy, and Security for Microsoft Copilot
- Microsoft Learn, License Options for Microsoft Copilot
- Microsoft Learn, Prerequisites for SharePoint Advanced Management
- Microsoft Learn, Data access governance reports for SharePoint sites
- Microsoft Learn, Initiate site access reviews for Data access governance reports
- Microsoft Learn, Restrict discovery of SharePoint sites and content
- Microsoft Learn, Restricted SharePoint Search
- Microsoft Learn, Get started with Copilot in SharePoint
- Microsoft Learn, Manage sharing settings for SharePoint and OneDrive in Microsoft 365
- Microsoft Learn, Change the default sharing link for a site
- Microsoft Learn, Use sensitivity labels to protect collaborative workspaces (groups and sites)
- Microsoft Learn, Considerations for Microsoft Purview to manage Microsoft 365 Copilot
- Microsoft Learn, What are access reviews?
- APPS 365 LTD, GovernPoint for SharePoint
- Microsoft AppSource, GovernPoint listing
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