Tony Redmond
@office365itpros.com
Commentator and writer about #Microsoft365. Always looking for insight about how things work... Articles posted at https://office365itpros.com and https://practical365.com. And the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook at https://gum.co/O365IT/
Restricted Content Discovery (RCD) is an important guardrail for all Copilot implementations. RCD has received a makeover to ensure that #Copilot can't use documents in certain edge cases. More information at office365itpros.com/2026/08/05/r... #Microsoft365
Restricted Content Discovery Gets a Makeover
The Restricted Content Discovery (RCD) feature is an important part of Microsoft 365 Copilot deployments. Microsoft is giving RCD a makeover.
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A new feature in Microsoft Defender for #Office365 blocks attempts to introduce prompt injections via email. It's included in MDO Plan 2. Because #Copilot can access shared mailboxes, these objects need protection too... office365itpros.com/2026/08/04/m... #Microsoft365
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Blocks Prompt Injections
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 (MDO) can detect and quarantine email containing prompt injections. Shared mailboxes might need licenses for the protection.
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#EntraID has a new method of stopping nested security groups. For now, everything is done through #PowerShell or another Graph interface. Some will love this feature, others will hate it. I think it's good. More at office365itpros.com/2026/08/03/b... #Microsoft365
Entra ID Enables Blocking for Nested Security Groups
A new Entra ID feature enables the ability to block nesting for security groups. That might not sound important, but it is to those who manage permissions.
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The August 2026 update for the #Microsoft365 for IT Pros eBook (well, 4 eBooks in one package) is available for subscribers to download. See office365itpros.com/2026/08/01/m... for more information.
Microsoft 365 for IT Pros August 2026 Update
The August 2026 monthly update for the Microsoft 365 for IT Pros eBook is now available for subscribers to download. All four books are updated.
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Has #Microsoft365 become too complex for mere humans to understand how the ecosystem fits together? Who knows Entra ID, SharePoint, Exchange, Teams, OneDrive, Planner, and Purview (a special challenge) to the level required? It's quite a challenge. office365itpros.com/2026/07/31/m...
Microsoft 365 - Too Complex for Humans to Understand?
A recent Reddit thread asked the very good question whether Microsoft 365 is now so complex that no single person can understand the ecosystem.
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Microsoft's FY26 Q4 results show that the Microsoft Cloud continues to be very profitable. In other news, #Microsoft365 #Copilot has 30 million paid seats. Sounds good, and progress is being made, but it's still less than 7% of the M365 installed base office365itpros.com/2026/07/30/f...
FY26 Q4 Microsoft Results Sees Azure Top $100 Billion
On July 29, Microsoft released their FY26 Q4 results. We learned that Microsoft 365 Copilot has 30 million paid seats, but that's still less than 7% of M365.
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A new DLP capability can block #Microsoft365 #Copilot from processing external email. This can block prompt injections, but lots of useful info arrives by email, so it's an interesting call to make. More here: office365itpros.com/2026/07/29/d...
New DLP Rule to Block Copilot from Processing External Email
A new (preview) DLP capability allows Microsoft 365 tenants to block Microsoft 365 Copilot from processing the content of external email.
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#Planner supports #Microsoft365 retention policies from next month. The app has been around for years and I was curious about the potential effect on plans when retention is applied. So I wrote a #PowerShell script to report what might happen... office365itpros.com/2026/07/28/p...
Planner Tasks Gain Support for Retention Policies
FromAugust 2026, Microsoft 365 tenants can apply retention policies to Planner Tasks. We prepared by writing some PowerShell to test the effect of retention.
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#Exchange Online has updated its #PowerShell module to fix a problem with certificate-based authentication (CBA). It's recommended that you upgrade to the new version of the module. More at: office365itpros.com/2026/07/27/e... #Microsoft365
Exchange Online Management PowerShell 3.10.1 Fixes CBA Issue
Microsoft rushed out version 3.10.1 of the Exchange Online management PowerShell module to fix a problem with certificate-based authentication.
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#MicrosoftTeams has a new #PowerShell module, which is nice, and the new module supports controls for federated chat, which is even better... but the #Microsoft365 modules are in a state of meltdown as they stubbornly refuse to work alongside each other. office365itpros.com/2026/07/24/f...
Federated Chat Controls in New Teams PowerShell Module
Teams released a new version of their PowerShell module on July 19. The new module contains WAM support and cmdlets to control federated chat.
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If you use the Graph #PowerShell SDK, you know that its service principal accumulates delegated permissions over time. Accumulation can reach a point where authentication isn't possible. Maybe #Microsoft365 tenants should prune the permission set? office365itpros.com/2026/07/23/p...
Permissions Creep Halts Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK
The Microsoft Graph PowerShell Command Line tools app is how people run Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK cmdlets. The app can suffer from permissions creep.
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A new Data Loss Prevention capability for #Microsoft365 can block sharing from #SharePoint and #OneDrive for selected domains and users. The block has retrospective effect and blocks existing sharing links for the targeted domains/users. More at office365itpros.com/2026/07/22/b...
DLP Can Block Sharing for SharePoint and OneDrive
A new DLP rule is available to block sharing of SharePoint and OneDrive files with selected domains and email addresses.
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If you write #PowerShell scripts for #Microsoft365 automation, JSON batching (a horrible name) is a good way to accelerate performance, especially in large tenants. Here's how: office365itpros.com/2026/07/21/j...
How JSON Batching Speeds Up Graph API Processing
JSON batching is one of the most effective ways to speed up the processing of Graph API requests. Although it might seem complicated, it's not.
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Overall, I like using system-assigned managed identities with Azure Automation, but user-assigned system identities have their own charms, as investigated here: office365itpros.com/2026/07/20/u... #Microsoft365
Use a User Assigned Managed Identity to connect to the Graph
A user assigned managed identity is a secure method to authenticate with many important endpoints, including the Microsoft Graph.
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Microsoft will retire the OWA Light client for on-premises Exchange in August. It seems like they did the same for Exchange Online in June 2024, even if some vestiges remain. A HTTP client written that can run on almost any browser is gone... office365itpros.com/2026/07/17/o... #Microsoft365
Microsoft Retires OWA Light Client for Exchange Server
On July 8, Microsoft said that they will retire the OWA Light client for Exchange Server in August 2026. But what about the OWA Light client for Exchange Online
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It is possible to schedule #MicrosoftTeams meetings from shared mailboxes... but if you record or transcribe those meetings, the MP4 files end up in an unlicensed OneDrive account. And what happens to unlicensed OneDrive accounts? They get deleted... office365itpros.com/2026/07/16/s... #Microsoft365
How to Schedule Teams Meetings from Shared Mailboxes
It is possible to schedule Teams meetings from shared mailboxes, but a recent clampdown on unlicensed OneDrive for Business accounts causes a problem.
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2 interesting #ExchangeOnline developments: Stop #Microsoft365 tenants adding duplicate dynamic distribution groups and cross-tenant message recall. The second requires admins to cooperate and there's still no way to recall email sent outside Microsoft 365. office365itpros.com/2026/07/15/c...
Cross-Tenant Message Recall and Stopping Duplicate DDLs
Last week, the Exchange development team announced two interesting developments. Stopping duplicate dynamic distribution lists and cross-tenant message recall.
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In a massive change for #EntraID, Microsoft is withdrawing support for SMS one-time code and voice call responses for MFA challenges in Feb 2027. #Microsoft365 tenants can continue to use the discontinued methods, but only by buying a telco service. office365itpros.com/2026/07/14/e...
No More SMS One-time Codes and Voice Calls from Entra ID
In an important announcement for all tenants, Microsoft revealed that Entra ID will no longer provide SMS one-time codes or voice calls for MFA challenges
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Most #Microsoft365 tenants have a bunch of obsolete #SharePoint sites. The admin center reports a last activity date property, but it's unreliable due to background processing. Here's how to mix usage and site data to extract a reliable picture of site activity office365itpros.com/2026/07/13/f...
How to Identify Obsolete Sites with PowerShell
Microsoft 365 has been around for many years, and it's likely that a tenant has some obsolete sites. This article explains how to identify obsolete sites.
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Anyone who runs tests against a #Microsoft365 tenant might encounter the problem of stale test data. Live data changes all the time, so should test data, and that's where the M365Mutator app helps, Check it out at office365itpros.com/2026/07/10/m...
Use M365Mutator to Make Microsoft 365 Test Data Less Boring
Testing Microsoft 365 scenarios involves test data. If the data is stale or always the same, it might not generate good results. M365Mutator helps by mixing things up.
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Another take on an old topic: figuring out whether #ExchangeOnline distribution lists are in use. The message trace cmdlet fetches up to 10 days of data back to a max of 90 days. Splitting into 9 batches means that we can check activity over 90 days: office365itpros.com/2026/07/09/i... #Microsoft365
Check Inactive Distribution Lists Over the Last 90 Days
The new Get-MessageTraceV2 cmdlet can fetch 90 days of message trace data in 10-day chunks, which means that we can check for inactive distribution lists
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Some years ago, I wrote a #PowerShell script to report managers and direct reports from #AzureAD. The code needed revision, so here's a new version for #EntraID that uses Graph APIs, etc. office365itpros.com/2026/07/08/m... #Microsoft365
How to Report Managers and Direct Reports from Entra ID
An old article written about how to report managers and direct reports from Azure AD needs revision. This version uses the Microsoft Graph APIs.
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#Outlook has a #Copilot scheduling agent. Unhappily, Paul Robichaux discovers that the agent doesn't work quite as well as expected when he sets it some scheduling tasks.... office365itpros.com/2026/07/07/c... #Microsoft365
Outlook Calendar Agent Fails to Live Up to Expectations
The Outlook calendar agent seemed to be the answer to the difficulties that I sometimes encounter when trying to sort out my schedule. Alas, the agent failed.
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A new Purview DLP action can send #SharePoint and #OneDrive files to quarantine if someone violates a rule (like sharing outside the #Microsoft365 tenant). It's something to protect highly confidential files, not for general use: office365itpros.com/2026/07/06/d...
DLP Move to Quarantine Action Available for SharePoint
The DLP move to quarantine action is available for SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business files. If blocked, DLP replaces the quarantined file with a file.
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I was asked if it's possible to take snapshots of #MicrosoftTeams memberships at points in time. Here's how I responded with a #PowerShell script: office365itpros.com/2026/07/03/t... #Microsoft365
Record Teams Membership Snapshots Easily with PowerShell
A lawyer asked me if it was possible to take a snapshot of Teams memberships (people who were members at a point in time). PowerShell makes this easy.
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There's a #MicrosoftTeams Graph API called removeAllAccessForUser that you might assume would "remove all access for a user." But it doesn't, partially because of cross-tenant boundaries, and also because the API seems unfinished: office365itpros.com/2026/07/02/e... #Microsoft365
Misleading API to Remove External Chat for Teams User
The Graph removeAllAccessForUser API is supposed to remove external chat messages from the view of a tenant user. The API doesn't work as advertised.
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Announcing the publication of the Microsoft 365 for IT Pros eBook (bundle)... Four ebooks covering the breadth of #Microsoft365. This is the 13th edition in a series going back to 2015. I'm very happy with the work done to revise our content. office365itpros.com/2026/07/01/m...
Announcing Microsoft 365 for IT Pros (2027 Edition)
We're happy to announce the publication of Microsoft 365 for IT Pros (2027 edition) eBook, the most comprehensive and up-to-date book covering tenant management
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Coming tomorrow (July 1, 2026)... the 13th version of #Office365 for IT Pros, renamed as #Microsoft365 for IT Pros. With two new eBooks and lots of new content. What more could a Microsoft 365 tenant administrator need?
Little things that can make a big difference. In this case, a small window to answer incoming #MicrosoftTeams calls is very useful. I like #Microsoft365 changes that add value, and this is one of them. office365itpros.com/2026/06/30/i...
Incoming Teams Calls Get a Small Window
A recent improvement is the introduction of a small window for incoming Teams calls. It doesn't sound like a great step forward, but it's surprisingly useful.
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One for the #Microsoft365 #Copilot users in the audience... two recent changes made to chat persistence and how "memory" is managed are important because they make Copilot better. Here's why: office365itpros.com/2026/06/29/c...
Updates for Copilot Memory and Chat Persistence
Two recent changes to the Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat app have made it easier to use. Interactions perist and Copilot memory is managed more easily.
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