What’s new for SharePoint – January 2025
The year has started with a real revolution on SharePoint, an application and platform that houses more than 2 billion files every day. Gone are the days when SharePoint was used just to store documents. With the new updates and web parts, such as the Editorial Card and the Carousel layout, combined with flexible layouts, we will soon have the most beautiful SharePoint sites in our intranets.
To discover all the exciting new features and updates, continue reading this article and dive into the world of SharePoint’s latest innovations.
JAN
6
SharePoint: Modifications in the Embedded container type creation cmdlets in PowerShell
We’re introducing modifications in the container type creation cmdlets. The New-SPOContainerType cmdlet will only create a new container type. We are introducing the Add-SPOContainerTypeBilling cmdlet to add billing profile to the new container type.
JAN
7
SharePoint Pages Flexible Sections
SharePoint introduces Flexible Sections, allowing page customization without strict column structures. Web parts can be resized and moved dynamically. New section templates are available, and the features will roll out from late January to late April 2025. Organizations should prepare users and help desks for these updates.
Microsoft 365 Copilot: Select Microsoft SharePoint sites when writing prompts
Microsoft 365 Copilot will soon allow users to select SharePoint sites when writing prompts using Context IQ (CIQ). This feature, requiring a Copilot license, will roll out worldwide from mid to late February 2025 without needing admin action. Users will see recent SharePoint sites they have access to in CIQ.
Microsoft 365 Copilot: Select Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft OneDrive folders when writing prompts
Microsoft 365 Copilot will soon allow users to select SharePoint and OneDrive folders when writing prompts, using Context IQ. This feature, requiring a Copilot license, will roll out worldwide from mid to late February 2025 and will be available by default with no tenant admin impact.
Microsoft SharePoint: New “Editorial card” web part for Pages and News
A new “Editorial card” web part is coming to Microsoft SharePoint for Pages and News, allowing manual content customization. It will start rolling out in late January 2025 and be available by default. No admin action is required before the rollout.
JAN
8
SharePoint Online: Re-imagined Hero with the new carousel layout in pages and news
SharePoint Online introduces a Carousel layout for the Hero web part, enhancing pages and news with a slideshow, new styles, and a call to action. Rollout begins mid-January 2025 for Targeted Release and mid-February 2025 for General Availability, requiring no admin action.
JAN
13
Viva Engage: Leadership feed available in SharePoint web part
The message details the addition of a “leaders” feed to the Viva Engage conversations web part in SharePoint. Site admins can now include this feed, which displays content based on user license status. The feature is globally available and requires no action from admins. Users may see content from the leadership corner or home feed.
SharePoint: New Accessibility assistant tool for authoring Pages
A new ‘Accessibility assistant’ tool for SharePoint Pages is coming to help creators ensure content accessibility. It will begin rolling out in late January 2025 for Targeted Release and mid-February 2025 for General Availability, completing in early March 2025. The tool will support five web parts and provide guidance to address accessibility issues. No admin action is required for the rollout.
JAN
15
Microsoft Viva Connections: Update to app name
The Microsoft Viva Connections app will be renamed to Connections to fit better in Microsoft Teams. The rollout starts mid-January 2025 and ends by mid-February 2025. Customizations remain if already made. No admin action is required, but users should be informed.
JAN
20
Microsoft Viva: New Accessibility assistant tool for authoring in Amplify
Microsoft Viva introduces an ‘Accessibility assistant’ tool for Amplify, aiding content creators with accessibility standards. Rolling out from late January to early March 2025, it features checks and guidance, supporting Banner, Text, Image, and Quick Links web parts. No admin action is required for the rollout.
Microsoft Teams: New file path in Microsoft SharePoint for email attachments
Microsoft Teams is updating the storage path for email attachments sent to a channel, storing them in SharePoint under “Documents > Apps > Microsoft Teams Mailhook > [Channel Name].” This change, already rolling out, will be completed by late January 2025 and requires no admin action before completion. Users should be informed of this update.
SharePoint: Syntex Optical Character Recognition (OCR) extends support for Microsoft Office files
SharePoint OCR feature now extends support to Microsoft Office files. Previously, OCR was limited to PDFs and images but with this update, you can seamlessly extract and utilize text from any embedded images within any Microsoft Office files like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
SharePoint: Preview for Pages and News
This creates Preview mode for authors to view how their Pages and News will look across different device types while editing.
JAN
23
Microsoft Viva: Viva Amplify – Distribute from SharePoint
We are bringing Amplify capabilities to SharePoint. Soon, you will be able to share your Pages to multiple channels using Amplify without needing to navigate away from SharePoint. You will receive the in-depth Amplify reporting on these pages.
Microsoft Viva: Viva Amplify – Sensitivity labels
Viva Amplify will support sending mail with sensitivity.
Microsoft Purview compliance portal: Data Loss Prevention – Admin units support for SharePoint Online
Delegate management and remediation authority for different people in different regions or organization units with role-based access control (RBAC). For example, German investigators should be able to investigate alerts and audit events for only German users. This update extends support to SharePoint for Microsoft 365.
JAN
24
Microsoft Purview compliance portal: Information Protection – Scan cold files in SharePoint and OneDrive for sensitive information
This new capability will enable admins to scan existing files at rest in SharePoint or OneDrive for Business for sensitive data and classify and/or label them accordingly. This includes files that have never been scanned or scanned in some time.
Microsoft Viva: Viva Amplify – Support for file upload
Viva Amplify will support authors uploading a file with a list of emails to make it easier for the Outlook channel to reach large audiences.
JAN
26
Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Copilot uses enterprise assets hosted on SharePoint OAL when creating presentations with Copilot
Once you integrate your organization’s assets into a SharePoint OAL (Organization Asset Library), you will be able to create presentations with your organization’s images.
JAN
29
Microsoft SharePoint: New preview mode for Pages and News posts
Coming soon to Microsoft SharePoint: The new Preview mode can be used to understand how Pages and News posts will appear on different device types when viewed by an audience.
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