Microsoft Purview | Information Protection: Apply default SharePoint library sensitivity labels to data at rest

Microsoft Purview will enable an auto-labeling policy to apply default SharePoint library sensitivity labels to existing files, improving labeling coverage without user action. This opt-in feature, rolling out in October 2026, requires administrator configuration and supports up to 10 SharePoint sites per policy. Microsoft Purview is introducing a new auto-labeling policy that applies a SharePoint document library’s default sensitivity label to existing files stored in that library. Previously, default library sensitivity labels were applied only to new or modified files. With this update, organizations can extend labeling to historical content, including files that existed before the default library sensitivity label was configured for the site, without requiring users to open or edit files and without creating content inspection rules. This capability helps improve labeling coverage, reduce the number of unlabeled files, and support information protection objectives across existing SharePoint content. Rollout schedule General Availability (Worldwide): Beginning in early October 2026 and expected to complete by mid-October 2026 Impact on your organization Who is affected Microsoft Purview administrators who manage sensitivity labels and auto-labeling policies Organizations using SharePoint document libraries with default sensitivity labels configured Users are affected only if administrators enable and configure this new policy Platforms and services Microsoft Purview Information Protection Microsoft Purview Auto-labeling SharePoint Online What will happen After an administrator creates and enables this policy: Auto-labeling will evaluate existing files in selected SharePoint document libraries. Files that do not have a sensitivity label applied will receive the library’s default sensitivity label. Files that existed in a library before the default sensitivity label was configured can now be labeled automatically. Files that have a lower-priority sensitivity label applied may be upgraded to the library’s default sensitivity label (depending on the policy setting). Users are not required to open or edit files for labeling to occur. Content inspection conditions, such as sensitive information types or trainable classifiers, are not required for this policy. Labeling occurs as a background service process and is not immediate. The same default sensitivity label already applied to new or modified files in the library is used for existing files. The feature is opt-in […]

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