Microsoft ends Restricted SharePoint Search in January 2027
Reviewed by Helen Jones
Microsoft will stop new enablements of Restricted SharePoint Search on 31 July 2026 and retire the feature entirely on 31 January 2027. The tool let admins limit search and Copilot results to a maximum of 100 sites on an allow list. After retirement, organization-wide search and Copilot will use only the permissions already set on each site. The feature never altered those permissions. Admins who still rely on the allow list must move to SharePoint Advanced Management reports and Microsoft Purview for any ongoing content governance work.
Before this change, small teams could hide behind a 100-site whitelist and treat it as a quick fix for Copilot exposure. It masked the real permission sprawl without requiring a full audit. Now the whitelist disappears. Search and Copilot will reflect whatever permissions actually exist, so every overshared site, broken inheritance, or guest link on the old list becomes visible to users and AI queries.
Analysis
RSS was never governance; it was a 100-site crutch. Export the current allow list this week, then run a permission review on exactly those sites before July. Anything left unchecked will surface in Copilot results next year.
Pulse published by Collab365 Spaces, reviewed by Helen Jones on . Cite as "Microsoft ends Restricted SharePoint Search in January 2027", Collab365 Spaces. 1 source referenced.