Microsoft Purview is rolling out a great new capability for SharePoint and OneDrive: automatic actions for sensitivity labels.

Until now, if someone manually applied the wrong label to a file, admins had limited options—especially when large volumes of content were involved. With this update, Purview can now automatically override or remove manually applied sensitivity labels when they don’t match your organization’s policies.

In simple terms:
Your data stays correctly classified, even when humans make mistakes.

Rollout begins mid‑April 2026, and the feature will be off by default, giving administrators full control over when and how they want to enable it. It’s another step toward stronger, more accurate data governance across Microsoft 365.

Microsoft Purview is getting a meaningful upgrade as part of its ongoing integration with Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps. The latest improvement brings new auto‑labeling actions to SharePoint and OneDrive, giving organizations more control over how sensitive information is classified across their environment.

What’s new?
Admins can now automatically override sensitivity labels that were applied manually or remove labels entirely when a file no longer meets the criteria for that classification. This means large volumes of content can stay properly labeled—even as information changes—without relying on users to update labels themselves.

This update appears under Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 558342.

📅 Rollout Timeline

• General Availability (Worldwide): Starting mid‑April 2026
• Completion expected by mid‑April 2026

A fast rollout for a very impactful capability.

Who will be impacted

This update mainly affects:

• Microsoft 365 admins managing Purview Information Protection
• Organizations using auto‑labeling policies for SharePoint or OneDrive

What’s changing

Admins will now see new actions inside the auto‑labeling configuration panel in the Purview portal.

Auto‑labeling policies can now:

✔ Override existing sensitivity labels

Even if a user applied the label manually, Purview can replace it if the file meets a different policy condition.

✔ Remove a specific sensitivity label

If a file no longer qualifies for a certain label, Purview can automatically strip it from the document.

✔ Applies to files at rest

These changes affect existing content already stored in:

• SharePoint Online
• OneDrive for Business

✔ Admin-controlled

Nothing changes until an admin enables these new actions.
By default, the feature is off.

Compliance Considerations

Area	What It Means
Does this change how customer data is processed?	Yes—files in SharePoint and OneDrive may now have labels automatically overridden or removed based on rules you configure.
Does this modify Information Protection capabilities?	Yes—it expands auto‑labeling to include overriding manual labels and removing specific labels.
Does this affect monitoring or compliance evidence?	Yes—it improves consistency and auditability because label changes follow formal Purview policies.
Is there an admin control?	Absolutely. Admins must explicitly configure these new actions in Purview. Nothing changes automatically.