Microsoft Viva Engage: Modernized Private Content Mode

Updated September 17, 2025: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience.

Introduction

Viva Engage is introducing a successor to legacy Private Content Mode (PCM) in Yammer: When explicitly enabled, Verified admins and Engage admins will be able to open, view, and take moderation actions on conversations in private communities they are not members of. This capability is intended to support timely moderation and safety response without requiring admins to join each private community. Network admins and corporate communicators are not included in scope. This is a feature available to all Microsoft 365 tenants but requires an explicit, per‑admin opt‑in via a toggle in the Engage Admin Center.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 498493.

When this will happen

General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out mid-September 2025 and expect to complete by late September 2025.

How this affects your organization

When a Verified admin or Engage admin (Yammer administrator in Entra) turns on the new Private Content Mode toggle in the Engage Admin Center:

• They can view community feed, conversations, post conversations and moderate them for any private community that they are not a member of.
• Moderation actions supported in private communities (without membership) include delete, mute, close, plus other standard conversation actions. Admins may also start new conversations or reply in those communities; such activity appears in their All-activity feed on their storyline.
• Manage certain community settings like managing community experts, the files tab being shown. You can learn more on what they can and cannot do in the Monitor private content in Viva Engage documentation - which will be updated at the time of general availability.
• Private content mode will persist for that particular admin user until it is explicitly disabled in the Engage admin center.

To enable/disable this mode

Go to Engage Admin Center > Governance & Compliance > Data Management > and toggle Private Content Mode On or Off.

While enabled, a persistent, non‑dismissible banner appears across the Engage web UX.

Important limits

• Private messages can only be viewed via data export or the ediscovery tool going forward.
• Community specific files and events will not be visible in private communities unless the admin is a member; admins also cannot attach media/files when posting in such communities while operating under PCM. Access to SharePoint‑scoped content remains governed by SharePoint/Entra permissions.
• No accidental discovery: Private communities the admin isn’t a member of will not appear in Home feed and digests: content is only reachable via community navigation, or direct links.
• Network Analytics: no change to aggregation. Admins may continue to see aggregate counts, but drill‑down views only include posts from public communities or communities they are a member of.

What you can do to prepare

• Decide who should have access: Limit enablement to Verified admins and/or Engage admins with moderation responsibilities.
• Update policies and training: Clarify appropriate use of this mode (purpose‑bound moderation, least‑privilege, no browsing).
• Plan for audit and oversight: The enablement/disablement of this mode is audit‑logged (who and when). Review your audit pipelines and retention to ensure these events are captured and monitored.

Compliance considerations