New in Catalog Management: Create custom group of sites

What and Why: Microsoft is expanding Catalog Management in SharePoint Advanced Management to help organizations classify and organize SharePoint sites by department, team, business unit, or other custom taxonomies. This release introduces new ways to create and manage catalog categories using CSV uploads, SharePoint site properties, and Microsoft Entra ID extension attributes. These capabilities improve governance, content discovery, reporting, and future administration scenarios. Rollout Schedule: General Availability (Worldwide): Began in June 2026; expected to complete by mid-July 2026 Impact on Your Organization: Who is affected: SharePoint administrators Microsoft 365 administrators Organizations using SharePoint Advanced Management Governance and information architecture teams Platforms/Services: SharePoint Online SharePoint Advanced Management Microsoft 365 Admin Center (future integrations) SharePoint Admin Center Microsoft Entra ID What will happen: Administrators can bulk-create catalog categories from CSV uploads. Administrators can organize sites using SharePoint site bag properties. Category visibility can be targeted using Microsoft Entra ID extension attributes. Organizations can create department, team, or business-based site taxonomies. Future integrations that will use Catalog groups include:Allowing organizations to define governance boundaries and include them in various SharePoint Advanced Management features  Pay-as-you-go storage management capabilities that will use Catalog groupings for departmental billing scenarios. No user workflow changes are introduced by this release. No migration activities are required. Action Required/Recommendations: No action is required. Recommended preparation activities: Review your current SharePoint information architecture and determine whether departmental or organizational taxonomies would provide governance benefits. Identify existing SharePoint site properties that could be used for categorization. Review available Microsoft Entra ID extension attributes that may support category visibility targeting. Communicate upcoming capabilities to SharePoint governance and administration teams. Learn more: Catalog management in SharePoint Advanced Management - SharePoint in Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn Compliance Considerations: Area Explanation Administrative reporting and governance Catalog categories provide new ways to organize sites and support governance-related reporting and management activities. Admin controls and Entra targeting Administrators can manage Catalog categories and use Microsoft Entra ID extension attributes to scope visibility.