MC1106875 - Microsoft Purview | ​Information Protection: On-demand classification of files on Windows devices for sensitive data

Service

Microsoft 365 suite
Microsoft Purview

Published

Jun 30, 2025

Tag

New feature
User impact
Admin impact

Platforms

Web

Summary

Microsoft Purview Information Protection is introducing on-demand classification of files on Windows devices to enhance data security and compliance. Public preview starts mid-July 2025, with general availability in mid-November 2025. Admins can access this feature in Purview without impacting existing configurations. No immediate action is required.

More information

We’re introducing a new capability in Microsoft Purview Information Protection: On-demand classification of files on Windows devices. This feature will enable you to discover and classify sensitive content stored on devices, helping to strengthen your data security posture and meet compliance requirements.

This capability is especially useful for:

  • Investigating potential incidents or exposure risks
  • Surfacing older files that weren’t captured in Data Loss Prevention (DLP) activity logs
  • Identifying sensitive content in place for audit or compliance use

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 496593.

When this will happen:

Public Preview: We will begin rolling out mid-July 2025 and expect to complete by late July 2025.

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

How this will affect your organization:

After this rollout, admins can access this feature in Purview Information Protection at Data Loss Protection > Classifiers > On-demand classification: 

user settings

There will be no impact to existing Purview configuration or user experience by default. You can choose to use this capability to discover existing content and apply applicable policies.

user settings

What you need to do to prepare:

No immediate action is required. Once available, you can initiate scans on Windows devices to classify existing data based on your organization’s compliance or security needs. Before rollout, we will update the following post: On-demand classification (preview) - Microsoft Purview | Microsoft Learn.

Compliance considerations:

  • Does the change modify, interrupt, or disable any audit logging capabilities (Purview): Yes. - New audit event introduced.