MC1230453 - Retirement of “Include attachments” and “Include external networks” options for data export in Viva Engage Admin Center

Introduction

To reduce confusion and align the data export experience with Viva Engage networks operating in native mode, we’re retiring two legacy options from the data export experience in the Viva Engage admin center. These options only applied to legacy Yammer networks and are not applicable to Viva Engage networks in native mode. Removing them simplifies the admin experience and aligns exports with how data is stored and accessed today.

When this will happen:

• March 13, 2026: The “Include attachments” and “Include external networks” options will be retired (removed) from the Viva Engage admin center data export UI.

How this affects your organization:

Who is affected:

• Admins who manage data exports in the Viva Engage admin center
• Organizations with legacy Yammer networks or modern external Viva Engage networks

What will happen:

• File attachments
  • Data exports will continue to include SharePoint file links for attached files.
  • Admins who need the actual files must download them directly from the SharePoint location referenced by the link in the export.
• External networks
  • Admins must sign in to each modern external network and initiate the export from within that network.
  • You can’t export data from a modern external network while signed into a different or home network.

What you can do to prepare:

• Review any scheduled or documented export procedures that reference:
  • “Include attachments”
  • “Include external networks”
• For attachments, ensure that teams responsible for eDiscovery, compliance, or export workflows understand that:
  • Exports contain SharePoint links for files.
  • Files must be retrieved directly from SharePoint using those links.
• For external networks, ensure admins understand they must:
  • Sign in to each modern external network individually.
  • Trigger exports separately for each network.

Learn more:

• Set up modern external Viva Engage networks | Microsoft Learn
• Network Data Export API | Microsoft Learn

Compliance considerations:

No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization.