On September 2nd, ITS is making a change to SharePoint intended to reduce the number of inactive sites over time.

Inactive sites are a potential security risk because the data contained in the site and access are unmonitored and unmanaged, making them a target for compromises.

When ITS enables the inactive site policy, Microsoft will analyze activity across SharePoint and connected platforms, like Teams, Viva Engage, and Exchange, to detect a site’s last activity. If a SharePoint site is connected to a Team, for example, chats will count as activity.

If a site has no activity for six months or more, the owners will receive an email notification that asks them to confirm if the site is still active.

• If they say yes, the site will remain active and won’t be scanned for activity for one year.
• If they don’t respond, they will receive two more notifications. If there is still no activity on the site or confirmation after the third message, the site will become read-only. Once a site is read only, owners must contact the TSC to reactivate the site. Sites that are read-only will be periodically reviewed for deletion.

Please let others in your area know that they may begin to receive messages about SharePoint activity and encourage them to respond if the site should remain active or delete a site if they no longer need it.

Thank you for your assistance and cooperation. If you have any questions, please contact the Technology Support Center at techsupport@uconn.edu.

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