Where are my Viva Engage files stored?

Files stored in Viva Engage cloud storage

Files stored in the group's SharePoint document library

Where new files are stored

New files are stored in Viva Engage cloud storage, in the group in which the file is attached or uploaded. They are visible from the group's Files list.

New files for Microsoft 365 connected groups are stored in the SharePoint document library for the community. They are visible in the Viva Engage group's Files list, or from the Apps/Viva Engage folder in the community's SharePoint document library.

Files saved in Viva Engage before your organization gets the new feature remain in Viva Engage cloud storage.

Create a new Office file

In a group Files list in Viva Engage, click New and select Word Document, PowerPoint Presentation, or Excel Workbook.

You can't create new files from the Files page. Files must be created in another location, and then uploaded to Viva Engage.

Organize files

Files for each group are stored in a list. You can view all documents, images, or videos, but there are no other ways to sort or reorder the list.

In the right navigation pane, click the SharePoint document library link for the group, select the Apps/Viva Engage folder, and can sort and filter the file list.

Files can be reorganized into subfolders or moved, and links from Viva Engage will still work. This reorganization is only visible by going to the SharePoint document library.

Note that when you view the list of files from Viva Engage, the list only indicates that the file is stored in SharePoint, and doesn't specify the folder name.

Preview a file

Click the file, and then click Click here to view this file.

Click the file.

Edit a file from Viva Engage

For Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents, changes must be made in Office Online. You can't use the Word, Excel, or PowerPoint apps to edit the file and upload a new version.

Edit File and other actions are located below the preview.

If Edit File is not shown, it means the document has been made read-only because new documents are being saved in SharePoint. In order to edit it, you'll need to download it and upload it again. For more information, see Edit a previously updated file when your Viva Engage connected group stores files in SharePoint

For Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents, changes can be made in Office Online or in the app. Revisions are tracked in the SharePoint document library.

Edit Document and other actions are located above the preview.

Who can access files

Access rights are determined by the community the file is in. Anyone can view and edit files in public communities. Only members can view and edit files in private communities. Recipients of private messages with attached files can view those files.

Initial access rights are determined by the community the file is saved in, but SharePoint admins can change access rights for individual files.

How guests access files

Any user or any guest from inside or outside your organization can attach a file in a community of which they're a member and read and modify files in the community.

Guest access to files depends on the type of guest:

Network level guests don't have default access to view Viva Engage files saved in SharePoint.

• If you want them to be able to request access to view specific files, they must be added as a Azure B2B guest on the Microsoft 365 tenant. For more information, see Azure Active Directory B2B Documentation.

• Network level guests who are Azure B2B guests, and member of the community can view, upload, edit from the SPO document library. They won't be able to do it from Viva Engage.

• If you want them to be able to upload files to a specific community from SharePoint or have default access to files uploaded to SharePoint, add them as a community member in SharePoint.

• Conversation level guests do not have default access to any files saved in SharePoint. If you want them to be able to request access to specific files in the conversation, add them as an Azure B2B guest on the Microsoft 365 tenant. They can't upload files.

• External guests can only be members of external groups. External groups only store files in Viva Engage.

Prevent others from making changes

Community admins or file owners can mark a version of a file as the official version. This prevents others from editing it.

In SharePoint, any community member can check out the file, which prevents others from editing it. SharePoint admins can also change the permissions on an individual file.

Track revisions

Track and view revisions on the file page in Viva Engage.

Old versions can't be deleted.

View revision history and previous versions from the SharePoint document library.

More change detail is included in the change history, and older versions can be deleted.

Mark as official

Community admins or file owners can mark a version of a file as the official version. This prevents others from editing it, and the file shows up with a yellow star in the File list.

There is no way to mark a specific version of a file as official.

Search

Viva Engage search includes the first 5000 characters of the most recent version of .docx, .pptx, and .pdf format files as well as metadata such as title and author.

Viva Engage search only searches the title and author. If you need to do a content search of Viva Engage files in SharePoint, you'll need to do the search from the SharePoint document library.