SharePoint content isn’t limited to sites and document libraries. Increasingly, organizations are bringing Microsoft 365 content capabilities directly into the custom apps their users rely on.
That’s where SharePoint Embedded comes in. SharePoint Embedded is a cloud-based, API-only document management platform that enables developers to bring Microsoft 365 content capabilities into custom applications, including Office collaboration, Microsoft Purview security and compliance, and Copilot experiences. The application provides the user experience, while SharePoint Embedded provides the content platform behind it.
For SharePoint and Microsoft 365 admins, that introduces new capabilities around app configuration, ownership, container types, billing, and tenant management.
The new Apps experience in the SharePoint admin center helps bring these pieces together, giving admins a centralized way to create and manage SharePoint Embedded apps and establish the foundation developers need to start building.
In addition, we offer admins ways to do the following:
- Manage containers without using PowerShell
- Reduce storage costs by archiving containers
- Set up pay-as-you-go services in the Microsoft 365 admin center
Watch the SharePoint Embedded presentation from a recent Copilot, Microsoft 365 & Power Platform community call to learn more about the new Apps experience and other admin updates:
Bring SharePoint Embedded app setup and management together in the new Apps experience
Create apps directly in the SharePoint admin center
From SharePoint Embedded > Apps in the SharePoint admin center, SharePoint Embedded and Global admins can create SharePoint Embedded apps their organization owns and configure key settings as part of a guided experience. This helps admins establish the application foundation and make it easier to hand the app off to developers so they can start building.
Before creating an app, you should know which Microsoft Entra app registration you want to use, who should own the app, and which billing type applies. For owner organization billing, appropriate access to the Azure subscription is also required.
To get started, sign in to the SharePoint admin center. Expand SharePoint Embedded in the left navigation and select Apps. On the Apps page, select + Create app to open the Create app panel.
Figure: The Create app panel registers a Microsoft Entra app, assigns owners, and sets the billing type in a single flow.
From there admins can use the Apps experience to do the following:
- Create a new Microsoft Entra application registration or use an existing one
- Create the SharePoint Embedded app and its associated container type
- Assign up to three app owners
- Choose the billing type
- Note the billing type cannot be changed after app creation
- Install the app in the tenant
- Connect an Azure subscription for owner organization billing, either during creation or later
You can create the app now and connect an Azure subscription later when one is available.
This allows your team to begin development before the Azure subscription is connected, subject to applicable access, billing, and product requirements.
When creation succeeds, the admin center associates or creates the Microsoft Entra app, creates the SharePoint Embedded app and container type, and installs the app in the tenant. If Owner org billing and Setup now are selected, it also attaches billing.
For more information about each step, visit the Create SharePoint Embedded apps in the SharePoint admin center page.
Want to create apps that your customers own? Learn more about how to Create apps with PowerShell.
Manage your organization’s SharePoint Embedded apps in one place
On the Apps page, you can view and manage the SharePoint Embedded applications in your Microsoft 365 environment:
- Installed apps shows the SharePoint Embedded apps available in your tenant, whether they were built by your organization or an external organization. For each app, admins can see the publisher, billing type, billing status, and installation date.
- Owned apps list all apps created by your organization, whether installed or not. It includes information such as owners, billing type, and creation date, and can be used to start installation when an app is ready
Use Owned apps to track custom internal builds, and Installed apps to manage all currently available tenant apps that may include 3rd party apps from the Microsoft Marketplace.
Learn more about managing installed and owned apps in the Apps page.
Manage containers without using PowerShell
You can also use the SharePoint admin center to manage containers through a graphical experience, instead of using PowerShell.
The SharePoint Embedded container pages help consuming tenant admins manage container inventory and lifecycle. SharePoint Embedded and Global admins can use container pages to do the following:
- View active containers
- Inspect details
- Manage membership
- Apply sensitivity labels
- Archive and reactivate containers (in preview)
- Delete containers
- Restore deleted containers
- Permanently delete containers
Figure: Filtering by the “Created on” column on the Active containers page in the SharePoint admin center.
Learn more about how to Manage containers in SharePoint admin center.
Need automation or repeatable reporting for managing containers? Automate container management when you Manage containers with PowerShell.
Reduce storage costs by archiving containers
If you have containers with outdated or inactive content, SharePoint Embedded offers an option to archive containers; this may reduce storage charges compared with keeping the same content in active storage. Actual charges depend on usage, applicable pricing, and the organization’s configuration.
Use SharePoint Embedded container archival (in preview) when a container must be retained but no longer needs to be actively accessed or used for collaboration. Archival uses Microsoft 365 Archive, a lower-cost, cold-storage tier while keeping the same security, compliance, and search standards as active storage. Availability and functionality may differ from active storage during preview.
As you archive content in SharePoint Embedded, you’ll see the Archived storage meter in your Azure billing transactions. The meter measures storage consumed by archived containers within a tenant.
Learn more about how to Archive and restore containers and how to Monitor usage, billing, and cost.
Admins can now set up SharePoint Embedded pass-through billing directly from the Microsoft 365 admin center, giving consuming organizations a familiar place to connect SharePoint Embedded usage to their Azure subscription. A Billing or Global admin can configure the Azure subscription and resource group used for pay-as-you-go billing.
This makes it easier to get SharePoint Embedded apps ready for users while keeping billing connected to each app’s consuming tenant. For apps that use pass-through billing, valid billing must be configured before users can access the app.
Learn more: Set up billing in Microsoft 365 admin center.
Next steps
Explore the Apps experience in the SharePoint admin center and see how it can help you work with developers to establish the application foundation together. Use it to create and manage your custom apps, manage containers and storage, and set up pay-as-you-go billing.
If you’re new to SharePoint Embedded, our documentation hub provides guidance for planning architecture, app models, container types, billing, authentication, security, and governance before development begins.
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