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

Updated August 28, 2025: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience.

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-September 2025 and expect to complete by late September 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: 

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.

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.