SharePoint Mobile Apps Drop SharePoint Server Access on November 27
Microsoft has announced in the Message Center (MC1528013) that access to SharePoint Server through the standalone SharePoint mobile apps for iOS and Android is being retired. Starting November 27, 2026, across Worldwide, GCC, GCC High, and DoD environments, the apps will support SharePoint Online only. Users who currently reach on-premises sites from the mobile app will lose that access.
This matters most to hybrid organizations that still run SharePoint Server farms alongside Microsoft 365. Those users will need another route to on-premises content, such as the mobile browser, a VPN-based approach, or, ideally, migration of the content that mobile users depend on to SharePoint Online.
What to do: Identify teams that use the mobile apps against SharePoint Server, notify them before November 27, and update your support documentation and mobile-access guidance.
Copilot Search and the Agent Chat Web Part Head Toward January 2027
Copilot in SharePoint began rolling out as generally available on September 30, 2026, and the roadmap now shows what comes next. Copilot Search in SharePoint and OneDrive is listed for preview in October 2026 and general availability in January 2027, adding natural-language search with AI summaries, source references, and filters.
A new Agent chat web part for modern SharePoint pages is slated for preview in November 2026 and general availability in January 2027. Page editors will be able to connect it to a Microsoft 365 Copilot agent, which turns a SharePoint page into an entry point for a purpose-built assistant. Both features respect existing permissions, so the quality of their answers depends on how well your content is governed.
What to do: Review site permissions and sharing links on your highest-value sites now, and decide which team will pilot the Agent chat web part when preview reaches your tenant.
Inactive Files Policy Brings Archiving to SharePoint Advanced Management
The roadmap also lists an Inactive files policy in SharePoint Advanced Management. It archives files based on last-accessed time, with inactivity thresholds ranging from 6 to 48 months, and includes a What-If mode so admins can preview impact before enforcing anything. No release date was published. It requires Microsoft 365 Archive and pay-as-you-go billing.
For organizations preparing for Copilot, this is a practical companion to oversharing cleanup: stale content that nobody opens is still content that search and Copilot can surface. Archiving it reduces noise and risk, though the added billing requirement means it needs a budget conversation first.
What to do: Estimate how much of your content has gone untouched for 24 months or more, and weigh the archive cost against the governance benefit before the policy ships.
Admin Center and Power Platform AI Settings Are Moving
One related admin change to track: the legacy AI switches for model-driven apps in the Power Platform admin center are being retired and removed. Their settings move to Copilot Hub > Power Apps, with a centralized Copilot and AI area in Maker Studio. No date was given, and this is Power Platform rather than SharePoint specifically, but organizations that build apps on SharePoint data should expect the settings to change location.
What to do: Document any current AI toggles you rely on in model-driven apps so you can confirm they carried over once the new location appears.
SharePoint Framework (SPFx) Status
I could not find a new SPFx release announcement this week. The most recent release notes I confirmed are for SPFx v1.22.1, a patch that fixes a full-screen error overlay appearing for runtime errors unrelated to third-party code, and Microsoft recommends it for production use. Last week's update noted SPFx 1.24 was on track for October GA with Copilot UX components; I was unable to confirm that release in this week's search, so check the official release notes before planning an upgrade.
What to do: If you are still on 1.22.0, move to 1.22.1 using the CLI for Microsoft 365 upgrade report, and watch the SPFx release notes page for 1.24.