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License & Subscription Issues

SharePoint Organization Assets Library Template Access and Licensing Requirements

Adam DavisAdam Davis Sep 25, 2026 869 views

Question details

Organizations need to centralize Office templates in SharePoint and determine which Microsoft 365 licenses are eligible to access the Organization Assets Library.

SharePoint Organization Assets Library Template Access and Licensing Requirements
Product
SharePoint
Device & OS
not provided
Scenario
Deploying a centralized SharePoint library for Office templates and controlling access across different organizational units.
Observed behavior
Evaluating compatibility of centralized templates with varying user licenses, such as Microsoft 365 F3, A3, A3S, E5, and Apps for business.
Before you start

Verify your organization's Microsoft 365 subscription tiers and ensure you have SharePoint Administrator privileges before setting up asset libraries.

Solution 1Recommended

Configure Organization Assets Library and Verify Licensing

Determine license eligibility and use SharePoint permissions to manage access to centralized organization templates.

The Organization Assets Library feature allows organizations to centralize templates. However, it is restricted to specific enterprise-grade licenses. Users must have Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise (such as Office 365 E3 or E5) and be on version 2002 or later.

Microsoft 365 Apps for business licenses do not support this feature. Users with education licenses like Office 365 A3 are generally supported, as their feature set closely mirrors the E3 tier.

1
Verify user licensing

Check your Microsoft 365 admin center to ensure target users are assigned Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise (E3, E5) or equivalent education licenses (A3). Note that Apps for business users will not be able to access the feature.

2
Create a SharePoint document library

Navigate to your SharePoint site, click 'New' > 'Document library', and name it (e.g., 'Company Templates'). Upload your approved Office templates into this library.

3
Register as an Organization Assets Library

Use the SharePoint Online Management Shell and run the Add-SPOOrgAssetsLibrary cmdlet to designate the created document library as a central repository for templates.

4
Configure access permissions

Go to the library settings in SharePoint, click 'Permissions for this document library', stop inheriting permissions if necessary, and assign 'Read' access to the specific organizational units or security groups that need the templates.

Configure Organization Assets Library and Verify Licensing
Version Requirement: Eligible users must also be running Microsoft 365 Apps version 2002 or later to see the templates directly within Office desktop applications.
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Frequently Asked Questions

Can Microsoft 365 Apps for business users access SharePoint Organization Assets Library?

No, the Organization Assets Library feature is specifically designed for users with Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise (such as E3 or E5) and does not support Apps for business licenses.

Do Education licenses like Office 365 A3 support centralized templates?

Yes, because Office 365 A3 education licenses have similar feature sets to Office 365 E3, users with A3 licenses can generally use templates added to the organization's asset library.

How do I restrict template access for different departments?

You can control access to the centralized templates by configuring standard SharePoint document library permissions. This allows you to grant or restrict 'Read' access by organizational unit or specific user security groups.