Fix Cannot Browse External Yammer or Viva Engage Communities
Question details
Users are unable to browse or access external Yammer or Viva Engage communities, despite colleagues with similar permissions having no issues.
- Product
- Yammer / Viva Engage
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- A user is attempting to browse or accept an invitation to join an external community in Yammer or Viva Engage.
- Observed behavior
- The user is unable to view the external community and may remain stuck on a 'You have requested permission to join this network' message due to a stuck request or account corruption.
Ensure you have the exact URL of the affected external community and verify with colleagues that the community is currently active.
Have a Community Administrator Re-add Your Account
Refreshing your membership state is the fastest way to clear a stuck permission request in the backend system.
Often, a membership request can get stuck in a pending state, causing the user to lose browsing privileges. Completely removing and re-adding the user usually resolves this.
Reach out to the administrator of the affected external Yammer or Viva Engage community.
Ask the administrator to locate your profile in the community members list and remove your account completely.
Wait for a short delay (e.g., 15 to 30 minutes) to ensure the removal syncs across the Microsoft backend servers.
Have the administrator send a new invitation or add your account back to the external community.
Open a Microsoft 365 Support Ticket
If re-adding the user fails, a deeper backend account corruption requires investigation by the Microsoft support team.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why am I stuck on 'You have requested permission to join this network'?
This error usually occurs when a membership request gets stuck in the backend system or there is an account state corruption. Having a community administrator remove and re-add you often resets this state.
Who has the authority to remove me from an external Viva Engage community?
Only an administrator of that specific external community or a designated Microsoft 365 network admin has the permissions to modify member lists and remove or re-add your account.
What are HAR logs and why does Microsoft support need them?
HAR (HTTP Archive) logs record the detailed interaction between your web browser and the Viva Engage servers. Microsoft support uses these logs to trace exactly where the connection or permission request is failing.
Can a standard user open a Microsoft 365 support ticket for Viva Engage issues?
No, standard users cannot directly open support tickets in the Microsoft 365 admin center. You must request your organization's Microsoft 365 administrator to submit the ticket on your behalf.
