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How to Create an External Community for Partners in Viva Engage

Camila Milosovich Sep 25, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user wants to know if and how they can set up an external community in Viva Engage to collaborate with partners and external users.

How to Create an External Community in Viva Engage

Product: Microsoft Viva Engage
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Collaborating with external partners, contractors, or guests across different organizations.
Observed behavior: Setting up an external network that supports both business accounts and personal accounts for messaging.

Before you start

Ensure you have administrative privileges in Viva Engage and that external messaging is enabled in your organization's Microsoft 365 tenant settings.

Solution 1Recommended

Create an External Network and Invite Guests

Enable external messaging and create a dedicated external network to invite partners and contractors.

Viva Engage supports robust external collaboration through dedicated external networks. Before creating one, you must verify that your organization permits external messaging, which allows you to include both enterprise business accounts and personal public accounts.

Verify External Messaging Settings

Log into the Viva Engage admin center, navigate to the security settings, and confirm that external messaging is enabled for your organization.

Create the External Network

Go to the Networks section in Viva Engage and select the option to create a new external network. Give the network a clear name reflecting the partnership.

Invite External Users

Use the invitation feature within your new external network to send invites to external partners using their enterprise email addresses or personal accounts.

Manage Guest Permissions

Configure community guidelines and access permissions to ensure guests can collaborate effectively without accessing restricted internal data.

Create an External Network and Invite Guests

Microsoft 365 Policies: Guest access capabilities depend on your specific Microsoft 365 subscription tier and the global tenant configurations set by your IT department.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I invite users with personal email addresses to a Viva Engage external community?

Yes, depending on your organization's external messaging settings, you can invite users with personal accounts (such as Hotmail) alongside standard enterprise business accounts.

Why can't I see the option to create an external network?

This typically occurs if you lack administrative permissions in Viva Engage, or if external messaging has been explicitly disabled by your IT administrator at the tenant level.

Are external guests in Viva Engage able to see internal company communications?

No, guests restricted to an external network can only view and interact with content posted within that specific external community, keeping your internal communications secure.

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