How to View SharePoint Site Collection Audit Reports in Unified Audit Log
Question details
Administrators want to know where to find SharePoint site collection audit reports and understand why the legacy audit settings page is still accessible.
- Product
- SharePoint Online
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Searching for site collection audit logs after the legacy SharePoint audit reporting feature migration.
- Observed behavior
- The legacy AuditSettings.aspx page is still visible in SharePoint, but the actual audit reporting functionality has moved to the Microsoft Purview Unified Audit Log.
Ensure you have the necessary administrator permissions, such as the Global Administrator or Audit Logs role, in the Microsoft 365 admin center to access the Microsoft Purview compliance portal.
Search Audit Events in the Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal
Access the Unified Audit Log to generate and view audit reports for your SharePoint site collections.
SharePoint legacy auditing has not been retired; instead, it was migrated to the Unified Audit Log to centralize compliance management. The legacy AuditSettings.aspx page remains available primarily to inform administrators of this transition and direct them to the correct replacement service in the compliance portal.
Log in to the Microsoft Purview compliance portal (formerly the Security and Compliance Center) using your administrator credentials.
In the left-hand navigation pane, select 'Audit' to open the audit log search tool.
Set your search criteria by selecting 'SharePoint' related activities from the activities dropdown and specifying the desired date range.
Click the 'Search' button to generate the audit report and view the compliance events for your SharePoint site collection.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the AuditSettings.aspx page still visible in SharePoint?
The page remains available to explain the transition of audit reporting to the Unified Audit Log and to direct administrators to the Microsoft Purview compliance portal where they can now view the reports.
Has SharePoint auditing been completely retired?
No, SharePoint auditing was not retired. The reporting mechanisms and legacy audit signals were migrated to the Unified Audit Log in the Security and Compliance Center to centralize compliance tracking across Microsoft 365.
Who can access the Unified Audit Log for SharePoint reports?
Only users who are assigned the appropriate administrator roles, such as Global Administrator or the Audit Logs role in Exchange Online, are authorized to access and search the Unified Audit Log.
