Updated September 7, 2023: We have updated the rollout timeline and details below. Thank you for your patience.
Optical character recognition (OCR) support extracts text from images and will help discover and protect sensitive data in images being shared across various services and devices. This release enables OCR support for images shared and stored in SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Windows endpoints. OCR support on Exchange online and Teams is already available in public preview.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 88860, 93233, and 106092.
[When this will happen:]
Rollout to public preview for SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business and Windows endpoint devices is now complete. OCR availability on endpoint devices for GoLocal regions will be complete by end of August 2023 (previously end of July).
Standard release – we will begin rolling out in mid-September 2023 (previously late August) and expect to complete by late October 2023 (previously mid-September).
[How this will affect your organization:]
With this update, you will be able to detect and protect sensitive content in images and subsequently apply Data Loss Prevention, Insider Risk Management, Auto labelling, and Data Lifecycle Management policies to prevent exfiltration of that sensitive data via Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business and Windows endpoint devices. This release supports key file types like JPG, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, and PDF (image only).
[What you need to do to prepare:]
To get started, please set up OCR billing by completing the pre-requisites mentioned here.
Get started with Information Protection and Data Loss Prevention in the Microsoft Purview compliance portal.
Learn about optical character recognition in Microsoft Purview (preview)
