How to scan Sharepoint libraries, M365 repos and storage accounts using IP scanner?

thanks for your prompt response. OK, i understand that IP Scanner can't scan M365 repositaries like OneDrive, Teams and also it can't scan the storage accounts. I'm more specially looking if it is possible to scan only via Purview IP Scanner.

I see that we can scan Sharepoint document libraries. As far as i understand it correctly - we need to add individual sites as a repositary in Content scan job? We have so many sites in sharepoint - is there any best paractice to add sharepoint sites under content scan job please?

Also, i could see this is the process to add SP sites but it seems we need to navigate to SharePoint Central Administration But no idea how can i navigate to this option? I believe this is available under on-prem sharepoint url but i know only sharepoint admin url and any suggestion on how to find the SharePoint Central Administration would be useful? Thanks. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/purview/deploy-scanner-prereqs#discover-and-scan-all-sharepoint-sites-and-subsites-under-a-specific-url Thanks.

Also, i do not know if my organization uses sharepoint on-prem or cloud. I can access the admin portal and i believe that means the orgnization uses sharepoint cloud?

The url is something like this when i access sharepoint admin portal - https://<<org name>-admin.sharepoint.com/_layouts/15/online/AdminHome.aspx#/home

I have two questions-

if org uses sharepoint onlne - can we add as repo under content scan job?

if org uses onprem - can we add as repo under content scan job?

@Niharika Ch You’re correct that the Microsoft Purview Information Protection scanner can scan SharePoint document libraries, but each site does need to be added individually as a repository in the content scan job.

Best Practices for Adding SharePoint Sites to a Content Scan Job

Batch Addition via PowerShell – If you have many sites, use PowerShell scripts to automate repository creation rather than adding each manually.

Group Sites by Sensitivity – Organize sites based on sensitivity levels and apply consistent labeling/classification policies.

Use Scanner Clusters – For large-scale scanning, deploying multiple scanner nodes can enhance performance and fault tolerance.

Review & Update Regularly – Periodically review scan jobs to include new sites and ensure scanning policies remain aligned with your organization’s compliance goals.

Navigating to SharePoint Central Administration

You're absolutely right -SharePoint Central Administration is only available for on-premises SharePoint Server deployments (e.g., SharePoint 2013, 2016, 2019). If you're using SharePoint Online, you won't have access to this interface.

Instead, for SharePoint Online, you'll manage site settings through the SharePoint Admin Center in Microsoft 365: https://admin.microsoft.com → Admin centers → SharePoint

The Purview IP scanner does not support SharePoint Online, so the steps involving Central Admin in this Microsoft doc apply only to on-prem SharePoint.

I hope this information helps. Please do let us know if you have any further queries.

Kindly consider upvoting the comment if the information provided is helpful. This can assist other community members in resolving similar issues.

Thank you, It looks like our organization uses sharepoint online. So is there any other way to scan files using IP scanner please?

@Niharika Ch you're very welcome -and thank you for confirming that you're using SharePoint Online.

Microsoft Purview IP Scanner Does Not Support SharePoint Online

The Microsoft Purview Information Protection (IP) Scanner is specifically designed to scan on-premises data sources like:

• SharePoint Server (2013, 2016, 2019)
• File shares
• Network drives

Unfortunately, SharePoint Online is not supported by the IP Scanner, because it's a cloud-based repository and not accessible through the scanner’s on-premises scanning architecture.

What to Use Instead for SharePoint Online Scanning

To scan and classify content stored in SharePoint Online, Microsoft provides cloud-native solutions that are part of the Microsoft Purview suite:

Microsoft Purview Data Classification:

• Automatically scans content across SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Teams.
• Detects sensitive information (e.g., credit cards, PII).
• No agent or scanner deployment required.
• Centralized management from the Microsoft Purview compliance portal.

Learn more: Overview of data classification in Microsoft Purview

Microsoft Purview Information Protection + DLP

• Allows you to apply Sensitivity Labels and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies to SharePoint Online content.
• Helps enforce governance and compliance (e.g., restrict downloads, encrypt content).

Learn more: Overview of sensitivity labels

I hope this information helps. Please do let us know if you have any further queries.

Kindly consider upvoting the comment if the information provided is helpful. This can assist other community members in resolving similar issues.