how to enable organization customization

Question

how to enable organization customization

RS 6

I am trying to customize my anti-spam and anti-phishing policies through the Security & Compliance Dashboard and it keeps telling me that I have to "Enable-OrganizationCustomization". How can I do this. I have looked at several threads and cannot get a straightforward answer.

What are the correct cmdlet input and output to do this?

Kael Yao 37,746 Reputation points Moderator

2021-07-07T01:46:43.853+00:00
Hi @RS

Just in addition, you may use this command in Powershell to check if organizational customization has been enabled:

Get-OrganizationConfig | fl IsDehydrated

True means organizational customization hasn't been enabled yet, while false means it has been enabled.
Kael Yao 37,746 Reputation points Moderator

2021-07-11T23:47:02.207+00:00

Hi @RS

I am writing here to confirm with you how thing going now?
If you have any questions or needed further help on this issue, please feel free to post back.

10 answers

Your answer

Kael Yao 37,746 Reputation points Moderator

2021-07-07T01:46:43.853+00:00

Hi @RS

Just in addition, you may use this command in Powershell to check if organizational customization has been enabled:

Get-OrganizationConfig | fl IsDehydrated

True means organizational customization hasn't been enabled yet, while false means it has been enabled.
Kael Yao 37,746 Reputation points Moderator

2021-07-11T23:47:02.207+00:00

Hi @RS

I am writing here to confirm with you how thing going now?
If you have any questions or needed further help on this issue, please feel free to post back.

Answer 1

R Siebert 16

I worked with Microsoft 365 support tonight and they quickly fixed this problem for me. They said that after the first time you try to edit the policy, you can wait 24 hours and then will be able to enable external email forwarding, but to enable it immediately, just open Windows PowerShell as Administrator (you might need to download and install the Exchange Online PowerShell module first), then run the following commands:

Connect-ExchangeOnline -UserPrincipalName ******@yourdomainhere.com
Enable-OrganizationCustomization
Set-HostedOutboundSpamFilterPolicy -Identity Default -AutoForwardingMode On
Get-HostedOutboundSpamFilterPolicy -Identity Default

That's it! Woo Hoo!

Stefan Gierke 41 Reputation points

2022-05-10T12:39:10.563+00:00

Set-HostedOutboundSpamFilterPolicy -Identity Default -AutoForwardingMode On
Get-HostedOutboundSpamFilterPolicy -Identity Default

This worked for me! Thank you very much for your hint! I didn't know the PowerShell-Cmdlets for managing the policy settings in O365 Security Center.
Samet 1 Reputation point

2022-06-14T14:19:08.213+00:00

Worked like a charm, thank you!
Andy Maskell 1 Reputation point

2022-08-05T16:08:58.653+00:00

Thank you, have been lookig for that simple solution for ages.
JJ_CJS 1 Reputation point

2022-11-07T16:08:54.757+00:00

Thank you - saves waiting 24 hours - just another line in Powershell :thumbsup

Answer 2

Vasil Michev 119.5K MVP Volunteer Moderator

Connect to Exchange Online via PowerShell, use admin credentials: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/exchange/exchange-online-powershell-v2?view=exchange-ps
Once connected, run the following:

Enable-OrganizationCustomization

and that's it.

Robert Möbius 1

I had done that, but then PowerShells gives me:

Dieser Vorgang ist nicht erforderlich. Die Organisation wurde bereits für die Anpassung aktiviert.
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Enable-OrganizationCustomization], InvalidOperationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : [Server=XXXXXXX,RequestId=XXXXXXXXXX,TimeStamp=16.08.202
   1 11:41:08] [FailureCategory=Cmdlet-InvalidOperationException] 8CFED0FD,Microsoft.Exchange.Management.Deployment.E
  nableOrganizationCustomizationTask
    + PSComputerName        : outlook.office365.com

But if i am back in the setup it is still not enabled (I cant set external mails as mail forwarding)

Andreas 1 Reputation point

2021-09-30T09:36:17.15+00:00

Same Problem here - want to enable external mail forwarding. stil receiveing the same message that Enable-OrganizationCustomization

has to be enabled
Johan 1 Reputation point

2021-10-01T09:57:35.457+00:00

I have the exact same problem regarding enabling external mail forwarding and command has been enabled.

Franz Gerhart 1

Same for me. Connected to exchange online management, ..., set the »Enable-OrganizationCustomization«, got this:

----------

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Enable-OrganizationCustomization  
This operation is not required. Organization is already enabled for customization.  
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Enable-OrganizationCustomization], InvalidOperationException  
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : [Server=DB9P190MB1577,RequestId=d6de73af-40e4-47c6-91c8-5289c8dd337e,TimeStamp=06.10.2021 09:32:38] [FailureCategory=Cmdlet-InvalidOperationException] 8CD83DEF,Microsof  
   t.Exchange.Management.Deployment.EnableOrganizationCustomizationTask  
    + PSComputerName        : outlook.office365.com

----------

then went to https://protection.office.com/antispam and got this again:

Johan 1 Reputation point

2021-10-06T09:44:30.897+00:00

So I tried this on friday. When I tried enabling external forwarding again the following monday it was working! So looks like it needs some time to propagate.
Franz Gerhart 1 Reputation point

2021-10-06T09:49:24.747+00:00

thx for posting this Johan-6430, will be waiting a little then to see if anything changes. The user experience isn't too well here but if wait-and-see solves the issue I'll do that
:-D
owner 1 Reputation point

2021-11-29T23:06:37.01+00:00

Thanks, but when I click on your link, it takes me to a page of documentation. On there, I clicked on a "Connect to Exchange Online PowerShell." On that page, there was a lot more documentation, and a ton of options for connecting to Powershell depending on very specific details. Not at all user friendly. Seems like you have to be a tech person to allow members of your organization to automatically forward emails, which first requires the enabling of the organization customization.... which is not as simple as clicking a button that says "enable organization customization." Seems like this could be something on the dashboard. Thanks for trying to help with this. I'm sure those who are tech savvy got something from it.

Answer 3

Petr Petrov 1

I have the same problem

Answer 4

Johan 1

As I mentioned in a comment on the first answer I had to wait some time before the changes took effect (not sure how long, I tried on a friday afternoon and on monday it was working). So the first answer is correct with the addition that you might have to wait a while before it kicks in.
Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Claude Thibault 1

It's working the next day. This a very frustation situation, it take too long to perform many configuration if we have to wait 24h for each.Anyway, Microsoft made so much change every week that is become very difficul for IT expert to follow them. Google is easier to learn and manage.

Be patient :-)

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how to enable organization customization

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