SharePoint Audit Log

Question

Hi,

Does anyone know how the audit log is being generated for SP exactly? I am analysing audit log data for one of our internal SP sites and trying to count the total number of users who have ever checked out the site. There are around ~350 users who appear only once or twice in the log and always in relation to very random ObjectIds - like our site icon or other images.  I have heard that SharePoint is particularly chatty but I want to understand more about how it actually registers users in the audit log. Like have these 350+ users actually looked at our page or has our site icon just popped up on their SharePoint start page? Can I count them as legit visitors or should I filter them out?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Hi Ginny,

You are free to come back with more detailed information.

Enjoy your day!

Best regards,

Gloria

Answer 2

Hi Ginny，

Thanks for posting back. It’s available to search the unified audit log to view user and administrator activity in your Office 365 organization. You first should turn the audit logging on before you can start searching the Office 365 audit log. You can follow the process according to the article: Search the audit log in the Security & Compliance Center

Best regards,

Gloria

Answer 3

Hi Gloria,

Yeah. What I am really looking for is more details on how the audit logs actually log activity. Sometimes a user appears as having accessed a file on our SP but it turns out to only be the site icon jpg and nothing else. What I'm trying to find out is whether I can count this as real activity or is this something I should disregard as it has probably just appeared on the users SP starting page but doesn't signal real activity?

Many thanks,

Ginny

Answer 4

Hi Ginny，

Do you still need more assistance? Please feel free to come back and let us know more details.

Wish you a nice day!

Best regards,

Gloria

Answer 5

Hi Ginny，

Thanks for posting your issue in this community. Per your description, SharePoint audit logs allows your organization to see who is accessing what files and folders, site collection, sites and subsites, document libraries, lists or list items you name it. You may check these articles for more information:

View audit log reports

Search the audit log in the Security & Compliance Center

If these is any misunderstanding, please let us know more details.   

Appreciate your understanding.

Best regards,

Gloria