M365 Changelog: Updated timing changes: Whiteboard on OneDrive for Business

MC282992  – Updated May 17, 2022: As previously announced, Whiteboard is in the process of transitioning to OneDrive for Business (ODB) storage. Based on customer feedback, we’re now extending the opt-in period for ODB storage for Whiteboard. Microsoft will resume transitioning to ODB storage in late May and complete by mid June.

You can verify if your organization has already been transitioned by going to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, searching for Whiteboard and checking. If you’re transitioned, the message will state this and there will be no checkbox for ODB storage.

Note: If you have Surface Hub or MTR devices, you may wish to wait until the new temporary access for shared device accounts is shipped. Opting in before Microsoft has new SharePoint setting will mean that those devices cannot see whiteboards shared in a Teams meeting. Users on those devices will need to join the whiteboard from another device.

Note: If your organization is not using Whiteboard you can safely disregard this message.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 66767.

When this will happen:

Opt-in to use OneDrive for Business: the early opt-in was made fully available in December.

Making OneDrive for Business the default: Microsoft will resume transitioning to ODB storage in late May and complete by mid-June.

How this will affect your organization:

When this change occurs, all new whiteboards will be created in the OneDrive for Business of the person who starts or creates a whiteboard. This applies to whiteboards created in the Whiteboard stand-alone applications and in Microsoft Teams. All previously created boards will remain in Azure and can continue to be used/edited by end users.

• What if my users do not have OneDrive for Business provisioned?
  • Any users who do not have OneDrive for Business provisioned will no longer be able to create new whiteboards when this change is implemented, though they can still edit their previously created boards. They can also collaborate on any whiteboards that are shared with them by others who have OneDrive for Business.
• How can I migrate previously created content to OneDrive for Business?
  • Microsoft will be sharing more details on how to migrate your content.

What you need to do to prepare:

You can opt-in now if you would like this change sooner. To change the setting, sign into the Microsoft 365 admin center and search for Whiteboard in the search bar. On the Whiteboard settings page, check the box Enable storing new whiteboards in OneDrive. All Whiteboard clients have been automatically updated to support ODB storage since March.

Please note that there are some cases that may still create new boards in Azure.

1. When a whiteboard is initiated from a Surface Hub during a Teams meeting, the whiteboard will be created in Azure. This will be switched to use ODB later this year.
2. When older clients are still in use (such as when Whiteboard on Windows is deployed via Intune and hasn’t been updated or a mobile client has not yet updated to the latest version), these clients may still create whiteboards in Azure.

If you need to completely block any usage of Azure storage, please contact Support.

Additional information