The Tenant App Catalog in SharePoint Online is a specialized site collection designed to store, manage, and distribute custom and third-party applications (apps) across an entire SharePoint environment. It's a central repository where we can upload apps that users across the tenant can use on their individual SharePoint sites.
Here's a guide to help you create an app catalog on SharePoint Online.
1. Prerequisites
- Ensure you have SharePoint Online admin permissions. Only a Tenant Global Admin can create the app catalog.
- Verify that your SharePoint Online subscription supports app catalogs, as some lower-tier plans may not include this feature.
2. Navigate to the SharePoint Admin Center
- Go to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
- In the left-hand menu, select SharePoint to access the SharePoint Admin Center.
3. Create the App Catalog Site Collection
- In the SharePoint Admin Center, go to More features in the left sidebar.
- Under Apps, select Open to manage apps.
- If App Catalog was not already created, it will do it automatically.
This process sets up a central location for managing custom apps and extensions across SharePoint Online, enhancing your customization capabilities across sites.
Key Functions of a Tenant App Catalog:
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Centralized Management:
It provides a single location for administrators to manage all apps available to users, including custom-developed solutions, third-party tools, and extensions. This simplifies app governance and ensures that only approved and compliant apps are available to end users.
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Wide Distribution of Apps:
Apps stored in the tenant app catalog can be deployed across multiple SharePoint site collections. Administrators can make apps available to all sites in the organization or limit them to specific site collections as needed.
- Permissions and Security: Admins have control over app permissions and can ensure that only trusted solutions are added to the catalog. For instance, if an app requires specific permissions, admins can review and grant them accordingly, safeguarding the tenant against potential security risks.
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Maintenance and Version Control:
The catalog allows for updates and maintenance of deployed solutions, making it easier to track versions, update apps, and manage deprecated or no longer compliant solutions.
Why Use the Tenant App Catalog?
Having a Tenant App Catalog ensures a streamlined and secure way to deploy customizations tenant-wide without needing to add apps manually to each individual site. This is particularly beneficial for organizations that leverage SharePoint heavily for collaboration, workflows, and productivity tools that are tailored to their specific needs. It is especially useful for deploying standardized apps across departments or ensuring that critical solutions, like document libraries, task management tools, or compliance modules, are readily available to everyone.
In short, the Tenant App Catalog is a foundational feature for organizations using SharePoint Online that want to extend its functionality and provide a cohesive experience across their sites.
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