Maintaining a professional and organized Microsoft 365 environment extends beyond consistent naming; it also involves controlling the language used in workspace titles and descriptions. Blocked Words Policies in Automate365 allow administrators to define lists of terms that cannot be used when users request new workspaces via a template. This ensures adherence to organizational standards and prevents the use of inappropriate or restricted vocabulary.
Why restricting words
Blocked Words policies serve two primary purposes:
Preventing Inappropriate Content: You can block curse words, offensive language, or any other terms deemed unsuitable for your workplace environment.
Restricting Reserved Names: You can prevent the use of internal, sensitive, or reserved names (e.g., department names like "HR" or "Finance," project codes, or internal system names) to avoid confusion, ensure proper naming hierarchy, or protect sensitive identifiers.
Creating the policy
Automate365 provides two methods for defining a new Blocked Words policy:
You can manually type words directly into a text box. In the textbox, type each word or expression you wish to block. Press
Enterafter each entry to add it to the list.For extensive lists of words, such as comprehensive curse word lists or large sets of restricted terms, uploading a CSV file is the most efficient method.
Important notes for Blocked Words Policies:
You can block single words or phrases/expressions (multiple words).
Blocked words aren't case sensitive.
For CSV files, do not include a title or header row.
For CSV files, only the first column will be imported and used.
The maximum file size for CSV uploads is 10MB.
There is no word limit on the CSV file.
Why Automate365 for Blocked Word enforcement?
While Microsoft 365 offers some native capabilities for blocking words, Automate365 significantly extends this control across your broader digital workspace, filling crucial gaps in the out-of-the-box experience.
In Microsoft 365, the ability to block specific words in names is primarily available through the Microsoft Entra Admin Center. This feature is an integral part of the Group Naming Policy, allowing administrators to define a list of restricted words (e.g., “CEO”, “Admin”, “Confidential”) that cannot be used in
However, when it comes to other critical administrative centers, such as Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and Power Platform, there is no native support for directly blocking words in the names of sites, environments, or other resources. For SharePoint sites, individual channels, or Power Platform environments, achieving similar governance would typically require implementing custom provisioning logic.
Admin Center | Enforce blocked words | Use Case |
Entra Admin Center | ✅ Native (with P1 license) | Group/Team naming policies |
Teams Admin Center | ❌ No built-in blocked words policy enforcement (inherits M365 Group name) | View/manage Team names |
SharePoint Admin Center | ❌ No built-in blocked words policy enforcement | Provision site names/url |
Power Platform Admin | ❌ No built-in blocked words policy enforcement | Power Apps / Power Automate |
This is where Automate365 provides a crucial advantage. By centralizing blocked words policies within its template-driven provisioning, Automate365 fills this native gap. It enables you to consistently apply your desired list of forbidden words across all new workspaces—including SharePoint sites, Teams, and other group-connected services—from a single, intuitive platform.
Beyond internal naming conventions and content control, managing external collaboration is another critical aspect of workspace governance. Learn how to define rules for external sharing in your Microsoft 365 workspaces.