How to create a community

The missing Community option indicates that your organization has restricted community creation, so a Microsoft 365 administrator must grant you group-creation permission or create the community for you.^1^

Ask your administrator to enable creation

Send your administrator this request:

Please verify whether Microsoft 365 Groups creation is restricted and either add my account to the group permitted to create groups or create a private Viva Engage community on my behalf.

Microsoft 365 Groups creation restrictions also apply to Viva Engage. Administrators can restrict creation to members of a designated Microsoft 365 group or security group.^2^

If the administrator creates the community, they should assign you as a community administrator. Engage administrators can assign that role from the community page through Settings → Manage Members and Admins → select the user → Make Admin.^3^

Create the private community after access is granted

1. Open Viva Engage.
2. In the navigation bar, find Explore and select the Create New button beside it.
3. Select Community.
4. Enter:
   • A unique community name
   • A description
   • Initial members
5. Under Who can view conversations and post messages, select Private Access.
6. Review any classification or sensitivity setting displayed.
7. Select Create.^1^

With Private Access, only approved members can view the content, and a community administrator must approve membership requests.

If Community remains absent after the administrator grants permission, have the administrator verify that the permission change applies to your account and then open a Microsoft 365 support request; the documented UI should show Community for an authorized creator.

References

1. Create a community in Viva Engage | Microsoft Support
2. Manage who can create Microsoft 365 Groups
3. Manage administrator roles in Viva Engage