MC1505610 - Public CDN is becoming optional during Brand Center setup
Microsoft 365 Message Center announcement MC1505610.
MS Message Center's Summary
Microsoft is decoupling the Public CDN requirement from initial Brand Center configuration during October 2026. Administrators can now establish branding governance without enabling the public content delivery network immediately. The public content delivery network remains mandatory only if you intend to deploy organizational fonts. Review your current deployment plans and enable the public network later if font capabilities are required for your users.
- Administrator impact
- No direct administrator action is required.
- End user impact
- No direct end user impact is expected.
- Importance
- 2/10: This is a low impact administrative flexibility update that changes setup prerequisites for the Brand Center.
Set up the SharePoint Brand Center
Microsoft Summary
Brand Center setup will no longer require enabling Public CDN by default, allowing organizations to use branding governance without it. Public CDN remains necessary for font features and must be explicitly enabled. This change rolls out worldwide in October 2026 with no action required unless fonts are used.
- Message Center ID
- MC1505610
- Category
- stay Informed
- Severity
- normal
- Services
- Microsoft 365 suite, SharePoint Online
- Tags
- New feature, Admin impact
- Published
- 2026-10-12
- Last updated
- 2026-10-12
- Expires
- 2026-12-31
[What and Why:] We are updating the Brand Center setup experience so that administrators can set up Brand Center without enabling Public CDN. Today, Public CDN is enabled as part of Brand Center setup, even when an organization only wants to use branding governance capabilities that do not require it. With this update, organizations can begin using Brand Center while deferring Public CDN until they need capabilities that depend on it, such as organizational fonts. [Rollout Schedule:] General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out in mid-October 2026 and expect to complete by late October 2026. [Impact on Your Organization:] When an administrator sets up Brand Center in the Microsoft 365 admin center: Public CDN will be unselected by default. Brand Center setup can be completed without Public CDN. Public CDN will only be enabled after an administrator explicitly selects the option and confirms the change. Font-related capabilities will remain unavailable until Public CDN is enabled. If Public CDN is already enabled for the tenant, this update will not disable or change it. This change separates Brand Center setup from Public CDN activation. It does not remove the Public CDN requirement for organizational fonts. Why we are making this change Some organizations want to begin using Brand Center for branding governance without introducing an external or public content-delivery dependency. Making Public CDN optional provides a more incremental adoption path: organizations can establish Brand Center first and enable font capabilities only when they are ready. [Action Required/Recommendations:] No action is required. If your organization plans to use organizational fonts, an administrator must explicitly enable Public CDN during setup or later from the applicable settings experience. Set up the SharePoint Brand Center Use organizational fonts in SharePoint Learn more about Microsoft 365 Public CDN [Compliance considerations:] Question Answer Does the change include an admin control and can it be controlled through Entra ID group membership? Yes. The feature includes or affects admin controls, policies, permissions, roles, authentication, or management settings as described in this message. Review the linked documentation or admin center controls for group-based configuration support.