Microsoft has announced the retirement of SharePoint Alerts, a feature that many organizations have relied on for years to receive notifications when content changes in SharePoint lists and document libraries.

With the announcement of SharePoint Alerts Retirement, many organizations are looking for a reliable SharePoint Alerts Replacement strategy. While SharePoint Rules provide a modern notification experience, many businesses require additional reporting and monitoring capabilities.

How do we continue monitoring file activity effectively in SharePoint?

In this article, we’ll look at the retirement of SharePoint Alerts, understand the impact on organizations, and explore practical alternatives that provide even better visibility into document activity.

What Are SharePoint Alerts?

SharePoint Alerts have traditionally allowed users to subscribe to notifications when content changes within a SharePoint site, list, or document library.

Users could configure alerts for:

• New files or documents
• Modified documents
• Deleted content
• List item changes
• Immediate, daily, or weekly notifications

For many organizations, Alerts became a simple way to stay informed about important activity occurring within SharePoint.

SharePoint Alerts Are Being Retired

Microsoft has announced the retirement of SharePoint Alerts and is encouraging users to adopt Rules for notification scenarios.

Rules provide a modern experience for notifying users when changes occur in SharePoint libraries and lists. However, Rules are primarily designed around notifications and do not fully replace every reporting and monitoring scenario that organizations have implemented using Alerts.

Common challenges include:

• No consolidated reporting view
• Limited historical visibility
• Difficulty identifying trends over time
• No centralized governance reporting
• Limited auditing for business users

Because of these limitations, many organizations are looking beyond notifications and moving toward reporting-based solutions.

Moving Beyond Notifications: Reporting Instead of Alerts

Instead of receiving individual notifications every time something changes, organizations can benefit from scheduled reports that provide a complete picture of activity.

Examples include:

• Daily summary of newly created files
• Weekly report of modified documents
• Daily report of deleted files
• Governance and compliance monitoring
• Activity trend analysis

This approach provides significantly more visibility than traditional Alerts or Rules.

Alternative #1: Track Newly Created Files in SharePoint

One common requirement is identifying all new files added to SharePoint during a specific period.

Using Power Automate, you can build a solution that:

• Finds files created within the last X days
• Generates daily or weekly summary reports
• Sends email summaries to stakeholders
• Improves visibility into newly added content

Video Walkthrough

No More SharePoint Alerts! Track Created Files with Daily Reports

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8Wot7qe3aI

In this video, I demonstrate how to identify newly created files and generate summary reports without relying on SharePoint Alerts.

Alternative #2: Track Modified Files in SharePoint

Organizations often need to know:

• Which documents changed recently?
• What files were updated this week?
• Which content is actively being worked on?

Instead of using Alerts, Power Automate can generate scheduled reports showing files modified during a specific time window.

Video Walkthrough

Track Modified Files in SharePoint Using Power Automate | Daily & Weekly Reports

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9YBTTzc7lg

This solution allows you to track modifications across SharePoint libraries and generate reports for any time period.

Alternative #3: Track Deleted Files in SharePoint

Deleted files are often the most important activity to monitor.

Questions frequently asked by administrators include:

• Who deleted a file?
• Which files were deleted today?
• Can we get a summary instead of individual notifications?

Using Power Automate and SharePoint data, you can create automated reports that provide visibility into deleted content.

Video Walkthrough

SharePoint Alerts Are Going Away – Track Deleted Files with Daily Reports

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSeBEs6tBMU

This video demonstrates how to build a daily deleted files summary report that helps administrators monitor document activity more effectively.

Why Reporting Is Better Than Traditional Alerts

While Alerts and Rules are useful for notifications, reporting offers additional benefits:

Better Visibility

Instead of receiving multiple notifications throughout the day, users receive a consolidated summary.

Historical Tracking

Reports can be stored for future reference and auditing purposes.

Governance

Administrators gain insight into content activity across SharePoint environments.

Flexibility

Reports can be generated daily, weekly, monthly, or based on any custom schedule.

Scalability

Reporting solutions work better for larger organizations with significant document activity.

Recommended Approach

As SharePoint Alerts are retired, organizations should consider a combination of:

• SharePoint Rules for simple notifications
• Power Automate for automation
• Scheduled reporting for governance
• Audit logs for compliance scenarios
• Power BI dashboards for advanced analytics

This creates a more modern and scalable monitoring strategy than traditional Alerts.

Final Thoughts

The retirement of SharePoint Alerts is an opportunity to rethink how organizations monitor activity within SharePoint.

Rather than simply replacing Alerts with Rules, consider moving toward a reporting-driven approach that provides better visibility, stronger governance, and more meaningful insights.

The three solutions covered above demonstrate how to track:

✔ Newly Created Files
✔ Modified Files
✔ Deleted Files

using Power Automate and SharePoint, helping organizations move from:

Alerts → Rules → Reporting → Insights

If you’re planning your SharePoint Alerts migration strategy, these solutions can help you modernize your monitoring approach while maintaining visibility into important document activity.

Some common FAQs

What is replacing SharePoint Alerts?

Microsoft is introducing SharePoint Rules as the modern replacement for SharePoint Alerts. Rules provide notification-based experiences for document libraries and lists.

Can SharePoint Rules track deleted files?

Rules focus on notifications and may not cover all reporting scenarios. Many organizations use Power Automate and reporting solutions to track deleted files and maintain historical visibility.

How do I monitor SharePoint file activity after SharePoint Alerts retirement?

You can use Power Automate to generate reports for newly created files, modified files, and deleted files. These reports provide better visibility than traditional notifications.

What is the best SharePoint Alerts alternative?

For organizations that require monitoring and governance, a combination of SharePoint Rules, Power Automate reporting, and Microsoft 365 audit logs is often the most effective alternative.

How can I replace SharePoint Alerts?

SharePoint Alerts can be replaced using a combination of SharePoint Rules for notifications and Power Automate reporting solutions for tracking created, modified, and deleted files. This approach provides better visibility, governance, and historical reporting than traditional alerts.