Can't find a way or button to create a new Community in Viva Engage

• Check who is allowed to create Microsoft 365 groups in the tenant. Viva Engage communities in native mode create a connected Microsoft 365 group, so any restriction on group creation directly affects who can create communities.
• In the Viva Engage admin center, verify that the network is configured for Microsoft 365-connected communities and review who has group creation privileges. Only users with group creation permission can create Microsoft 365-connected communities.

Give me steps please

Hi @Edward

To better isolate the issue, could you please confirm: 

• Is the Create Community button missing for all users or only specific users? 
• Are users able to access Viva Engage via https://engage.cloud.microsoft?
• Are both options shown in the image missing from the interface?

In Viva Engage (Native Mode), communities are backed by Microsoft 365 Groups. Because of this, the Create Community button in Viva Engage UI depends on Microsoft 365 Group creation permissions. If a user is not allowed to create Microsoft 365 Groups, the UI hides the option to create a community. So, the absence of the button does not necessarily indicate a Viva Engage issue, but rather a Microsoft 365 group creation restriction for that user.  

The guidance referring to: “Verify Microsoft 365-connected communities and group creation privileges in Viva Engage Admin Center” is based on older Yammer/Viva Engage administration documentation. In the modern Viva Engage Admin Center, there is typically no explicit “Microsoft 365-connected communities enabled” status setting. When a tenant is in Native Mode, Viva Engage already operates with Microsoft 365-connected communities. Group creation privileges are managed in Microsoft Entra admin center, not within Viva Engage.  

Steps to check in Microsoft Entra admin center:  

-Navigate to Groups > General.  

-Review the following settings:  

• Users can create Microsoft 365 groups in Azure portals, API, or PowerShell  
• Users can create security groups in Azure portals, API, or PowerShell  

-If Users can create Microsoft 365 groups is set to No, then group creation is restricted which directly impacts Viva Engage community creation.  

Validation via PowerShell (PnP): If you want to confirm whether the issue is permissions or UI-related, you can test with PnP PowerShell:  

-Download PowerShell 7 

-Register an app in Entra ID with the required permissions 

Reference: Register an Entra ID Application to use with PnP PowerShell | PnP PowerShell

Run the following commands: 

Install-Module PnP.PowerShell -Scope CurrentUser 
Import-Module PnP.PowerShell  
Connect-PnPOnline -Url https://<tenant>-admin.sharepoint.com -Interactive -ClientId <App-ID> 
Get-PnPVivaEngageCommunity 
New-PnPVivaEngageCommunity ` 
  -DisplayName "Test Community" ` 
  -Description "PnP validation test" ` 
  -Privacy Public 

If community creation works via PowerShell but the Create Community button is missing in the UI, the backend is functioning correctly and the issue is tied to UI. 

Please know that while our initial response might not resolve the issue right away, your input is incredibly valuable. With a bit more detail, we’ll work together to find the best solution for you.       

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