Test sensitive information types

At anytime during the life of a sensitive information type (SIT), you can test how it performs. This article explains how to do that in the Microsoft Purview portal and the Microsoft Compliance portal.

Before you begin

• You should be familiar with sensitive information types and what they're composed of. For more information see, Learn about sensitive information types.
• It's critical to understand the roles of:
  • regular expressions - Microsoft 365 sensitive information types uses the Boost.RegEx 5.1.3 engine
  • keyword lists - you can create your own as you define your sensitive information type or choose from existing keyword lists
  • keyword dictionary
  • Sensitive information type functions
  • confidence levels
• Familiarize yourself with Sensitive information type limits.

Permissions and role groups

The account you use to test sensitive information type performance must be a member of one of the following role groups:

• Compliance Administrator
• Compliance Data Administrator
• Security Administrator
• Communication Compliance Admins
• Information Protection Admins
• Information Protection Investigators
• Organization Management

Enable access to test mode for primary role groups

Applies to:

• Compliance Administrator
• Compliance Data Administrator
• Security Administrator

To enable access to the simulation feature for these role groups, you must assign each user to the appropriate group via Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory).

To assign a user to a primary role group in the Microsoft Purview portal, follow the steps in Add users or groups to a Microsoft Purview built-in role group.

To assign a user to a primary role group in the Microsoft Compliance portal, follow the steps in Add users or groups to a Microsoft Purview built-in role group.

Enable access to simulation mode for secondary users

Applies to:

• Communication Compliance Admins
• Information Protection Admins
• Information Protection Investigators
• Organization Management

To assign a user to a primary role group in the Microsoft Purview portal, follow the steps in Add users or groups to a Microsoft Purview built-in role group in the Microsoft Purview portal.

To assign a user to a primary role group in the Microsoft Compliance portal, follow the steps in Add users or groups to a Microsoft Purview built-in role group in the Microsoft Compliance portal.

Test the effects of a sensitive information type

You can test the effects of any sensitive information type in the list. We suggest that you run a simulation for each sensitive information type that you create before using it in a policy.

Select the appropriate tab for the portal you're using. Depending on your Microsoft 365 plan, the Microsoft Purview compliance portal is retired or will be retired soon.

To learn more about the Microsoft Purview portal, see Microsoft Purview portal. To learn more about the Compliance portal, see Microsoft Purview compliance portal.