Simplifying Microsoft Purview eDiscovery: Turn Messy CSVs into Actionable Insights!
If you work with Microsoft Purview eDiscovery, you know the drill: you run a "Download" or "Add to review set" process, and you’re handed a massive Items_...csv file.
While these reports contain all the data you need, they aren't exactly "human-readable." Trying to find out why 5% of your items failed or which custodian is driving the most volume involves a lot of Excel filtering, pivot tables, and wasted time.
That’s why I built the Purview eDiscovery Items Report Aggregator.
The Problem: The "CSV Headache"
The standard Purview Items report is a goldmine of metadata, but it’s hard to digest quickly. When a legal team asks for a status update, they want to know:
What percentage of the collection was successful?
What are the specific reasons for the failures (exceptions)?
What is the total data volume and which file types are the biggest?
Is there searchable text for most of the items?
Answering these questions manually takes time you don't have.
The Solution: A Privacy-First, Local Summary Tool
I created a lightweight, offline-friendly web app that processes these CSVs entirely in your browser.
🚀 Try the Purview eDiscovery Items Report Aggregator here!
Why this tool is different:
Zero Data Uploads (Privacy First): In the legal world, data privacy is non-negotiable. This tool uses a Content Security Policy (CSP) to block all network requests. Your CSV never leaves your computer; it is processed locally in your browser's memory.
Instant Summarization: Drop your Items_...csv file in, and within seconds, you get a beautiful dashboard of your data.
Exception Deep-Dives: It automatically groups errors—like "Operation timed out" or "Access denied"—so you can troubleshoot your collection immediately.
Offline Capability: You can download the tool as a single HTML file and run it locally too!
What Insights Can You Get?
Based on a typical report, here is the kind of data the tool extracts for you:
1. High-Level Success Metrics
See your "Success vs. Non-Success" ratio instantly. If you have a 9.17% failure rate (as seen in our demo data), you can immediately identify if that’s a "Retrieval Error" or a "Throttling" issue.
2. Workload & Scope Breakdown
The tool categorizes data by Effective Workload. Even if the CSV labels everything as "Exchange," the tool identifies Teams-specific rows, SharePoint sites, and OneDrive accounts so you know exactly where your data is coming from.
3. Volume Drivers
Ever wondered what's eating up your storage? The tool breaks down:
Size Bands: How many files are over 100MB?
Extensions: Are .msg files or .zip files driving your volume?
Text Readiness: What percentage of your items actually have searchable text?
4. Errors, Failures & Processing Readiness
Quickly sanity check the export, the tool gives guidance on:
Errors: Failures/Errors & How to Resolve!
Readiness: What % Are Text Searchable?
Defensibility: Are There Parent Items Missing From Child?
5. Shareable HTML Reports
Once the analysis is done, you can download a one-page HTML report. This is a standalone snapshot you can email to stakeholders or save as part of your case documentation.
How to use it
Export from Purview: In your eDiscovery case, go to Process manager, select your process, and click Download report.
Download Tool Locally: Simply download the HTML file and open in the browser OR
Process In Browser: Open the aggregator tool and it processes locally in your browser (NO UPLOAD).
Analyse & Save: Review the dashboard and download your summary report.
Open Source & Transparent
As an eDiscovery professional, I value transparency. The SHA-256 fingerprint is provided for every version, and the tool is designed to be as "no-footprint" as possible.
Check it out, and let me know how it changes your workflow!
