diff --git a/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsComponent.tsx b/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsComponent.tsx
index 95f7159cc..475a7b14b 100644
--- a/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsComponent.tsx
+++ b/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsComponent.tsx
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import {
 import { useIndexingPolicyStore } from "Explorer/Tabs/QueryTab/ResultsView";
 import { useDatabases } from "Explorer/useDatabases";
 import { isFabricNative } from "Platform/Fabric/FabricUtil";
-import { isCapabilityEnabled, isVectorSearchEnabled } from "Utils/CapabilityUtils";
+import { isVectorSearchEnabled } from "Utils/CapabilityUtils";
 import { isRunningOnPublicCloud } from "Utils/CloudUtils";
 import * as React from "react";
 import DiscardIcon from "../../../../images/discard.svg";
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ import {
   getMongoNotification,
   getTabTitle,
   hasDatabaseSharedThroughput,
+  isDataMaskingEnabled,
   isDirty,
   parseConflictResolutionMode,
   parseConflictResolutionProcedure,
@@ -1073,8 +1074,8 @@ export class SettingsComponent extends React.Component<SettingsComponentProps, S
 
       newCollection.fullTextPolicy = this.state.fullTextPolicy;
 
-      // Only send data masking policy if it was modified (dirty)
-      if (this.state.isDataMaskingDirty && isCapabilityEnabled(Constants.CapabilityNames.EnableDynamicDataMasking)) {
+      // Only send data masking policy if it was modified (dirty) and data masking is enabled
+      if (this.state.isDataMaskingDirty && isDataMaskingEnabled(this.collection.dataMaskingPolicy?.())) {
         newCollection.dataMaskingPolicy = this.state.dataMaskingContent;
       }
 
@@ -1463,15 +1464,7 @@ export class SettingsComponent extends React.Component<SettingsComponentProps, S
       });
     }
 
-    // Check if DDM should be enabled
-    const shouldEnableDDM = (): boolean => {
-      const hasDataMaskingCapability = isCapabilityEnabled(Constants.CapabilityNames.EnableDynamicDataMasking);
-      const isSqlAccount = userContext.apiType === "SQL";
-
-      return isSqlAccount && hasDataMaskingCapability; // Only show for SQL accounts with DDM capability
-    };
-
-    if (shouldEnableDDM()) {
+    if (isDataMaskingEnabled(this.collection.dataMaskingPolicy?.())) {
       const dataMaskingComponentProps: DataMaskingComponentProps = {
         shouldDiscardDataMasking: this.state.shouldDiscardDataMasking,
         resetShouldDiscardDataMasking: this.resetShouldDiscardDataMasking,
diff --git a/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsSubComponents/DataMaskingComponent.tsx b/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsSubComponents/DataMaskingComponent.tsx
index 80314fe7c..6e316fea6 100644
--- a/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsSubComponents/DataMaskingComponent.tsx
+++ b/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsSubComponents/DataMaskingComponent.tsx
@@ -1,12 +1,10 @@
 import { MessageBar, MessageBarType, Stack } from "@fluentui/react";
 import * as monaco from "monaco-editor";
 import * as React from "react";
-import * as Constants from "../../../../Common/Constants";
 import * as DataModels from "../../../../Contracts/DataModels";
-import { isCapabilityEnabled } from "../../../../Utils/CapabilityUtils";
 import { loadMonaco } from "../../../LazyMonaco";
 import { titleAndInputStackProps, unsavedEditorWarningMessage } from "../SettingsRenderUtils";
-import { isDirty as isContentDirty } from "../SettingsUtils";
+import { isDataMaskingEnabled, isDirty as isContentDirty } from "../SettingsUtils";
 
 export interface DataMaskingComponentProps {
   shouldDiscardDataMasking: boolean;
@@ -140,7 +138,7 @@ export class DataMaskingComponent extends React.Component<DataMaskingComponentPr
   };
 
   public render(): JSX.Element {
-    if (!isCapabilityEnabled(Constants.CapabilityNames.EnableDynamicDataMasking)) {
+    if (!isDataMaskingEnabled(this.props.dataMaskingContent)) {
       return null;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsUtils.tsx b/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsUtils.tsx
index 39590865c..925b9539e 100644
--- a/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsUtils.tsx
+++ b/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/SettingsUtils.tsx
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ import * as Constants from "../../../Common/Constants";
 import * as DataModels from "../../../Contracts/DataModels";
 import * as ViewModels from "../../../Contracts/ViewModels";
 import { isFabricNative } from "../../../Platform/Fabric/FabricUtil";
+import { userContext } from "../../../UserContext";
+import { isCapabilityEnabled } from "../../../Utils/CapabilityUtils";
 import { MongoIndex } from "../../../Utils/arm/generatedClients/cosmos/types";
 
 const zeroValue = 0;
@@ -88,6 +90,19 @@ export const hasDatabaseSharedThroughput = (collection: ViewModels.Collection):
   return database?.isDatabaseShared() && !collection.offer();
 };
 
+export const isDataMaskingEnabled = (dataMaskingPolicy?: DataModels.DataMaskingPolicy): boolean => {
+  const isSqlAccount = userContext.apiType === "SQL";
+  if (!isSqlAccount) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  const hasDataMaskingCapability = isCapabilityEnabled(Constants.CapabilityNames.EnableDynamicDataMasking);
+  const hasDataMaskingPolicyFromCollection =
+    dataMaskingPolicy?.includedPaths?.length > 0 || dataMaskingPolicy?.excludedPaths?.length > 0;
+
+  return hasDataMaskingCapability || hasDataMaskingPolicyFromCollection;
+};
+
 export const parseConflictResolutionMode = (modeFromBackend: string): DataModels.ConflictResolutionMode => {
   // Backend can contain different casing as it does case-insensitive comparisson
   if (!modeFromBackend) {
diff --git a/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/__snapshots__/SettingsComponent.test.tsx.snap b/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/__snapshots__/SettingsComponent.test.tsx.snap
index 569bfd035..c03e0e9ad 100644
--- a/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/__snapshots__/SettingsComponent.test.tsx.snap
+++ b/src/Explorer/Controls/Settings/__snapshots__/SettingsComponent.test.tsx.snap
@@ -604,6 +604,60 @@ exports[`SettingsComponent renders 1`] = `
           />
         </Stack>
       </PivotItem>
+      <PivotItem
+        headerButtonProps={
+          {
+            "data-test": "settings-tab-header/DataMaskingTab",
+          }
+        }
+        headerText="Masking Policy (preview)"
+        itemKey="DataMaskingTab"
+        key="DataMaskingTab"
+        style={
+          {
+            "backgroundColor": "var(--colorNeutralBackground1)",
+            "color": "var(--colorNeutralForeground1)",
+            "marginTop": 20,
+          }
+        }
+      >
+        <Stack
+          styles={
+            {
+              "root": {
+                "backgroundColor": "var(--colorNeutralBackground1)",
+                "color": "var(--colorNeutralForeground1)",
+              },
+            }
+          }
+        >
+          <DataMaskingComponent
+            dataMaskingContent={
+              {
+                "excludedPaths": [
+                  "/excludedPath",
+                ],
+                "includedPaths": [],
+                "isPolicyEnabled": true,
+              }
+            }
+            dataMaskingContentBaseline={
+              {
+                "excludedPaths": [
+                  "/excludedPath",
+                ],
+                "includedPaths": [],
+                "isPolicyEnabled": true,
+              }
+            }
+            onDataMaskingContentChange={[Function]}
+            onDataMaskingDirtyChange={[Function]}
+            resetShouldDiscardDataMasking={[Function]}
+            shouldDiscardDataMasking={false}
+            validationErrors={[]}
+          />
+        </Stack>
+      </PivotItem>
       <PivotItem
         headerButtonProps={
           {