Assign Licenses

Assign Microsoft 365 licenses to users individually or in bulk. Configure service plan selections, manage group-based licensing, and automate license assignment workflows.

Assignment Methods

Direct Assignment

Manually assign licenses to individual users. Full control over which service plans are enabled.

• Per-user control
• Immediate effect
• Custom service plan selection
• Best for exceptions

Group-Based Licensing

Automatically assign licenses based on group membership. Scales automatically as users join/leave groups.

• Automatic provisioning
• Based on Entra ID groups
• Reduces manual work
• Requires Entra ID P1+

Assign License to User

To assign a license to an individual user:

1. Select User — Search by name or email
2. Select License — Choose from available SKUs (e.g., Microsoft 365 E5, E3, Business Premium, Exchange Online Plan 1)
3. Set Usage Location — Required for license assignment due to service availability by region
4. Configure Service Plans — Optionally disable specific service plans within the license:
   • Exchange Online (Plan 2)
   • Microsoft Teams
   • SharePoint Online (Plan 2)
   • Office for the web
   • Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise
   • Power BI Pro
   • Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
5. Assign License — Apply the configuration

Bulk Assignment

Upload CSV

Upload a CSV file with user emails to bulk assign licenses.

CSV Format:

UserPrincipalName,SkuPartNumber

Select from List

Select multiple users from the user list to assign the same license.

Group-Based Licensing

Configure license assignments based on Entra ID group membership:

License Conflicts

Handle overlapping service plans when users have multiple licenses:

Warning: Duplicate Service Plans — When a user has the same service from multiple licenses (e.g., Exchange Online from both M365 E3 and standalone), the standalone license can be removed.

Warning: Insufficient Licenses — When a group requires more licenses than are available, some users cannot be licensed. Purchase additional licenses to resolve.

Assignment Templates

Save common license configurations as templates for quick assignment:

• Standard Employee — M365 E3 + Power BI Pro (Teams, Exchange, SharePoint enabled)
• Executive — M365 E5 + Project Plan 3 (All services enabled)
• Frontline Worker — M365 F3 (Limited services for shared devices)
• Email Only — Exchange Online Plan 1 (Exchange only, no other services)

Assignment History

Track all license assignment changes with details:

• License assigned or removed
• Target user
• Admin who made the change
• Timestamp

API Reference

• POST /api/identity/users/:id/licenses — Assign license to user
• DELETE /api/identity/users/:id/licenses/:skuId — Remove license from user
• POST /api/identity/licenses/bulk-assign — Bulk assign licenses
• POST /api/identity/groups/:id/licenses — Configure group-based licensing
• GET /api/identity/licenses/assignment-history — Get assignment audit history