M365 Groups

Microsoft 365 Groups provide collaboration-focused group functionality that provisions shared resources including a mailbox, calendar, SharePoint site, Planner, and optionally a Team. Members get automatic access to all associated resources.

Overview

Microsoft 365 Groups are the membership service underlying Teams, SharePoint team sites, Outlook groups, Planner plans, and Yammer communities. Managing a group automatically manages membership for all connected services.

M365 Group Features

Shared Resources

When you create an M365 Group, the following resources are automatically provisioned:

• Shared Mailbox — Group email address for conversations
• Shared Calendar — Scheduling for group events
• SharePoint Site — Document library and team site
• Planner — Task management boards
• OneNote — Shared notebook
• Teams — Chat, meetings, and collaboration (optional)

Privacy Settings

• Public — Discoverable by all users, anyone can join
• Private — Hidden from discovery, owner approval required to join

Email Settings

• Send Copies — Members receive email in their personal inbox
• Allow External Senders — Receive email from outside the organization
• Hide from GAL — Hide the group from the Global Address List

Group-Based Licensing

Assign licenses to an M365 group instead of individual users. When users join the group, they automatically receive the assigned licenses. Requires Azure AD Premium.

• Assign Licenses — Select which SKUs to assign to group members
• Service Plans — Toggle individual services within each SKU
• Processing Status — View pending, succeeded, and failed assignments
• Error Handling — Resolve conflicts when users have direct assignments

Dynamic Group Rules

M365 Groups can use dynamic membership rules based on user attributes:

// All Sales department members
(user.department -eq "Sales")

// All managers
(user.jobTitle -contains "Manager")

Dynamic groups require Azure AD Premium P1 license.

Graph API Endpoints

• GET /groups — List all groups
• POST /groups — Create group
• GET /groups/{id}/members — Get members
• POST /groups/{id}/members/$ref — Add member
• DELETE /groups/{id}/members/{userId}/$ref — Remove member
• POST /groups/{id}/assignLicense — Assign licenses

API Reference

• GET /api/user-management-identity/groups?type=m365 — List M365 groups
• POST /api/user-management-identity/groups — Create new M365 group
• GET /api/user-management-identity/groups/:groupId/members — Get group members
• POST /api/user-management-identity/groups/:groupId/members — Add members to group