Use this guide to create and manage groups using the Microsoft 365 admin center UI, including adding and removing members.

Prerequisites

• You must have an admin role that can create and manage groups (for example: Groups Administrator or Global Administrator).
• Decide what type of group you need (Security group vs Microsoft 365 group).

Create a Security Group

• Open the Microsoft 365 admin center.
• Go to: Teams & groups -> Active teams & groups.
• Open (or filter to) Security groups.
• Select Add a security group.
• Enter the details:
  • Name: <Group Name>
  • Description: optional
• Select Create group, then Close.

Note: Security groups are commonly used for access control. Microsoft 365 groups are used for collaboration (Outlook group, SharePoint site, Teams, etc.).

Add Members to a Group

• Go to: Teams & groups -> Active teams & groups.
• Select the group you want to manage.
• Open the Members section.
• Select Add members.
• Search/select users, then Save.

Remove Members from a Group

• Open the group from Active teams & groups.
• Go to Members.
• Select the user you want to remove.
• Choose Remove, then confirm.

Manage Owners (recommended)

• Open the group in Active teams & groups.
• Go to Owners.
• Select Add owners.
• Choose one or more users, then Save.

Important: Assigning at least one Owner helps ensure membership can be managed without relying on a Global Admin account.

External Users (Guests)

• You can view existing guests in: Users -> Guest users.
• To invite new external users, use the Microsoft Entra admin center (Entra ID -> Users -> Invite external user).
• After the guest user is invited and has accepted the invite, add them to the required group using the steps above.

Common Issues

• You can’t see the group type you expect:
  • Some tenants limit what non-global admins can create/manage.
  • Try Entra admin center for Security group management if options are missing.
• You can’t add an external person by email:
  • The user must exist in the tenant as a Guest user first (invite them via Entra).