How to create a basic group and add members in Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD)

Microsoft Entra ID groups are designed to streamline the management of users requiring identical access and permissions to resources. Rather than assigning unique permissions to individual users, you can assign these permissions to a group, automatically granting them to all members of that group. The steps mentioned below can be used to create a basic group and add members in Microsoft Entra ID. ManageEngine M365 Manager Plus, an extensive tool used for reporting, managing, monitoring, auditing, and creating alerts for critical activities in your Microsoft 365 environments, can also be used for this purpose.

The following table is a comparison on how to create a basic group and add members in Microsoft Entra ID using the native admin center and M365 Manager Plus.

Entra ID

Steps to create a basic group and add members using the native admin center

1. Sign-in to the Microsoft Entra admin center with an account having at least Groups Administrator privileges.
2. Navigate to Identity > Groups > All groups.
3. Select New group.
4. Enter a Group name.
5. Select a Group type.
6. In the Group email address field, please input an email address manually or use the one generated from the provided Group name.
7. In the Group description field, add an optional decryption to the group.
8. To use this group for assigning Microsoft Entra roles to members, switch the Microsoft Entra roles can be assigned to the group setting to yes.
9. Select a Membership type.
10. Optionally, you can add Owners or Members. They can also be added even after the group has been created.
11. Click on the link under Owners or Members to display a list of all users in your directory.
12. From the list, select the users you want, then click the Select button at the bottom of the window.
13. Select Create to complete the group creation process.

M365 Manager Plus

Steps to create a basic group and add members using M365 Manager Plus

1. Log in to M365 Manager Plus and navigate to the Management tab> Azure Active Directory >Group Management > Microsoft365 Group creation.
2. Select the Microsoft 365 Tenant and the Microsoft 365 group creation template.
3. In the General tab, configure the Display name, Primary SMTP Address, Alias, and other information like,
   • Access Type - Set it to Public or Private.
   • Requires Sender Notification -Set it to True if you want the sender to be authenticated every time they send a mail on behalf of the group.
4. In the Group tab, add members and owners to the Microsoft 365 group.
5. The Exchange tab allows you to configure MailTip and Custom Attributes for the Microsoft 365 group.
6. Click Apply to finish.

Limitation of using Entra ID for creating a basic group and adding members

Administrators will require at least a Groups Administrator, User Administrator, Privileged Role Administrator, or Global Administrator role to perform this operation.

Using M365 Manager Plus to create a basic group and adding members in Entra ID

M365 Manager Plus is an extensive Microsoft 365 tool used for reporting, managing, monitoring, auditing, and creating alerts for critical incidents. With M365 Manager Plus, you can enhance the administration of your entire Microsoft 365 environment.

• Delegate specific tasks, access to selected reports, or control over specific objects in your environment via Virtual Tenants to your help desk, ensuring tasks are performed without elevating their Microsoft 365 privileges.
• Manage mailboxes, users, groups, sites, and contacts effortlessly in bulk.
• Gain a thorough understanding of your environment in Exchange Online, Azure Active Directory, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and other Microsoft 365 services with detailed reports.
• Keep tabs on even the most granular user activities in your Microsoft 365 environment.
• Monitor the health and performance of Microsoft 365 features and endpoints around the clock.