Microsoft Entra ID

Learn About Groups

In brief

- For more information, see [Learn about Microsoft 365 Groups](https://support.office.com/article/learn-about-office-365-groups-b565caa1-5c40-40ef-9915-60fdb2d97fa2).

Documentation change

Membership types

Microsoft Entra ID helps you give access to your organization's resources by providing access rights to a single user or a group. Using groups lets the resource owner or Microsoft Entra directory owner assign a set of access permissions to all members of the group. The resource or directory owner can also grant group management rights to someone such as a department manager or a help desk administrator, which allows that person to add and remove members. For more information about how to manage group owners, see the Manage groups article.

Microsoft Entra ID helps you give access to your organization's resources by providing access rights to a single user or a group. Using groups lets the resource owner or Microsoft Entra directory owner assign a set of access permissions to all members of the group. The resource or directory owner can also grant group management rights to someone such as a department manager or a help desk administrator, which allows that person to add and remove members. For more information about how to manage group owners, see the Manage groups article.

The resources that Microsoft Entra groups can manage access to can be:

  • Direct assignment: The resource owner directly assigns the user to the resource.
  • Group assignment. The resource owner assigns a Microsoft Entra group to the resource, which automatically gives all of the group members access to the resource. Both the group owner and the resource owner manage group membership, letting either owner add or remove members from the group. For more information about managing group membership, see the Managed groups article.
  • Group assignment. The resource owner assigns a Microsoft Entra group to the resource, which automatically gives all of the group members access to the resource. Both the group owner and the resource owner manage group membership, letting either owner add or remove members from the group. For more information about managing group membership, see the Managed groups article.
  • Rule-based assignment: The resource owner creates a group and uses a rule to define which users are assigned to a specific resource. The rule is based on attributes that are assigned to individual users. The resource owner manages the rule, determining which attributes and values are required to allow access the resource. For more information, see Create a dynamic group.

  • Assign multiple group owners: Assign at least two owners to a group to ensure continuity and reduce dependencies on a single individual.

  • Use group-based licensing: Group-based licensing simplifies user provisioning and ensures consistent license assignments.

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