🧩 Part 3: Automated lifecycle and group cleanup

Bjørnar
Jun 16
3 min read

Keep order in the ranks.

As organizations grow and change, new Microsoft 365 groups are constantly being created – for projects, teams, departments and initiatives. But what happens when projects end, teams disband or employees leave?

Without good lifecycle and cleanup routines, you quickly end up with:
Unused and obsolete groups
Security risks (old members with access)
Clutter in Teams and SharePoint
Chaos

Fortunately, there are several ways to automate the lifecycle of groups in Microsoft 365 and Entra ID.

Before you start cleaning up and structuring, it is also a good idea to consider whether all users should actually be allowed to create a Microsoft 365 group? The recommendation is clearly to limit who can create Microsoft 365 groups by scoping this down to an access group. As we know from the first post in this series, there is a Microsoft 365 group lurking behind most services, so you must be aware that by limiting group creation, you also close down the possibility of creating Teams, Engage Communities, etc. This can be solved with a simple ordering solution where you can build an approval flow and standards in. It makes life easier for the user and not least the life of those who are supposed to keep order in the ranks easier 😅 When you have a standardized data set, you can automate the next steps in a lifecycle.

Below I will go over how you can clean up and keep things organized in Microsoft 365 groups – so that you avoid old projects and outdated teams gathering dust.

In addition to structure and membership, it is also important to have control over the content of the groups themselves. This is where retention policies in Data Lifecycle Management (DLM) come into play. With these, you can set rules for how long documents, emails and other content should be kept – and when they should be automatically deleted.

In short: With a good combination of cleaning up in groups and smart content management, you get a tidier, safer and more transparent Microsoft 365 environment.

🔁 What is meant by the lifecycle of groups?

Lifecycle refers to the entire "life" of a group - from its creation, to its active use, and finally to its becoming inactive and needing to be deleted or archived.

🛠️ Lifecycle management tools and methods

1. Expiration policies

You can configure a policy that automatically deletes groups after a certain amount of time – with the option to renew.

Default lifetime: e.g. 180 days
Group owners receive an email with the option to renew
If no one renews, the group is automatically deleted (can be restored for 30 days)

2. Naming policies

By using naming conventions, you can:

Distinguish between different types of groups (e.g. PRJ, AVD, TEAM)
Include metadata such as department, country, or creation date
Simplify filtering and cleanup

3. Access reviews

Use access assessments to periodically ask group owners or members to confirm that access is still required.

Can be configured to run automatically
Can be targeted to guest users or all members
Results can be used to remove inactive users

💡 Requires Microsoft Entra ID P2

4. Automation with Power Automate or Graph API

You can build your own routines for:

Notification of inactive groups
Automatic archiving or tagging
Reporting to IT or owners

📊 How to identify inactive groups?

Microsoft 365 gives you insight into group activity through:

Microsoft 365 Usage Reports (in the admin portal)
Graph API: Get data about recent activity in Teams, SharePoint, Outlook, etc.
PowerShell: Use scripts to retrieve groups with no activity in the last X days

For example, a filter that gives you all ownerless groups.

🧹 Cleanup Best Practices

Start with an overview: Map out which groups exist and are being used
Involve owners: Let group owners take responsibility for renewal and cleanup
Educate owners: What does it mean to be a group owner? (Team owner)
Automate where you can: Use policies and tools to reduce manual work
Communicate clearly: Inform users about what is happening and why

🚀 Next Steps

In the next post, we'll look at access management with Administrative Units and delegated administration - how you can distribute responsibility and control in larger organizations without losing control.

Bjørnar&AI