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Add and remove group members in Outlook

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Add and remove group members in Outlook

As projects come and go, so too will your group members. Undoubtedly, you'll need to add and remove members over the life of the group; you might even need to add or remove group owners.

Any member of a group can invite others to the group, but only the group owner can remove them. The group owner is usually the person who created the group but others can be assigned this role as well.

Select the tab that corresponds with your version of outlook for instructions on adding and removing members, including guest members.

WindowsMacWebMobile

Add members to your group

  1. Open Outlook for Windows.

  2. Under Groups in the left folder pane, select your group.

    Select a group on the left Nav

  3. On the Groups ribbon, select Add Members.

  4. In the Add Members box, search for people within your organization either by their full name or email address, and then select the names to add.

  5. Click OK.

Note: You can't edit group membership using the Address Book.  If you try to add or remove members using the Address Book you may see an error.

Add guests to a group

When you add guests, also known as external users, to a group, you're granting them access to all information within the group. This includes emails, calendar, project notes, project files, and project plans. Guests don't see a Groups node in their navigation pane in Outlook but do receive group emails and links to files through their inbox.

The groups header indicates when guest users are included in the group, as shown in this example.

Guest membership is indicated in your group header

When you invite a guest to join a group, they will be notified by email that they've been added. They'll begin to receive group conversations and calendar events in their inbox. But guest members do have limitations as to what they can see and do in a group. For example, guests can't:

  • Be group owners

  • View the global address list

  • View all information on group member contact cards

  • View membership of the group

The group owner can revoke guest access at any time.

To add guests to a group

  1. Open Outlook for Windows.

  2. Under Groups in the left folder pane, select your group.

    Select a group on the left Nav

  3. On the Groups ribbon, select Add Members.

  4. In the Add Members box, enter the email address of the guest and press Enter.

  5. Select OK.

Remove a member from a group

Only group owners can remove members.

  1. Under Groups in the left folder pane, select your group.

    Select a group on the left Nav

  2. On the ribbon, select Edit Group.

  3. In the Edit Group box, point to the name of the member you want to remove, and click the X.

    Remove a member

Note: This feature is available to Office Insider participants with Microsoft 365 subscription. If you are a Microsoft 365 subscriber, make sure you have the latest version of Office.

Add members to your group

  1. Open Outlook for Mac

  2. Open group card of the group to which you’ll add members.

  3. Choose Members.

    Showing add members

  4. Type one or more names or email addresses, or select members from the list. You can add guests who are people outside your school or your organization to the group. Showing add members within group

  5. Choose Add Members.

Remove a member from a group

  1. Open Outlook for Mac

  2. Open group card of the group from which you’ll remove members. Only group owners can remove members.

  3. Choose Members.

  4. Click X next to the name of the person you want to remove from the group. Showing remove group members

  5. Choose Remove.

Note: If the instructions don't match what you see, you might be using an older version of Outlook on the web. Try the Instructions for classic Outlook on the web.

As an owner, you receive requests to join your group from people who are not part of your group, but want to become a member of the group. 

  1. One can request to join your groups in two ways: if it is a Private group select Request to join, if it is a Public group select Join.

  2. The group owner/owners gets an email with the join request. The owner can Approve or Decline the join request from within the email.

All the other owners will also see that request has been approved and they don't need to act on it.A user can discover a group and might want to join it. If the group is private, owner get an email with the request. Owner can either approve or decline the request.

A group member can also send a request to add other users to your group

As an owner, you will receive an email from the group member, who wants to add other users to your group. The same email will go to other owners, if any. Based on the action taken, the email will update and show you the status of requests. 

You can invite people to join your group. If it's a private group, the group owner will receive a request from the invitee to join the group. You can also invite guests to join the group. They'll receive group conversations and calendar events in their inbox. However, guests can't be group owners, view the global address list, view all information on group member contact cards, or view membership of the group.

  1. Open Outlook on the web.

  2. In the folder pane, under Groups, select your group.

    A screenshot of a group in the navigation pane

  3. In the group header, select the number of members next to Settings for SPO Migration tool.

    A screenshot of the group members button

  4. Next to the group photo, select More options > Invite others.

    A screenshot of the Invite others option in the group card

  5. Do one of the following:

    • Select Copy to paste the link to join the group into an email that you've already started composing.

    • Select Email to start a new mail with a link to join the group in the message. The recipient will have to click that link to join the group.

      If the group is private, the link in the message will submit a request to the group owner join the group.

  6. Finish composing the mail and click Send.

You must be a group owner to remove members. If you're not sure if you're a group owner, see "View group owners" below.

  1. In the group header, select the number of members next to Settings for SPO Migration tool.

    A screenshot of the group members button

  2. Next to the name of the member you want to remove, select Remove from group Remove from group.

  1. In the group header, select the number of members next to Settings for SPO Migration tool.

    A screenshot of the group members button

  2. Under the Role column, you can see if a person in the group is an owner or a member.

You have to be a group owner to promote one of your group members.

  1. In the group header, select the number of members next to Settings for SPO Migration tool.

    A screenshot of the group members button

  2. Find the person you want to promote to an owner.

  3. Under the Role column, select Member > Promote to owner.

When demoting an owner to member status, keep in mind that the group must have at least one owner. Only group owners can demote.

  1. In the group header, select the number of members next to Settings for SPO Migration tool.

    A screenshot of the group members button

  2. Find the person you want to demote to a member.

  3. Under the Role column, select Owner > Remove owner status.

Instructions for classic Outlook on the web

You can invite people to join your group. If it's a private group, the group owner will receive a request from the invitee to join the group. You can also invite guests to join the group. They'll receive group conversations and calendar events in their inbox. However, guests can't be group owners, view the global address list, view all information on group member contact cards, or view membership of the group.

  1. Open Outlook on the web.

  2. In the navigation pane, under Groups, select your group.

  3. In the group header, select the member count.

    Select the member count to go to the Members page

  4. Select Add members.

  5. Enter the email address of the person you want to add.

  6. Select Save.

You must be a group owner to remove members. How do I know if I'm a group owner?

  1. In the group header, select the member count.

    Select the member count to go to the Members page

  2. Select All to see all members of the group.

    Select All to see the members of this group

  3. Next to the name of the member you want to remove and click The More Actions icon > Remove from group.

  1. In the group header, select the member count.

    Select the member count to go to the Members page

  2. Select Owners to see all of the group owners.

    Groups header with Owners link highlighted

You have to be a group owner to promote one of your group members.

  1. In the group header, select the member count.

    Select the member count to go to the Members page

  2. Select All to see all members of the group.

    Select All to see the members of this group

  3. Hover over the name of the member you want to promote and choose The More Actions icon >Make owner.

When demoting an owner to member status, keep in mind that the group must have at least one owner. Only group owners can demote.

  1. In the group header, select the member count.

    Select the member count to go to the Members page

  2. Select Owners.

    Groups header with Owners link highlighted

  3. Hover over the name of the member you want to promote and select The More Actions icon > Remove owner status.

Add members to your group

  1. Open the Outlook Mobile app.

  2. Select Groups from the folder pane.

    Groups folder in navigation pane

  3. Tap the name of the group to which you'll add members.

    Home screen of groups mobile app

  4. Tap the group name to go to the Group Details page.

    Tap the member button to see the members page

  5. Below the list of members, tap the View All link.

    Select the view all members link to see group members

  6. On the Members page, tap Add.

  7. Type one or more names or email addresses, or select members from the list. Members from outside your school or organization will have "Guest" beneath their names.

  8. Tap Check mark symbol. You'll see the updated member list.

Remove a member from a group

Only group owners can remove members.

  1. Open the Outlook Mobile app.

  2. Select Groups from the folder pane.

    Groups folder in navigation pane

  3. Tap the name of the group to which you'll remove members.

    Home screen of groups mobile app

  4. Tap the group name to go to the Group Details page.

    Tap the member button to see the members page

  5. On the Group Details page, tap . . . next to the name of the person you want to remove from the group.

  6. Tap Remove From Group.

See Also

Create an Outlook.com group and add members

Guest access in Microsoft 365 Groups

Create a group

Join a group

Delete a group

Leave a group

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