Microsoft 365 Users

Microsoft 365 User Management

Overview

Users in Microsoft 365 (Entra ID) are the central identity object for your tenant. Every licensed service — Exchange, Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint — flows through the user object. For MSPs, user management spans onboarding new staff, offboarding leavers, license optimization, and security posture checks across customer tenants.

User Object Key Properties

Property	Description	MSP Relevance
id	Entra object GUID	Use in API calls
userPrincipalName	Login email (UPN)	Primary identifier
displayName	Full name	Display in tickets
accountEnabled	Active/disabled	Offboarding, lockout
assignedLicenses	License SKU GUIDs	License audits
strongAuthenticationMethods	MFA methods	Security posture
signInActivity.lastSignInDateTime	Last login	Inactive user detection
jobTitle / department	Org structure	Access grouping
manager	Reporting manager	Approval workflows
usageLocation	2-letter country	Required before license assignment

Account Status Values

State	accountEnabled	Meaning
Active	true	Normal working account
Disabled	false	Blocked sign-in; retains data
Deleted (soft)	N/A	30-day recoverable window
Deleted (hard)	N/A	Permanent — data gone

License Assignment Model

M365 licenses are assigned as SKU objects. Users need a usageLocation set before any license can be assigned.

Common MSP License SKUs

SKU Part Number	Friendly Name
O365_BUSINESS_PREMIUM	Microsoft 365 Business Premium
SPE_E3	Microsoft 365 E3
SPE_E5	Microsoft 365 E5
ENTERPRISEPACK	Office 365 E3
EMS	Enterprise Mobility + Security E3
AAD_PREMIUM	Entra ID P1
AAD_PREMIUM_P2	Entra ID P2

Graph API Patterns

List All Users

GET /v1.0/users?$select=id,displayName,userPrincipalName,accountEnabled,assignedLicenses,signInActivity&$top=100

Note: signInActivity requires Entra ID P1 or P2.

Get a Specific User

GET /v1.0/users/{id or userPrincipalName}?$select=id,displayName,userPrincipalName,accountEnabled,jobTitle,department,assignedLicenses,usageLocation

Search Users by Name

GET /v1.0/users?$filter=startswith(displayName,'John')&$select=id,displayName,userPrincipalName,accountEnabled

Disable a User Account

PATCH /v1.0/users/{id}
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "accountEnabled": false
}

Create a New User

POST /v1.0/users
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "accountEnabled": true,
  "displayName": "Jane Smith",
  "mailNickname": "jsmith",
  "userPrincipalName": "jsmith@contoso.com",
  "usageLocation": "US",
  "passwordProfile": {
    "forceChangePasswordNextSignIn": true,
    "password": "TempP@ss123!"
  }
}

Assign a License

POST /v1.0/users/{id}/assignLicense
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "addLicenses": [
    { "skuId": "<sku-guid>", "disabledPlans": [] }
  ],
  "removeLicenses": []
}

Get User's Group Memberships

GET /v1.0/users/{id}/memberOf?$select=id,displayName,groupTypes

Revoke All Sign-In Sessions

POST /v1.0/users/{id}/revokeSignInSessions

MFA Status Checking

The Softeria MCP server wraps Graph API calls. To check MFA status:

GET /v1.0/users/{id}/authentication/methods

Response includes registered methods:

• #microsoft.graph.microsoftAuthenticatorAuthenticationMethod — Authenticator app
• #microsoft.graph.phoneAuthenticationMethod — SMS/phone
• #microsoft.graph.fido2AuthenticationMethod — Hardware key
• #microsoft.graph.windowsHelloForBusinessAuthenticationMethod — WHfB
• #microsoft.graph.passwordAuthenticationMethod — Password only (no MFA!)

Users with only passwordAuthenticationMethod have NO MFA enrolled.

Common MSP Workflows

New User Onboarding

1. Create user with temp password (forceChangePasswordNextSignIn: true)
2. Set usageLocation
3. Assign license SKU
4. Add to required security groups
5. Create mailbox (auto-provisioned on Exchange license)
6. Communicate credentials to manager

User Offboarding

1. Revoke all sign-in sessions immediately
2. Disable account (accountEnabled: false)
3. Reset password (removes existing sessions)
4. Remove licenses (preserves data, frees seat)
5. Convert mailbox to shared or set auto-forward
6. Remove from Teams/groups
7. Transfer OneDrive ownership to manager
8. Schedule hard delete after data retention period

Inactive User Detection

Users with no sign-in for 90+ days are candidates for license reclamation:

GET /v1.0/users?$filter=accountEnabled eq true&$select=id,displayName,userPrincipalName,signInActivity&$top=999

Filter results where signInActivity.lastSignInDateTime is older than 90 days, or null (never logged in).

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Resolution
Request_ResourceNotFound	User GUID/UPN doesn't exist	Verify UPN spelling
Authorization_RequestDenied	Missing Graph permission	Check app registration scopes
LicenseAssignmentError	No usageLocation set	Set location first
Directory_QuotaExceeded	Tenant user limit reached	Contact Microsoft
InvalidPasswordComplexity	Password too weak	Use 12+ char with symbols

Permissions Required

Task	Microsoft Graph Permission
Read users	User.Read.All
Create/update users	User.ReadWrite.All
Assign licenses	Directory.ReadWrite.All
Check auth methods	UserAuthenticationMethod.Read.All
Revoke sessions	Directory.ReadWrite.All

Related Skills

• M365 Mailboxes - Exchange mailbox management
• M365 Licensing - License inventory and optimization
• M365 Security - MFA, sign-in risk, conditional access
• M365 API Patterns - Auth, pagination, throttling