Create group

10/09/2021
10 minutes to read

Namespace: microsoft.graph

Create a new group as specified in the request body. You can create the following types of groups:

Microsoft 365 group (unified group)
Security group

This operation returns by default only a subset of the properties for each group. These default properties are noted in the Properties section.

To get properties that are not returned by default, do a GET operation and specify the properties in a $select OData query option.

Permissions

One of the following permissions is required to call this API. To learn more, including how to choose permissions, see Permissions.

Permission type	Permissions (from least to most privileged)
Delegated (work or school account)	Group.ReadWrite.All, Directory.ReadWrite.All, Directory.AccessAsUser.All
Delegated (personal Microsoft account)	Not supported.
Application	Group.Create, Group.ReadWrite.All, Directory.ReadWrite.All

HTTP request

POST /groups

Request headers

Name	Description
Authorization	Bearer {token}. Required.
Content-Type	application/json

Request body

In the request body, supply a JSON representation of the group object.

The following table shows the properties that are required when you create the group. Specify other writable properties as necessary for your group.

Property	Type	Description
displayName	String	The name to display in the address book for the group. Maximum length: 256 characters. Required.
mailEnabled	Boolean	Set to `true` for mail-enabled groups. Required.
mailNickname	String	The mail alias for the group, unique in the organization. Maximum length is 64 characters. This property can contain only characters in the ASCII character set 0 - 127 except the following: `@ () \ [] " ; : . <> , SPACE`. Required.
securityEnabled	Boolean	Set to `true` for security-enabled groups, including Microsoft 365 groups. Required. Note: Groups created using the Microsoft Azure portal always have securityEnabled initially set to `true`.

Important

Creating a group using the Group.Create application permission without specifying owners will create the group anonymously and the group will not be modifiable. Add owners to the group while creating it to specify owners who can modify the group.
Creating a Microsoft 365 group programmatically with an app-only context and without specifying owners will create the group anonymously. Doing so can result in the associated SharePoint Online site not being created automatically until further manual action is taken.
To following properties can't be set in the initial POST request and must be set in a subsequent PATCH request: allowExternalSenders, autoSubscribeNewMembers, hideFromAddressLists, hideFromOutlookClients, isSubscribedByMail, unseenCount.

groupTypes options

Use the groupTypes property to control the type of group and its membership, as shown.

Type of group	Assigned membership	Dynamic membership
Microsoft 365 (aka unified group)	`["Unified"]`	`["Unified","DynamicMembership"]`
Dynamic	`[]` (null)	`["DynamicMembership"]`

Response

If successful, this method returns a 201 Created response code and a group object in the response body. The response includes only the default properties of the group.

Examples

Example 1: Create a Microsoft 365 group

The following example creates a Microsoft 365 group. Because the owners have not been specified, the calling user is automatically added as the owner of the group.

Request

POST https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/groups
Content-type: application/json

{
  "description": "Self help community for library",
  "displayName": "Library Assist",
  "groupTypes": [
    "Unified"
  ],
  "mailEnabled": true,
  "mailNickname": "library",
  "securityEnabled": false
}


GraphServiceClient graphClient = new GraphServiceClient( authProvider );

var group = new Group
{
	Description = "Self help community for library",
	DisplayName = "Library Assist",
	GroupTypes = new List<String>()
	{
		"Unified"
	},
	MailEnabled = true,
	MailNickname = "library",
	SecurityEnabled = false
};

await graphClient.Groups
	.Request()
	.AddAsync(group);


const options = {
	authProvider,
};

const client = Client.init(options);

const group = {
  description: 'Self help community for library',
  displayName: 'Library Assist',
  groupTypes: [
    'Unified'
  ],
  mailEnabled: true,
  mailNickname: 'library',
  securityEnabled: false
};

await client.api('/groups')
	.post(group);


MSHTTPClient *httpClient = [MSClientFactory createHTTPClientWithAuthenticationProvider:authenticationProvider];

NSString *MSGraphBaseURL = @"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/";
NSMutableURLRequest *urlRequest = [NSMutableURLRequest requestWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:[MSGraphBaseURL stringByAppendingString:@"/groups"]]];
[urlRequest setHTTPMethod:@"POST"];
[urlRequest setValue:@"application/json" forHTTPHeaderField:@"Content-Type"];

MSGraphGroup *group = [[MSGraphGroup alloc] init];
[group setDescription:@"Self help community for library"];
[group setDisplayName:@"Library Assist"];
NSMutableArray *groupTypesList = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
[groupTypesList addObject: @"Unified"];
[group setGroupTypes:groupTypesList];
[group setMailEnabled: true];
[group setMailNickname:@"library"];
[group setSecurityEnabled: false];

NSError *error;
NSData *groupData = [group getSerializedDataWithError:&error];
[urlRequest setHTTPBody:groupData];

MSURLSessionDataTask *meDataTask = [httpClient dataTaskWithRequest:urlRequest 
	completionHandler: ^(NSData *data, NSURLResponse *response, NSError *nserror) {

		//Request Completed

}];

[meDataTask execute];


GraphServiceClient graphClient = GraphServiceClient.builder().authenticationProvider( authProvider ).buildClient();

Group group = new Group();
group.description = "Self help community for library";
group.displayName = "Library Assist";
LinkedList<String> groupTypesList = new LinkedList<String>();
groupTypesList.add("Unified");
group.groupTypes = groupTypesList;
group.mailEnabled = true;
group.mailNickname = "library";
group.securityEnabled = false;

graphClient.groups()
	.buildRequest()
	.post(group);

Response

The following is an example of the response. The value of the preferredDataLocation property is inherited from the group creator's preferred data location.

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Content-type: application/json

{
    "id": "b320ee12-b1cd-4cca-b648-a437be61c5cd",
	  "deletedDateTime": null,
	  "classification": null,
	  "createdDateTime": "2018-12-22T00:51:37Z",
	  "creationOptions": [],
	  "description": "Self help community for library",
	  "displayName": "Library Assist",
	  "groupTypes": [
	      "Unified"
	  ],
	  "mail": "library7423@contoso.com",
	  "mailEnabled": true,
	  "mailNickname": "library",
	  "onPremisesLastSyncDateTime": null,
	  "onPremisesSecurityIdentifier": null,
	  "onPremisesSyncEnabled": null,
	  "preferredDataLocation": "CAN",
	  "proxyAddresses": [
	      "SMTP:library7423@contoso.com"
	  ],
	  "renewedDateTime": "2018-12-22T00:51:37Z",
	  "resourceBehaviorOptions": [],
	  "resourceProvisioningOptions": [],
	  "securityEnabled": false,
	  "visibility": "Public",
	  "onPremisesProvisioningErrors": []
}

Example 2: Create a group with owners and members

The following example creates a Security group with an owner and members specified. Note that a maximum of 20 relationships, such as owners and members, can be added as part of group creation. You can subsequently add more members by using the add member API or JSON batching.

Request

POST https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/groups
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "description": "Group with designated owner and members",
  "displayName": "Operations group",
  "groupTypes": [
  ],
  "mailEnabled": false,
  "mailNickname": "operations2019",
  "securityEnabled": true,
  "owners@odata.bind": [
    "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/26be1845-4119-4801-a799-aea79d09f1a2"
  ],
  "members@odata.bind": [
    "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/ff7cb387-6688-423c-8188-3da9532a73cc",
    "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/69456242-0067-49d3-ba96-9de6f2728e14"
  ]
}


GraphServiceClient graphClient = new GraphServiceClient( authProvider );

var group = new Group
{
	Description = "Group with designated owner and members",
	DisplayName = "Operations group",
	GroupTypes = new List<String>()
	{
	},
	MailEnabled = false,
	MailNickname = "operations2019",
	SecurityEnabled = true,
	AdditionalData = new Dictionary<string, object>()
	{
		{"owners@odata.bind", "[\"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/26be1845-4119-4801-a799-aea79d09f1a2\"]"},
		{"members@odata.bind", "[\"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/ff7cb387-6688-423c-8188-3da9532a73cc\",\"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/69456242-0067-49d3-ba96-9de6f2728e14\"]"}
	}
};

await graphClient.Groups
	.Request()
	.AddAsync(group);


const options = {
	authProvider,
};

const client = Client.init(options);

const group = {
  description: 'Group with designated owner and members',
  displayName: 'Operations group',
  groupTypes: [
  ],
  mailEnabled: false,
  mailNickname: 'operations2019',
  securityEnabled: true,
  'owners@odata.bind': [
    'https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/26be1845-4119-4801-a799-aea79d09f1a2'
  ],
  'members@odata.bind': [
    'https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/ff7cb387-6688-423c-8188-3da9532a73cc',
    'https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/69456242-0067-49d3-ba96-9de6f2728e14'
  ]
};

await client.api('/groups')
	.post(group);


MSHTTPClient *httpClient = [MSClientFactory createHTTPClientWithAuthenticationProvider:authenticationProvider];

NSString *MSGraphBaseURL = @"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/";
NSMutableURLRequest *urlRequest = [NSMutableURLRequest requestWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:[MSGraphBaseURL stringByAppendingString:@"/groups"]]];
[urlRequest setHTTPMethod:@"POST"];
[urlRequest setValue:@"application/json" forHTTPHeaderField:@"Content-Type"];

MSGraphGroup *group = [[MSGraphGroup alloc] init];
[group setDescription:@"Group with designated owner and members"];
[group setDisplayName:@"Operations group"];
NSMutableArray *groupTypesList = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
[group setGroupTypes:groupTypesList];
[group setMailEnabled: false];
[group setMailNickname:@"operations2019"];
[group setSecurityEnabled: true];

NSError *error;
NSData *groupData = [group getSerializedDataWithError:&error];
[urlRequest setHTTPBody:groupData];

MSURLSessionDataTask *meDataTask = [httpClient dataTaskWithRequest:urlRequest 
	completionHandler: ^(NSData *data, NSURLResponse *response, NSError *nserror) {

		//Request Completed

}];

[meDataTask execute];


GraphServiceClient graphClient = GraphServiceClient.builder().authenticationProvider( authProvider ).buildClient();

Group group = new Group();
group.description = "Group with designated owner and members";
group.displayName = "Operations group";
LinkedList<String> groupTypesList = new LinkedList<String>();
group.groupTypes = groupTypesList;
group.mailEnabled = false;
group.mailNickname = "operations2019";
group.securityEnabled = true;
group.additionalDataManager().put("owners@odata.bind", new JsonPrimitive("[  \"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/26be1845-4119-4801-a799-aea79d09f1a2\"]"));
group.additionalDataManager().put("members@odata.bind", new JsonPrimitive("[  \"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/ff7cb387-6688-423c-8188-3da9532a73cc\",  \"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/69456242-0067-49d3-ba96-9de6f2728e14\"]"));

graphClient.groups()
	.buildRequest()
	.post(group);

Response

The following is an example of a successful response. It includes only default properties. You can subsequently get the owners or members navigation properties of the group to verify the owner or members. The value of the preferredDataLocation property is inherited from the group creator's preferred data location.

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Content-type: application/json

{
    "@odata.context": "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/$metadata#groups/$entity",
    "@odata.id": "https://graph.microsoft.com/v2/84841066-274d-4ec0-a5c1-276be684bdd3/directoryObjects/21d05557-b7b6-418f-86fa-a3118d751be4/Microsoft.DirectoryServices.Group",
    "id": "21d05557-b7b6-418f-86fa-a3118d751be4",
    "deletedDateTime": null,
    "classification": null,
    "createdDateTime": "2021-09-21T07:09:14Z",
    "creationOptions": [],
    "description": "Group with designated owner and members",
    "displayName": "Operations group",
    "expirationDateTime": null,
    "groupTypes": [],
    "isAssignableToRole": null,
    "mail": null,
    "mailEnabled": false,
    "mailNickname": "operations2019",
    "membershipRule": null,
    "membershipRuleProcessingState": null,
    "onPremisesDomainName": null,
    "onPremisesLastSyncDateTime": null,
    "onPremisesNetBiosName": null,
    "onPremisesSamAccountName": null,
    "onPremisesSecurityIdentifier": null,
    "onPremisesSyncEnabled": null,
    "preferredDataLocation": null,
    "preferredLanguage": null,
    "proxyAddresses": [],
    "renewedDateTime": "2021-09-21T07:09:14Z",
    "resourceBehaviorOptions": [],
    "resourceProvisioningOptions": [],
    "securityEnabled": true,
    "securityIdentifier": "S-1-12-1-567301463-1099937718-295959174-3827004813",
    "theme": null,
    "visibility": null,
    "onPremisesProvisioningErrors": []
}

Example 3: Create a Microsoft 365 group that can be assigned to an Azure AD role

Request

The following is an example of the request. The calling user or app must be assigned the RoleManagement.ReadWrite.Directory permission to set the isAssignableToRole property or update the membership of such groups.

POST https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/groups
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "description": "Group assignable to a role",
    "displayName": "Role assignable group",
    "groupTypes": [
        "Unified"
    ],
    "isAssignableToRole": true,
    "mailEnabled": true,
    "securityEnabled": true,
    "mailNickname": "contosohelpdeskadministrators",
    "owners@odata.bind": [
        "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/99e44b05-c10b-4e95-a523-e2732bbaba1e"
    ],
    "members@odata.bind": [
        "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/6ea91a8d-e32e-41a1-b7bd-d2d185eed0e0",
        "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/4562bcc8-c436-4f95-b7c0-4f8ce89dca5e"
    ]
}


GraphServiceClient graphClient = new GraphServiceClient( authProvider );

var group = new Group
{
	Description = "Group assignable to a role",
	DisplayName = "Role assignable group",
	GroupTypes = new List<String>()
	{
		"Unified"
	},
	IsAssignableToRole = true,
	MailEnabled = true,
	SecurityEnabled = true,
	MailNickname = "contosohelpdeskadministrators",
	AdditionalData = new Dictionary<string, object>()
	{
		{"owners@odata.bind", "[\"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/99e44b05-c10b-4e95-a523-e2732bbaba1e\"]"},
		{"members@odata.bind", "[\"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/6ea91a8d-e32e-41a1-b7bd-d2d185eed0e0\",\"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/4562bcc8-c436-4f95-b7c0-4f8ce89dca5e\"]"}
	}
};

await graphClient.Groups
	.Request()
	.AddAsync(group);


const options = {
	authProvider,
};

const client = Client.init(options);

const group = {
    description: 'Group assignable to a role',
    displayName: 'Role assignable group',
    groupTypes: [
        'Unified'
    ],
    isAssignableToRole: true,
    mailEnabled: true,
    securityEnabled: true,
    mailNickname: 'contosohelpdeskadministrators',
    'owners@odata.bind': [
        'https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/99e44b05-c10b-4e95-a523-e2732bbaba1e'
    ],
    'members@odata.bind': [
        'https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/6ea91a8d-e32e-41a1-b7bd-d2d185eed0e0',
        'https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/4562bcc8-c436-4f95-b7c0-4f8ce89dca5e'
    ]
};

await client.api('/groups')
	.post(group);


MSHTTPClient *httpClient = [MSClientFactory createHTTPClientWithAuthenticationProvider:authenticationProvider];

NSString *MSGraphBaseURL = @"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/";
NSMutableURLRequest *urlRequest = [NSMutableURLRequest requestWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:[MSGraphBaseURL stringByAppendingString:@"/groups"]]];
[urlRequest setHTTPMethod:@"POST"];
[urlRequest setValue:@"application/json" forHTTPHeaderField:@"Content-Type"];

MSGraphGroup *group = [[MSGraphGroup alloc] init];
[group setDescription:@"Group assignable to a role"];
[group setDisplayName:@"Role assignable group"];
NSMutableArray *groupTypesList = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
[groupTypesList addObject: @"Unified"];
[group setGroupTypes:groupTypesList];
[group setIsAssignableToRole: true];
[group setMailEnabled: true];
[group setSecurityEnabled: true];
[group setMailNickname:@"contosohelpdeskadministrators"];

NSError *error;
NSData *groupData = [group getSerializedDataWithError:&error];
[urlRequest setHTTPBody:groupData];

MSURLSessionDataTask *meDataTask = [httpClient dataTaskWithRequest:urlRequest 
	completionHandler: ^(NSData *data, NSURLResponse *response, NSError *nserror) {

		//Request Completed

}];

[meDataTask execute];


GraphServiceClient graphClient = GraphServiceClient.builder().authenticationProvider( authProvider ).buildClient();

Group group = new Group();
group.description = "Group assignable to a role";
group.displayName = "Role assignable group";
LinkedList<String> groupTypesList = new LinkedList<String>();
groupTypesList.add("Unified");
group.groupTypes = groupTypesList;
group.isAssignableToRole = true;
group.mailEnabled = true;
group.securityEnabled = true;
group.mailNickname = "contosohelpdeskadministrators";
group.additionalDataManager().put("owners@odata.bind", new JsonPrimitive("[  \"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/99e44b05-c10b-4e95-a523-e2732bbaba1e\"]"));
group.additionalDataManager().put("members@odata.bind", new JsonPrimitive("[  \"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/6ea91a8d-e32e-41a1-b7bd-d2d185eed0e0\",  \"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/4562bcc8-c436-4f95-b7c0-4f8ce89dca5e\"]"));

graphClient.groups()
	.buildRequest()
	.post(group);

Response

The following is an example of the response. It includes only default properties. The value of the preferredDataLocation property is inherited from the group creator's preferred data location.

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Content-type: application/json

{
    "@odata.context": "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/$metadata#groups/$entity",
    "@odata.id": "https://graph.microsoft.com/v2/84841066-274d-4ec0-a5c1-276be684bdd3/directoryObjects/55ea2e8c-757f-4f2d-be9e-53c22e8c6a54/Microsoft.DirectoryServices.Group",
    "id": "55ea2e8c-757f-4f2d-be9e-53c22e8c6a54",
    "deletedDateTime": null,
    "classification": null,
    "createdDateTime": "2021-09-21T07:23:06Z",
    "createdByAppId": "de8bc8b5-d9f9-48b1-a8ad-b748da725064",
    "organizationId": "84841066-274d-4ec0-a5c1-276be684bdd3",
    "description": "Group assignable to a role",
    "displayName": "Role assignable group",
    "expirationDateTime": null,
    "groupTypes": [
        "Unified"
    ],
    "infoCatalogs": [],
    "isAssignableToRole": true,
    "isManagementRestricted": null,
    "mail": "contosohelpdeskadministrators@M365x010717.onmicrosoft.com",
    "mailEnabled": true,
    "mailNickname": "contosohelpdeskadministrators",
    "membershipRule": null,
    "membershipRuleProcessingState": null,
    "onPremisesDomainName": null,
    "onPremisesLastSyncDateTime": null,
    "onPremisesNetBiosName": null,
    "onPremisesSamAccountName": null,
    "onPremisesSecurityIdentifier": null,
    "onPremisesSyncEnabled": null,
    "preferredDataLocation": "EU",
    "preferredLanguage": null,
    "proxyAddresses": [
        "SMTP:contosohelpdeskadministrators@M365x010717.onmicrosoft.com"
    ],
    "renewedDateTime": "2021-09-21T07:23:06Z",
    "resourceBehaviorOptions": [],
    "resourceProvisioningOptions": [],
    "securityEnabled": true,
    "securityIdentifier": "S-1-12-1-1441410700-1328379263-3260260030-1416268846",
    "theme": null,
    "visibility": "Private",
    "writebackConfiguration": {
        "isEnabled": null,
        "onPremisesGroupType": null
    },
    "onPremisesProvisioningErrors": []
}

Create group

Permissions

HTTP request

Request headers

Request body

groupTypes options

Response

Examples

Example 1: Create a Microsoft 365 group

Request

Response

Example 2: Create a group with owners and members

Request

Response

Example 3: Create a Microsoft 365 group that can be assigned to an Azure AD role

Request

Response

Is this page helpful?

Feedback

Is this page helpful?