Connect to Office 365 PowerShell

  • 4 minutes to read
  • Contributors
    • Joe Davies
    • Denise Vangel-MSFT
    • Ricardo Cabral
    • Antoine Griffard
    • David Strome

Summary: Connect to your Office 365 organization using Office 365 PowerShell to perform administration tasks from the command line.

Office 365 PowerShell lets you to manage your Office 365 settings from the command line. Connecting to Office 365 PowerShell is a simple three-step process where you install the required software, run the required software, and then connect to your Office 365 organization.

Tip

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What do you need to know before you begin?

  • Estimated time to complete: 5 minutes

  • You can use the following versions of Windows:

    • Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, or Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

    • Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1

      Note

      Use a 64-bit version of Windows. Support for the 32-bit version the Microsoft Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell was discontinued in October of 2014.

  • These procedures are intended for users who are members of an Office 365 admin role. For more information, see About Office 365 admin roles.

Connect with the Azure Active Directory PowerShell for Graph module

Commands in the Azure Active Directory PowerShell for Graph module have AzureAD in their cmdlet name.

For procedures that require the new cmdlets in the Azure Active Directory PowerShell for Graph module, use these steps to install the module and connect to your Office 365 subscription.

Note

See Azure Active Directory PowerShell for Graph module for information about the support for different versions of Microsoft Windows.

Step 1: Install required software

These steps are required once on your computer, not every time you connect. However, you'll likely need to install newer versions of the software periodically.

  1. Open an elevated Windows PowerShell command prompt (run Windows PowerShell as an administrator).

  2. In the Administrator: Windows PowerShell command window, run this command:

    Install-Module -Name AzureAD

If prompted about installing a module from an untrusted repository, type Y and press ENTER.

Step 2: Connect to Azure AD for your Office 365 subscription

To connect to Azure AD for your Office 365 subscription with an account name and password or with multi-factor authentication (MFA), run this command from a Windows PowerShell command prompt (it does not have to be elevated):

Connect-AzureAD

In the Sign into your account dialog box, type your Office 365 work or school account user name and password, and then click OK.

If you are using MFA, follow the instructions in the additional dialog boxes to provide more authentication information, such as a verification code.

After connecting, you can use the new cmdlets for the Azure Active Directory PowerShell for Graph module.

Connect with the Microsoft Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell

Commands in the Microsoft Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell have Msol in their cmdlet name.

Step 1: Install required software

These steps are required once on your computer, not every time you connect. However, you'll likely need to install newer versions of the software periodically.

  1. Install the 64-bit version of the Microsoft Online Services Sign-in Assistant: Microsoft Online Services Sign-in Assistant for IT Professionals RTW.

  2. Install the Microsoft Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell with these steps:

    • Open an elevated Windows PowerShell command prompt (run Windows PowerShell as an administrator).
    • Run the Install-Module MSOnline command.
    • If prompted to install the NuGet provider, type Y and press ENTER.
    • If prompted to install the module from PSGallery, type Y and press ENTER.

Step 2: Connect to Azure AD for your Office 365 subscription

To connect to Azure AD for your Office 365 subscription with an account name and password or with multi-factor authentication (MFA), run this command from a Windows PowerShell command prompt (it does not have to be elevated):

Connect-MsolService

In the Sign into your account dialog box, type your Office 365 work or school account user name and password, and then click OK.

If you are using MFA, follow the instructions in the additional dialog boxes to provide more authentication information, such as a verification code.

How do you know this worked?

If you don't receive any errors, you connected successfully. A quick test is to run an Office 365 cmdlet—for example, Get-MsolUser —and see the results.

If you receive errors, check the following requirements:

  • A common problem is an incorrect password. Run Step 3 again. and pay close attention to the user name and password you enter.

  • The Microsoft Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell requires that the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.x feature is enabled on your computer. It's likely that your computer has a newer version installed (for example, 4 or 4.5.x), but backwards compatibility with older versions of the .NET Framework can be enabled or disabled. For more information, see the following topics:

  • Your version of the Microsoft Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell might be out of date. To check, run the following command in Office 365 PowerShell or the Microsoft Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell:

    (Get-Item C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules\MSOnline\Microsoft.Online.Administration.Automation.PSModule.dll).VersionInfo.FileVersion

    If the version number returned is lower than the value 1.0.8070.2, uninstall the Microsoft Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell and install the latest version from the link in Step 1.

  • If you receive a connection error, see this topic: "Connect-MsolService: Exception of type was thrown" error.

See also