Many Microsoft Entra services require you to license each of your users or groups (and associated members) for that service. Only users with active licenses will be able to access and use the licensed Microsoft Entra services for which that's true. Licenses are applied per tenant and don't transfer to other tenants.
Assign or remove licenses
Prerequisites
None
Available license plans
There are several Microsoft Entra ID license plans:
Microsoft Entra ID Free
Microsoft Entra ID P1
Microsoft Entra ID P2
Note
Starting September 1st, the Microsoft Entra ID Admin Center and the Azure portal will no longer support the assignment of licenses through their user interfaces. To manage license assignments for users and groups, administrators are required to use the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. This update is designed to streamline the license management process within the Microsoft ecosystem. This change is limited to the user interface. API and PowerShell access remain unaffected. For detailed guidance on assigning licenses using the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, refer to the following resources:
- Assign or Unassign Licenses for Users in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center
- Add Users and Assign Licenses in Microsoft 365 We encourage all administrators to familiarize themselves with the new procedures to ensure a smooth transition. For any further assistance or inquiries, contact our support team.
For specific information about each license plan and the associated licensing details, see What license do I need?. To sign up for Microsoft Entra ID P1 or P2 license plans see here.
Not all Microsoft services are available in all locations. Before a license can be assigned to a group, you must specify the Usage location for all members. You can set this value in Microsoft Entra by going to Identity > Users > All users > select a user > Properties.
When you assign licenses to a group or you make bulk updates, such as disabling the synchronization status for the organization, any user whose usage location isn't specified inherits the location of the tenant.
View license plans and plan details
You can view your available service plans, including the individual licenses, check pending expiration dates, and view the number of available assignments.
To find your service plan and plan details
Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a Directory Reader.
Browse to Identity > Billing > Licenses.
Select All products to view the All Products page and to see the Total, Assigned, Available, and Expiring soon numbers for your license plans.
Note
The numbers are defined as:
- Total: Total number of licenses purchased
- Assigned: Number of licenses assigned to users
- Available: Number of licenses available for assignment including expiring soon
- Expiring soon: Number of licenses expiring soon
Select a plan name to see its licensed users and groups.
Assign licenses to users or groups
Anyone who has a business need to use a licensed Microsoft Entra service must have the required licenses. You can add licensing rights to users or to an entire group.
To assign a license to a user
Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a License Administrator.
Browse to Identity > Billing > Licenses.
Select the name of the license plan you want to assign to the user.
After you select the license plan, select Assign.
- On the Assign page, select Users and groups, and then search for and select the user you're assigning the license.
- Select Assignment options, make sure you have the appropriate license options turned on, and then select OK.
The Assign license page updates to show that a user is selected and that the assignments are configured.
Note
Not all Microsoft services are available in all locations. Before a license can be assigned to a user, you must specify the Usage location. You can set this value in Identity > Users > All users > select a user > Properties. When assigning licenses to a group or bulk updates such as disabling the synchronization status for the organization, any user whose usage location isn't specified inherits the location of the tenant.
- Select Assign.
The user is added to the list of licensed users and has access to the included Microsoft Entra services.
Note
Licenses can also be assigned directly to a user from the user's Licenses page. If a user has a license assigned through a group membership and you want to assign the same license to the user directly, it can be done only from the Products page mentioned in step 1 only.
To assign a license to a group
Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a License Administrator.
Browse to Identity > Billing > Licenses.
Select the name of the license plan you want to assign to the group.
On the Product page, select Assign.
On the Assign page, select Users and groups, and then search for and select the group you're assigning the license.
Select Assignment options, make sure you have the appropriate license options turned on, and then select OK.
The Assign license page updates to show that a user is selected and that the assignments are configured.
Select Assign.
The group is added to the list of licensed groups and all of the members have access to the included Microsoft Entra services.
Remove a license
You can remove a license from a user's Microsoft Entra user page, from the group overview page for a group assignment, or starting from the Microsoft Entra ID Licenses page to see the users and groups for a license.
To remove a license from a user
On the Licensed users page for the service plan, select the user that should no longer have the license. For example, Alain Charon.
Select Remove license.
Important
Licenses that a user inherits from a group can't be removed directly. Instead, you have to remove the user from the group from which they're inheriting the license.
To remove a license from a group
On the Licensed groups page for the license plan, select the group that should no longer have the license.
Select Remove license.
Note
When an on-premises user account synced to Microsoft Entra falls out of scope for the sync or when the sync is removed, the user is soft-deleted in Microsoft Entra ID. When this occurs, licenses assigned to the user directly or via group-based licensing will be marked as suspended rather than deleted.
License assignment move to the Microsoft 365 admin center
Upcoming changes to license assignment processes, and move to the Microsoft 365 admin center require changes to the way you manage licenses. This section covers the reasons for the change, the timeline, license assignments options, and addresses common questions and known issues.
Why is this change happening?
This update is designed to streamline the license management process within the Microsoft ecosystem.
When are these changes happening?
The changes will start taking effect from September 9, and will complete by September 15.
How do I use MS Graph/PowerShell to assign licenses?
You can assign licenses using PowerShell or Microsoft Graph by following the detailed guides available on the Microsoft Learn website for user and group license assignments.
Are license assignment audit logs affected?
There are no changes to the audit logs and you can still see all assigned licenses in the Microsoft Entra Admin Center.
Is there any loss of functionality with this change?
No. There's no loss of functionality. This change is limited to the user interface. API and PowerShell access remain unaffected. However to assign licenses to a group via the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, the admin must have the License Administrator role. Group Administrators can still assign Group based licenses using the API and PowerShell.
The admin portal doesn't provide functionality to reprocess group licenses.
The "reprocessing" button was originally introduced to address an issue with conversion between user and group based licensing. When debugging licensing issues, you can still reprocess users via Microsoft Graph and PowerShell using one of the following options:
Use the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK module:
Import-Module Microsoft.Graph.Users.Actions Invoke-MgLicenseUser -UserId $userIdUse the REST API directly
Invoke-MgGraphRequest -Uri "https://microsoftgraph.chinacloudapi.cn/v1.0/users/$userid/reprocessLicense
What if I don’t have a Microsoft 365 Admin account or license and I manage licenses from the Azure portal?
For non-Microsoft 365 users, transitioning to managing licenses through a Microsoft 365 Admin Center account is essential.
Microsoft Entra ID roles: Global Administrator, User Administrator, and License Administrator have access to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center to manage licenses using their existing Microsoft Entra ID account. You don't have to be a Microsoft 365 customer to use the Microsoft 365 admin center. You don't have to be a Microsoft 365 customer to use the Microsoft 365 admin center, and can manage licenses there regardless. You don't have to be a Microsoft 365 customer to use the Microsoft 365 admin center, and can manage licenses there regardless. All Microsoft Entra customers have access to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center for domain and license management.
How can I view license consumption and utilization now?
License consumption and utilization can still be viewed in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center under Billing -> Licenses.
Who should I contact if I need help with these changes?
For questions, engage with community experts via Microsoft Questions and Answers. If you need technical assistance and have a support plan, you can create a support request.
For detailed instructions on assigning licenses, visit the Microsoft 365 Admin Center guide.
Known Issues:
Users with the Group Administrator role won't be able to assign licenses in the Microsoft 365 Admins Center.
- This functionality was fully supported in both the Azure portal and Microsoft Entra admin center.
- PowerShell continues to support the use of the Group Administrator role for license assignment.
- Alternatively Group Administrators can be given the Licenses Administrator role in order to assign group based Licenses from the Microsoft 365 Admin Portal.
We are loosing some detailed group license assignments logging. The Azure portal was able to provide a detailed error to administrators.