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Starting May 2025, notifications will go out for any Microsoft 365 Groups that do not have an owner. Group members will be prompted to assign a new owner. ITS recommends having at least two owners per group to avoid issues of transition of ownership.
Inactive groups expire every two years and need to be renewed if they are not in use. The renewal notifications go to group owners, so it is important to have owner(s) able to view and respond to those notifications.
Group Owners can also manage access for their Microsoft 365 Groups (including access to all files on SharePoint sites and Teams channels).
How Group Members Will Be Notified about Taking Ownership of Ownerless Groups
Groups that do not have an owner need to have an owner assigned. If there is no owner when the ownerless group policy is enabled on May 1, then group members will get an email prompting them to take ownership of the group. See example below. The emails will be sent from “Microsoft 365 Group Ownership” at microsoft365groupownership@groups.stthomas.edu.
What’s a Microsoft 365 Group?
Think of a Microsoft 365 Group as a shared space where a team or committee can collaborate. Creating a group gives members automatic access to:
These groups are commonly created for team projects, departmental collaboration, or committees - and sometimes by accident! When a group is deleted (due to expiration or otherwise) all connected content mentioned above will also be deleted.