Add Multiple Users to a Microsoft Team in Four Easy Steps

Learn how to quickly bulk load members into a Microsoft Team with these four steps.

The COVID-19 crisis has forced many organizations to create large remote workforces virtually overnight. Microsoft Teams has proven to be a popular way to achieve this task, especially for workplaces that were already in Office 365 environments.

Of course, it’s not as easy as just turning Teams on and letting people loose on it. In fact, many of my colleagues have written helpful posts about how to deploy Teams quickly, how to turn “office-only” tasks into Teams tasks, how to have fun with remote work, and much more.

But what if you are suddenly tasked with creating a team within Microsoft Teams of 2,000, 5,000, even 10,000 users? You obviously can’t sit down and type them all in, and even programs like PowerShell scripts can be challenging for such large batches, especially in the heat of battle. Is there a better way?

Adding Members to a Microsoft Team

There is a better way, and it’s easier than you might think. This solution is designed for owners of a Microsoft team who can start with a pre-established Office 365 Group, distribution list or security group that already contains most of the users they would like to add.

Currently, a Microsoft Team is limited to 5,000 users, but in May, Microsoft will begin rolling out an increase to 10,000 members! So, if you need to set up a large team, this process will save you a lot of time.

Here it is, in four easy steps:

1. Look for the “Add Member” Option

In Microsoft Teams, click on the ellipses — three horizontal dots — located by the name of the team. When the drop-down menu appears, select “Add member.”

2. Identify Your Groups

In the new window that appears, you have the power to add members individually or add them in bulk if most of the users you would like to add are already in a distribution list or O365 group. (Your IT department should be able to help you get the proper name if you don’t already know it. Please reach out to them before frustrating yourself — and risk grabbing the wrong group — by playing the guessing game.)

3. Let Microsoft Teams Work Its Magic

As you start typing the name of your group, Teams will automatically begin populating options for you to choose from. Once you locate your group, select it; the “Add” button will become active. Click on the add button, and you’ve done it — you have just added multiple people, in bulk, to your team in Microsoft Teams. Pretty simple, right?

4. Fine-Tune

Now you can review the new members and either weed out those who you do not want on the team or add others that were not part of the initial group you chose. Click on the ellipses by the team name again, but this time select “manage team.” The first tab on the left is a list of members. Scroll through this list to remove anyone you deem not part of the team.

To add members who are not part of the team listing, click on the “add member” button in the top right of the “manage team” area, or you can click the ellipses next to the team name again and use the same method you used to add your group. This time, however, you will just type the names of individual members.

Wrapping Up

Microsoft Teams is built for ease-of-use, and couldn’t we all use a little of that these days? Luckily, this simple, no-code solution can help you rapidly add users in bulk and get your team off the ground even more quickly with Teams.