Microsoft 365 Groups: What They Are and When to Use Them

A Microsoft 365 Group is a membership container that provisions a set of shared resources: a group mailbox and calendar (in Exchange), a SharePoint document library, a OneNote notebook, a Planner board, and a Microsoft Teams workspace. Creating a Team in Teams, a SharePoint site, or a group in Outlook all create a Microsoft 365 Group behind the scenes. When to use: Microsoft 365 Groups/Teams are the modern replacement for distribution lists when collaboration features are needed. For teams that need shared documents, calendar, and conversations in one place, create a Team. For simple email distribution without collaboration overhead, a traditional distribution list or mail-enabled security group still works fine. Group management: manage groups in admin.microsoft.com > Teams & groups > Active teams & groups. Set group expiration policies (Azure AD > Groups > Expiration) to automatically delete inactive groups after a defined period — this prevents group sprawl. Owners receive an email to renew active groups. Review group membership during employee offboarding to ensure departed employees are removed.