Remove-MgGroupOwnerByRef

What is Remove-MgGroupOwnerByRef?

The Remove-MgGroupOwnerByRef cmdlet in Microsoft Graph PowerShell removes one or more owners from a specified Microsoft 365 group. Group owners are users with administrative privileges who can manage group settings, membership, and associated resources. This cmdlet is especially helpful for administrators who need to automate owner removal tasks across large environments.

Why Use Remove-MgGroupOwnerByRef?

This cmdlet allows Microsoft 365 administrators to efficiently manage group ownership without using the admin center manually. It is highly valuable when performing:

• Bulk removal of owners from groups.
• Permission revocation when an owner leaves or changes role.
• Automated group clean-up tasks during tenant maintenance.

Prerequisites

Before running this cmdlet, connect to Microsoft Graph with the proper permissions.

Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "Group.ReadWrite.All""

This permission allows you to modify group memberships, including adding or removing group owners.

How to Use Remove-MgGroupOwnerByRef?

You must specify both the GroupId and DirectoryObjectId (owner’s unique ID). The basic syntax is:

Remove-MgGroupOwnerByRef -GroupId <String> -DirectoryObjectId <String>

Remove-MgGroupOwnerByRef Examples

Example 1: Single Removal of Group Owner

This example demonstrates removing a single owner from a specified group using the group ID and owner ID.

Remove-MgGroupOwnerByRef -GroupId "12345678-9abc-def0-1234-56789abcdef0" -DirectoryObjectId "87654321-fedc-ba98-7654-3210fedcba98"

Example 2: Removing Multiple Owners from a Group

To remove multiple owners, you can iterate through a list of owner IDs.

$GroupId = "12345678-9abc-def0-1234-56789abcdef0"
$Owners = @("87654321-fedc-ba98-7654-3210fedcba98", "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef")

foreach ($Owner in $Owners) {
    Remove-MgGroupOwnerByRef -GroupId $GroupId -DirectoryObjectId $Owner
}

Example 3: Bulk Removal by Reading Data from a CSV File

For large-scale environments, removing owners in bulk is best handled via CSV import.

Sample CSV File:

DirectoryObjectId
87654321-fedc-ba98-7654-3210fedcba98
01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef

$GroupId = "12345678-9abc-def0-1234-56789abcdef0"
$CsvData = Import-Csv -Path "C:\path\to\owners.csv"

foreach ($Owner in $CsvData) {
    Remove-MgGroupOwnerByRef -GroupId $GroupId -DirectoryObjectId $Owner.DirectoryObjectId
}

This script automates the removal of multiple owners by reading their IDs from a CSV file.

Summary

Key Point	Details
Cmdlet Name	Remove-MgGroupOwnerByRef
Purpose	Removes specified owners from a Microsoft 365 group
Required Scope	Group.ReadWrite.All
Primary Parameter	GroupId, DirectoryObjectId
Automation Benefit	Enables administrators to automate the cleanup and reassignment of group owners
Use Case	Ideal for removing outdated, inactive, or unauthorized group owners efficiently