Find Empty Microsoft 365 Groups (Excluding Teams) with Graph PowerShell

Unused Microsoft 365 Groups can accumulate over time—especially when created automatically through Planner, SharePoint, or Outlook. This script helps you identify empty Unified Groups (M365 Groups) that have no members and aren’t linked to Teams, giving admins an easy way to declutter the tenant.

Script – Find Empty Unified Groups (Excluding Teams)

# Connect to Microsoft Graph
Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "Group.Read.All", "GroupMember.Read.All"
                                
# Step 1: Get all Unified Groups (Microsoft 365 Groups)
$unifiedGroups = Get-MgGroup -All -Property Id, DisplayName, Mail, GroupTypes, CreatedDateTime, ResourceProvisioningOptions |
Where-Object {
$_.GroupTypes -contains "Unified" -and
($_.ResourceProvisioningOptions -notcontains "Team")
}
                                
Write-Host "`nChecking each Microsoft 365 Group (excluding Teams) for members..." -ForegroundColor Cyan
                                
# Step 2: Loop and filter empty groups
$emptyUnifiedGroups = foreach ($group in $unifiedGroups) {
    $members = Get-MgGroupMember -GroupId $group.Id -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    if (-not $members) {
        [PSCustomObject]@{
            DisplayName = $group.DisplayName
            Mail        = $group.Mail
            GroupId     = $group.Id
            CreatedDate = $group.CreatedDateTime
        }
    }
}
                                
# Step 3: Output result
if ($emptyUnifiedGroups) {
    Write-Host "`nEmpty Unified Groups found (excluding Teams):`n" -ForegroundColor Green
    $emptyUnifiedGroups | Format-Table DisplayName, Mail, GroupId, CreatedDate
} else {
    Write-Host "`nNo empty unified groups found." -ForegroundColor Yellow
}
                            

How the Script Works

1. Connects to Microsoft Graph

The script authenticates using the Connect-MgGraph cmdlet with delegated permissions: Group.Read.All and GroupMember.Read.All.

2. Filters for Unified Groups

Only groups where GroupTypes contains "Unified" are selected. These represent Microsoft 365 Groups (created via Outlook, SharePoint, Planner, etc.).

3. Excludes Microsoft Teams

By checking that ResourceProvisioningOptions does not contain "Team", the script skips over any group that's been provisioned as a Team.

4. Checks for Empty Membership

Each group is checked for membership using Get-MgGroupMember. If the member list is empty, it’s considered an empty group.

5. Displays Results

Results are output to the console in a clean table format showing group name, email, ID, and creation date.

🔄 Graph PowerShell cannot be used for managing traditional Distribution Lists. Tasks like member additions require Exchange PowerShell.

Further Enhancements

Want to take it further? Here are some ideas:

• Export Results to CSV

$emptyUnifiedGroups | Export-Csv -Path "EmptyUnifiedGroups.csv" -NoTypeInformation

• Filter by Group Age

Add logic to include only groups older than a certain date:

Where-Object { $_.CreatedDateTime -lt (Get-Date).AddMonths(-6) }

• Mark or Tag Groups for Review

Instead of deleting, flag empty groups for review by exporting or writing to SharePoint lists or Teams.

• Automate and Schedule

Set up the script to run monthly and email reports to admins via Power Automate or Azure Automation.

Possible Errors & Solutions

Error	Cause	Solution
Request_UnsupportedQuery	Using unsupported filter syntax like groupTypes/any(...)	Avoid Graph-level filters for groupTypes; filter in PowerShell instead
Access Denied	Missing Graph permissions	Ensure Group.Read.All and GroupMember.Read.All are granted
Empty Output	No empty unified groups or logic mismatch	Confirm group types, manually verify with Get-MgGroup
Get-MgGroupMember: NotFound	Group is inaccessible or was recently deleted	Use -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue to skip gracefully

Conclusion

This script gives Microsoft 365 administrators a simple, effective way to find unused M365 groups that are not tied to Microsoft Teams and have zero members. Keeping your directory clean not only improves manageability but also enhances security and user experience.

💡 Regularly auditing your groups ensures you’re not paying for or managing empty, unused collaboration spaces.