Looking for Microsoft 365 best practices for a large dynamic company group
Looking for Microsoft 365 best practices for a large dynamic company group I'm a Microsoft 365 admin trying to figure out the best architecture for a company-wide group (100+ users) and I'm wondering if there's a better approach than what I'm currently doing. What I need I want a single company group that can: Automatically include users through dynamic membership Share SharePoint sites, files, OneDrive content, Teams resources, etc. Allow sending company-wide emails Allow sending required Outlook meeting invitations (not optional) Have moderation/approval for announcements, meeting invites, or posts Allow certain trusted users to bypass approval while everyone else requires approval Scale as employees are hired/terminated automatically Current setup Dynamic Distribution List Used for company-wide emails and Outlook meeting invites. Membership is dynamic using an Exchange recipient filter based on US users. Private Microsoft 365 Group Used for SharePoint, file sharing, and collaboration. Membership is dynamic through an Entra ID Dynamic Membership Rule. I had to use PowerShell to configure some permissions because the portal didn't support everything I needed. Problems I'm running into I now have two separate groups that should always contain the same people. The Dynamic Distribution List works well for email/meetings but doesn't provide SharePoint, Teams, or file collaboration. The Microsoft 365 Group provides collaboration but doesn't seem to support everything I need for company-wide communication. I haven't found a clean way to have approvers/moderators, while allowing a few designated people to post or send meeting invites without requiring approval. I also haven't found a good way to make Outlook meeting requests "required" from the sender side other than relying on attendees not changing their RSVP. My questions Is there a better Microsoft 365 architecture for this? Should I be using a Dynamic Distribution List, a Microsoft 365 Group, a Mail-enabled Security Group, Teams, Viva Engage, or something else? Is there a supported way to have dynamic membership + SharePoint + company email + moderated announcements/meeting invites all in one solution? How do large organizations typically handle company-wide communications while keeping membership automatic? Is maintaining two dynamic groups (one for collaboration and one for email) simply the recommended approach? I'd love to hear how other Microsoft 365 admins have solved this in production. Thanks!
Why is Microsoft 365 setup (Groups + SharePoint + Domains) still so complex?
Microsoft 365 Setup Feedback Summary Summary of Experience: Setting up two small business workspaces (Cork & Clarity and Stone Clarity Consulting) in Microsoft 365 required navigating multiple disconnected systems including the Admin Center, Outlook, SharePoint, and an external DNS provider. The process was significantly more complex than expected and not intuitive for a non-technical user. Key Issues Encountered: 1. Identity and Account Confusion - Unclear whether to create separate users or use one account with aliases - Creating multiple users caused login confusion, broken permissions, and access issues 2. Domain and DNS Setup Complexity - Required switching between Microsoft and external DNS (Looka) - Instructions were unclear and required manual troubleshooting - No clear distinction between required and optional DNS records 3. Default Domain Confusion - New groups defaulted to the wrong domain - No visible option to change domain during group creation - Required changing global default domain (non-intuitive) 4. Inconsistent Group Behavior - Outlook groups and Teams-backed groups behave differently - No indication of differences or consequences - Groups appeared in some places but not others 5. Membership and Ownership Issues - Group creator was not consistently added as member - Ownership did not always persist after changes - Groups existed but were inaccessible or invisible 6. Outlook UI Limitations - Groups not visible despite existing and being correctly configured - No clear instructions on how to 'activate' or 'follow' groups 7. SharePoint Site Not Created Automatically - SharePoint sites were not created when groups were created - Required hidden steps: Outlook → Files → Open in SharePoint - No indication that the site did not exist yet 8. SharePoint Discovery Issues - Sites do not appear until manually accessed or followed - No onboarding or guidance for discovering sites 9. Ghost/Deleted Items Still Visible - Deleted group (Cork & Clarity Hub) remained visible - No clear distinction between deleted vs followed sites 10. Fragmented User Experience - Required switching between multiple platforms - No single place to manage or understand setup status - High cognitive load for basic configuration Conclusion: While Microsoft 365 is a powerful platform, the initial setup experience is overly complex and fragmented, especially for small businesses. Simplifying group creation, making SharePoint provisioning automatic and visible, and improving UI consistency across apps would significantly improve usability and adoption.The Admin Center offers a uniquely retro approach to licensed group management
You can see the name of licensed groups from the licensing blade, but you can’t click it or copy the name. Instead, you manually retype it elsewhere—because nothing says “modern cloud platform” quite like a 1997‑era workflow.Synchronization issue in New Outlook for Mac – ״Failed to refresh subscriptions.״
Hello, I am using Microsoft 365 (Exchange Online) on Mac, running macOS 26.1 (Tahoe). My Outlook client is: Outlook for Mac Version 16.103.3 (25113013), with a Microsoft 365 Subscription license. Since yesterday morning, in the New Outlook interface, my inbox has suddenly appeared empty, and I constantly receive the following error message: “Failed to refresh subscriptions.” It’s important to note: In Legacy Outlook, everything works perfectly. The web version and the Outlook app on my mobile phone also work well. The issue persists regardless of the network I am on (home, office, cellular, etc.). Troubleshooting steps I already tried: • Updating Outlook to the latest version • Removing and re‑adding the account • Clearing cache and preferences • Formatting my Mac and reinstalling everything from scratch Unfortunately, none of these steps has resolved the issue. Is this a known bug, and is there a recommended workaround or an upcoming fix? Appreciate assistance on that issue.
Update Entra ID Device Extension Attributes via PowerShell & Create Dynamic Security Groups.
2) Overview of Extension Attributes and Updating via PowerShell What Are Extension Attributes? Extension attributes (1–15) are predefined string fields available on Entra ID device objects. They are exposed to Microsoft Graph as the extensionAttributes property. These attributes can store custom values like department, environment tags (e.g., Prod, Dev), or ownership details. Why Use Them? Dynamic Group Membership: Use extension attributes in membership rules for security or Microsoft 365 groups. Policy Targeting: Apply Defender for Endpoint (MDE) policies, Conditional Access or Intune policies to devices based on custom tags. For details on configuration of the policies refer below documentation links. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-endpoint/manage-security-policies https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/intune/intune-service/ https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/conditional-access/ Updating Extension Attributes via PowerShell and Graph API Use Microsoft Graph PowerShell to authenticate and update device properties. Required permission: “Device.ReadWrite.All”. 3) Using PowerShell to Update Extension Attributes create app registration in Entra ID with permissions Device.ReadWriteall and Grant admin Consent. Register an app How to register an app in Microsoft Entra ID - Microsoft identity platform | Microsoft Learn Graph API permissions Reference. For updating Entra ID device properties you need “Device.ReadWrite.all” permission and Intune administrator role to run the script. Microsoft Graph permissions reference - Microsoft Graph | Microsoft Learn Below is the script Important things to note and update the script with your custom values. a) update the path of the excel file in the script. column header is 'DeviceName' Note: You may want to use CSV instead of excel file if Excel is not available on the admin workstation running this process. b) update the credential details - tenantId,clientId & clientSecret in the script. Client id and client secret are created as a part of app registration. c) update the Externsionattribute and value in the script. This is the value of the extension attribute you want to use in dynamic membership rule creation. ___________________________________________________________________________ #Acquire token $tenantId = "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" $clientId = "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" $clientSecret = "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" $excelFilePath = "C:\Temp\devices.xlsx" # Update with actual path $tokenResponse = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://login.microsoftonline.com/ $tenantId/oauth2/v2.0/token" -Method POST -Body $tokenBody $accessToken = $tokenResponse.access_token # Import Excel module and read device names Import-Module ImportExcel $deviceList = Import-Excel -Path $excelFilePath foreach ($device in $deviceList) { $deviceName = $device.DeviceName # Assumes column header is 'DeviceName' Get device ID by name $headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $accessToken"} $deviceLookupUri = "https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/devices?`$filter=displayName eq '$deviceName'" try { $deviceResponse = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $deviceLookupUri -Headers $headers -Method GET } catch { Write-Host "Error querying device: $deviceName - $_" continue } if ($null -eq $deviceResponse.value -or $deviceResponse.value.Count -eq 0) { Write-Host "Device not found: $deviceName" continue } $deviceId = $deviceResponse.value[0].id # Prepare PATCH request $uri = "https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/devices/$deviceId" $headers["Content-Type"] = "application/json" $body = @{ extensionAttributes = @{ extensionAttribute6 = "MDE" } } | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 3 try { $response = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $uri -Method Patch -Headers $headers -Body $body Write-Host "Updated device: $deviceName"} catch { Write-Host "Failed to update device: $deviceName - $_" } } Write-Host "Script execution completed." ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Here’s a simple summary of what the script does: Gets an access token from Microsoft Entra ID using the app’s tenant ID, client ID, and client secret (OAuth 2.0 client credentials flow). Reads an Excel file (update the path in $excelFilePath, and ensure the column header is DeviceName) to get a list of device names. Loops through each device name from the Excel file: Calls Microsoft Graph API to find the device ID by its display name. If the device is found, sends a PATCH request to Microsoft Graph to update extensionAttribute6 with the value "MDE". Logs the result for each device (success or failure) and prints messages to the console. 4) Using Extension Attributes in Dynamic Device Groups Once extension attributes are set, you can create a dynamic security group in Entra ID: Go to Microsoft Entra admin center → Groups → New group. Select Security as the group type and choose Dynamic Device membership. Add a membership rule, for example: (device.extensionAttributes.extensionAttribute6 -eq "MDE") 4. Save the group. Devices with extensionAttribute6 = MDE will automatically join. 5) Summary Extension attributes in Entra ID allow custom tagging of devices for automation and policy targeting. You can update these attributes using Microsoft Graph PowerShell. These attributes can be used in dynamic device group rules, enabling granular MDE policies, Conditional Access and Intune deployments. Disclaimer This script is provided "as-is" without any warranties or guarantees. It is intended for educational and informational purposes only. Microsoft and the author assume no responsibility for any issues that may arise from the use or misuse of this script. Before deploying in a production environment, thoroughly test the script in a controlled setting and review it for compliance with your organization's security and operational policies.MAC - Importing Legacy POP On My Computer data
The end is nigh for Legacy thus I did the switch as a test knowing I could still revert. Background: I have long time POP account. In the UBF8T346G9.Office, Outlook, Outlook 15 Profiles, Main Profile: Data folder: 159 GB. Largest folders: Message Attachments: 90 GB Message Sources: 65 GB Messages: 5 GB Before I switching I tried: Export Data to OLM – don't have enough room Delete attachments from multiple emails – can only do one email at a time. Rules can't help After switch it began importing On My Computer data which was hopeful, but it held at 141498 items, and would take days I read. I reverted back to Legacy and will go another way about it when I have a few off days. My question: Apart from deleting years of emails, what's a better way to get the most data out of Legacy, and/or speeding up the import? Get another drive and Export Data to OLM, then manually import? Delete attachment folders directly from Message Attachments folder? Find something like Clean my Mac? ?? Perfect world I get all my in out mail with whatever attachments remain and Calendar data, but I'll take what I can get at this point. Appreciated!
