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.
Edit Microsoft 365 Groups Permission
Hi Team, I am an office 365 administrator, i have a technician working with me with minimal knowledge on the platform. So ive assigned him with minimal rights for day to day job such as, create users, assign license, reset passwords etc... However, he cannot edit Microsoft 365 groups, as in add users, remove users etc... He is a member of the following groups; - User Administrator - Helpdesk Administrator - Groups Administrator He is able to modify Teams groups however not email distribution. Error presented is Global administrator or Exchange administrator rights is required to perform the task. Unfortunately Global adminstrator gives access to everything on office 365 incl azure AD and i dont want that, neither Exchange administrator. I need my tech to be able to perform his day to day activities. Grateful if anyone can advise of any alternative to this or a delegated custom permission can be created to give him the specific access to simply modify distribution groups, by adding and removing members. Thank you.
Adding multiple users to an office365 distribution group
Hi there, Please assist, I have 850 users that I need to add to a newly created distribution group in office365. The scripts I found don't seem to be helping. For those who would like to assist the data is on an excel spreadsheet. Your urgent assistance will be highly appreciated. Thank you Kind regards Mpho [phone number removed by admin for privacy reasons]
Migrate email to a O365 Teams emails
Hi there! I tested out the email migration function and it works well. However, we used to have a shared mailbox, say mailto:info@domain.com, which we now want to use as an O365 Teams shared mailbox so mailto:abc@domain.comand mailto:dev@domain.com can both be part of the group and share the mailbox. How can I migrate that email into the O365 shared mail? Thanks!
Cannot set up shared mailbox - proxy address (domain name) already being used.
Hello I need to add a shared mailbox to a user. A third party set up our Office 365 tenancy and pulled over most of the mail etc. User accounts are synced from our local AD domain to Office 365. We use three domain names. The user's account has already been set up. Her default mail account is fine, but I need to add a shared mailbox which uses her name but with a second domain name so that she can manage her mail. When I try to set up a shared mailbox an error message appears: Her default mail address is first.last@aaa.co.uk and this is specified in her AD account and is shown under Active Users > her account > Username/E-mail. I wish to add a shared mailbox for first.last@zzzz.org (redacted in red in the screenshot) The default domain name for the tenancy is zzzz.org. The error message states first.last@zzzz.onmicrosoft.com is already being used by the proxy address or LegacyExchangeDN of "first.last". I don't understand it - I have not specified zzzz.onmicrosoft.com as the domain name for the shared mailbox (it is specified as @zzzz.org). Can anyone offer any assistance with this, please? Note that we were not using Exchange or Outlook before we moved over to Office 365. I'm new to this so all help welcome. Thank you. Mark
Bulk add users (student emails) - Add users to groups?
Hi all, For a local school, I need to bulk-add approx. 300 student users. This is no problem, using the CSV template. However, I wish to also do the following: I want to add the users to a group depending on their class. ie. 1A 2020 / 1B 2020 / 2A 2020 / 2B 2020 etc. Can anyone assist?
