Automated license removal for Microsoft 365

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of Automated license removal for Microsoft 365

    Software Asset Management (SAM) for Microsoft 365 helps optimize your subscription usage by identifying licenses with low usage or overlapping assignments and automatically removing them via the Microsoft 365 admin center. This automation supports cost reduction and efficient license management by proactively reclaiming underutilized licenses.

    Show full answer Show less

    Eligible Candidates

    • Low usage candidates: Includes individual service subscriptions like Microsoft Teams and SharePoint, as well as subscription suites such as Microsoft 365 and Office 365. For suites, users receive notifications and removal requires approval from the SAM Manager by default, though this can be bypassed by deselecting the notification option.
    • Overlapping candidates: Applies to any subscription type where licenses are duplicated.

    Prerequisites

    • Setup of Microsoft Entra ID Spoke and installation of relevant plugins, including Software Asset Management Professional and SaaS License Management.
    • Microsoft Entra ID configured with permissions to read and manage users, groups, and license assignments (User.Read.All, GroupMember.ReadWrite.All, LicenseAssignment.ReadWrite.All).

    Automated Removal Scenarios

    • If a license is directly assigned to a user, SAM removes it.
    • If a user has a license both directly and via one or more groups, SAM removes the user from the groups and the direct license.
    • If multiple licenses are assigned through a single group, the user is not removed from the group to avoid loss of other licenses.
    • If a user has the same single license assigned through multiple groups and directly, the user is removed from all groups and the direct license is removed.
    • When multiple different licenses are assigned through groups, the user is not removed from any groups. In cases where low usage removal affects group memberships, coordination with Microsoft 365 Admin is necessary to prevent unintended license loss.
    • After successful license removal, the reclamation workflow automatically closes.

    Practical Benefits

    This automated process streamlines license management by identifying and reclaiming unnecessary Microsoft 365 licenses, reducing costs, and ensuring efficient allocation of subscriptions within your organization. It also supports governance by notifying users and requiring approval where appropriate, maintaining control over license changes.

    Software Asset Management optimizes Microsoft 365 subscription usage by identifying low usage and overlapping candidates, and then automatically removing the licenses from the Microsoft 365 admin center. This proactive management helps you streamline costs and enhance the efficiency of low usage and overlapping licenses.

    Eligible candidates

    After a reclamation candidate is generated, the following low usage and overlapping candidates are considered eligible for automated removal:
    • Low usage candidates with individual subscriptions such as Microsoft Teams, Microsoft SharePoint, or other single services.
    • Low usage candidates with subscription suites including Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Office 365.
      Note:
      However, due to the varied usage across different products within these suites, users are notified, and the final removal requires approval from the SAM Manager. The Notify User check box is selected by default in the reclamation rule. But you can clear the check box to skip the approval process.
    • Overlapping candidates with any subscription type.

    Prerequisites

    Before initiating the automatic removal of licenses from the Microsoft 365 admin center, confirm that the following prerequisites are met:
    • The following spoke is set up and plugins are installed:
      • Microsoft Entra ID Spoke
      • Software Asset Management Professional (com.snc.samp)
      • Software Asset Management - SaaS License Management (sn_sam_saas_int)
    • Microsoft Entra ID is configured with the following permissions to access and manage user and group information:
      • User.Read.All
      • GroupMember.ReadWrite.All
      • LicenseAssignment.ReadWrite.All

    Scenarios

    Software Asset Management removes the Microsoft 365 licenses from the Microsoft 365 admin center in the following scenarios:
    • When a license is directly assigned to a user, the license is removed.
    • When a license is directly assigned to a user and also through one or more groups, the user is removed from the group and the direct license assigned to the user is removed.
      Note:
      When multiple licenses are assigned to a user through a group, the user isn't removed from the group.  If a user in a group with multiple licenses shows low usage and is subsequently removed, they may lose access to other important licenses. You must contact your Microsoft 365 Admin to address this issue. For more information, see Manage licensing in Microsoft Entra ID.
    • When a license is directly assigned to a user and also through multiple groups having the same and only one license, the user is removed from all the groups and the direct license assigned to the user is removed. 
      Note:
      When multiple licenses are assigned to a user through different groups, the user isn't removed from any groups. 
       
    • When Software Asset Management removes the Microsoft 365 licenses from the Microsoft 365 admin center successfully, the reclamation workflow closes automatically.