Automated license removal for Microsoft 365

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 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

    Automated license removal for Microsoft 365, part of Software Asset Management, enhances subscription usage by identifying low usage and overlapping licenses, enabling automatic removal through the Microsoft 365 admin center. This approach helps streamline costs and improve efficiency by managing licenses proactively.

    Show full answer Show less

    Key Features

    • Eligibility for Removal: Candidates eligible for automated removal include low usage subscriptions (e.g., Microsoft Teams, SharePoint) and overlapping licenses from any subscription type. Users are notified prior to removal, and approval from the SAM Manager is generally required unless the notification option is disabled.
    • Prerequisites: Ensure the Microsoft Entra ID Spoke and necessary plugins are installed and that Microsoft Entra ID has the required permissions (User.Read.All, GroupMember.ReadWrite.All, LicenseAssignment.ReadWrite.All) to manage user and group information.
    • Scenarios for License Removal: Licenses are removed when directly assigned to users or through groups, with specific conditions for multiple licenses and group memberships.

    Key Outcomes

    By utilizing automated license removal, organizations can effectively manage their Microsoft 365 subscriptions, reduce costs from low usage licenses, and ensure that only necessary licenses are retained. Successful removal leads to the automatic closure of the reclamation workflow, simplifying ongoing license management.

    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.