4 Useful New-MgGroup Scripts for Microsoft 365 Administrators

Creating groups in Microsoft 365 is a common task for administrators. Whether you’re setting up collaboration spaces (Microsoft 365 Groups) or managing access (Security Groups), doing it manually can take time.

With the New-MgGroup cmdlet, you can quickly create groups using PowerShell — even in bulk.

In this article, we’ll walk through 4 practical scripts to help you create both Unified (M365) Groups and Security Groups with ease.

Prerequisites

Connect to Microsoft Graph before running the scripts:

Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "Group.ReadWrite.All"

1. Create a Single Unified Group (Microsoft 365 Group)

Unified Groups are used for collaboration (Teams, Outlook, SharePoint).

$params = @{    
  displayName     = "Marketing Team"    
  description     = "Group for Marketing Collaboration"    
  mailEnabled     = $true    
  mailNickname    = "marketingteam"    
  securityEnabled = $false    
  groupTypes      = @("Unified")
}
New-MgGroup -BodyParameter $params

                                            

👉 Use case
Create a team for collaboration with shared mailbox, calendar, and Teams integration.

2. Bulk Create Unified Groups from CSV

This is extremely useful when setting up multiple teams at once.

Sample CSV (UnifiedGroups.csv)

DisplayName,Description,MailNickname
HR Team,Human Resources Group,hrteam
Finance Team,Finance Department,financeteam
IT Support,IT Helpdesk,ithelpdesk
                                            

Script

                                                
$groups = Import-Csv "C:\Scripts\UnifiedGroups.csv"

foreach ($group in $groups) {    
  $params = @{        
    displayName     = $group.DisplayName        
    description     = $group.Description        
    mailEnabled     = $true        
    mailNickname    = $group.MailNickname        
    securityEnabled = $false        
    groupTypes      = @("Unified")    
  }    
  New-MgGroup -BodyParameter $params
}

                                                
                                            

👉 Use case: Mass onboarding of teams during organizational restructuring or migration.



3. Create a Single Security Group

Security Groups are typically used for permissions and access control.

$params = @{
    displayName     = "VPN Access Group"
    description     = "Users with VPN access"
    mailEnabled     = $false
    mailNickname    = "vpnaccess"
    securityEnabled = $true
}

New-MgGroup -BodyParameter $params
                                            

👉 Use case:
Control access to applications, VPN, or SharePoint resources.

4. Bulk Create Security Groups from CSV

Perfect for setting up access-based groups in bulk.

Sample CSV (SecurityGroups.csv)

DisplayName,Description,MailNickname
HR Access,HR System Access,hraccess
Finance Access,Finance System Access,financeaccess
IT Admins,IT Admin Access,itadmins
                                            

Script

$groups = Import-Csv "C:\Scripts\SecurityGroups.csv"

foreach ($group in $groups) {
    $params = @{
        displayName     = $group.DisplayName
        description     = $group.Description
        mailEnabled     = $false
        mailNickname    = $group.MailNickname
        securityEnabled = $true
    }

    New-MgGroup -BodyParameter $params
}
                                            

👉 Use case:
Quickly provision access groups for applications or internal systems.

Tips for Using New-MgGroup

• Always use -BodyParameter with a hashtable (recommended approach).
• Unified Groups require:
• mailEnabled = $true
• securityEnabled = $false
• groupTypes = @("Unified")
• Security Groups require:
• mailEnabled = $false
• securityEnabled = $true
• Ensure mailNickname is unique across the tenant.

Common Error to Watch For

Error	Cause	solution
Another object with the same value for property mailNickname already exists	Duplicate mailNickname value.	Use a unique nickname for each group (consider adding numbers or prefixes).

Conclusion

The New-MgGroup cmdlet makes group creation simple and scalable. Whether you're creating a single group or hundreds using CSV, PowerShell saves time and reduces manual effort.

Start with single group creation to understand the structure, then move to bulk scripts for real productivity gains.