How to add or remove members in Microsoft Planner

Managing members in Microsoft Planner is important to ensure the right people have access to your plan and can contribute effectively. Most plans in Microsoft Planner use a Microsoft 365 Group to manage its membership. The Microsoft 365 Group identifies who will have access to the resource and their associated permission level. By using Microsoft 365 Groups you can create multiple plans using the same underlying Group without the need to add all members each time and then assign permissions.

Tips when working with a Microsoft 365 Group

Some good practices when working in any Microsoft 365 Group based application includes:

• regularly reviewing membership to keep the team current,
• assigning tasks clearly,
• and limiting access to sensitive plans only to necessary members.

There are three (3) different roles available within a plan: Owner, Member or Guest.

• Owners have full control, including managing group membership and settings.
• Members can create, edit, and complete tasks but cannot change group membership.
• Guest users (external users invited to your Microsoft 365 Group) can be added to plans and collaborate on tasks, view progress, and contribute just like regular members. Guest users have limited permissions compared to internal users.

Add a member to a Microsoft Plan

When you add members to a plan in Microsoft Planner, you add them to the underlying Microsoft 365 Group associated with that plan. Once added to the group, new members automatically gain access to the plan and can start collaborating by creating, editing, and completing tasks. This approach ensures that plan membership stays consistent across other connected apps like Teams and Outlook.

Ensure you have a new Plan created so that you can then add some members. If you are unsure how to do this, check out my previous post: How to create a Plan in Microsoft Planner

To add members to a plan with a Microsoft 365 Group associated:

1. Open a web browser and go to planner.cloud.microsoft.
2. Select the plan you wish to add members to.
3. Click the Share button:

4. The Invite members window will appear:

5. Click in the Add members field.
6. Begin typing the name or email address of the member you wish to add from within the organisation.
7. Click Invite.
8. Continue adding more members if needed.
9. Close the window.

To add members to a plan with NO Microsoft 365 Group associated:

1. Open a web browser and go to planner.cloud.microsoft.
2. Select the plan you wish to add members to.
3. Click the Share button:

4. The Invite members window will appear:

5. Because there is no Microsoft 365 Group associated with the Plan, you will be prompted to create one.
6. By default Planner will use the name of the Plan as the name of the new group. Click the pencil icon if you wish to edit the new group name, otherwise click Create group.
7. A message will appear to confirm a group has been created:

8. The Plan will now be added into a new Microsoft 365 group.
9. Click See details.
10. You will now see the Invite members window with the new group associated.
11. Click in the Add members field.
12. Begin typing the name or email address of the member you wish to add from within the organisation.
13. Click Invite.
14. Continue adding more members if needed.
15. Close the window.

Delete a member from a plan

To remove a member from a plan, you need to remove them from the associated Microsoft 365 Group. Since plan access is tied to group membership, deleting a member from the group will automatically remove their access to the plan and any related shared resources, such as the group’s files, calendar, and conversations.

It’s important to review group membership regularly to ensure only active team members have access. Keep in mind that this action affects access across all group-connected apps, not just Planner.

To remove a member from your plan:

1. Select the plan you wish to remove members from.
2. Click the Share button:

3. The Invite members window will appear:

4. Hover over the name of the member you wish to remove.
5. Click the X on the right side of the window to remove the member:

6. The member will now be removed from the plan.
7. Close the window.