Cannot Update a mail-enabled security groups and or distribution list.

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Posted on 16 Apr 2025 20:05:20 by johnjohnPter

1,546 Super User 2024 Season 1

I have a list of Groups IDs, which include; Security Groups, Mail-Enabled Security group, Distribution lists, Office 365 groups.

now i have a user email and the user ID. and i want to remove the user from all the groups:-

I tried using Graph API:-

and using the built-in Remove Member from group:-

but both raised the same error, on distribution lists and mail-enabled groups:-

Cannot Update a mail-enabled security groups and or distribution list.

"error": {
"code": "Request_BadRequest",
"message": "Cannot Update a mail-enabled security groups and or distribution list.",

}

any advice how to remove those members?

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w.p 4,163 on 20 Apr 2025 at 22:58:22

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Cannot Update a mail-enabled security groups and or distribution list.

@johnjohnPter

Sorry, I take it back. After a quick look, it seems PowerShell is your only option, since mail-enabled security groups are managed by Exchange and aren’t exposed in Power Automate.

SharePoint Diary - Salaudeen Rajack

Office 365: Remove a user from All Security groups using PowerShell

https://www.sharepointdiary.com/2021/02/remove-user-from-all-security-groups-using-powershell.html
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w.p 4,163 on 20 Apr 2025 at 22:25:50

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Cannot Update a mail-enabled security groups and or distribution list.

@johnjohnPter

Maybe you don't need PowerShell; I just tested it with a security group.

Method: DELETE https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/groups/{group-id}/members/{user-id}/$ref
w.p 4,163 on 20 Apr 2025 at 20:49:55

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Cannot Update a mail-enabled security groups and or distribution list.

@johnjohnPter
I don't have the access, but I came across this topic before.

You may need to do some research or create another post specifically about it—someone might be able to assist.

Ben Stegink: Getting started with Azure Automation and Power Automate

https://youtu.be/cdh0e06eu9A

DamoBird365:

How to Restore a Deleted Power Automate Flow via PowerShell, Power Automate and Power Apps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95-1Zfeup90

Trigger Flow when you log on, run from Windows Batch or PowerShell Script Power Automate
https://youtu.be/kPbn4WMCXUU

Salaudeen Rajack: Connect to Microsoft Graph with Connect-MgGraph in PowerShell

https://www.sharepointdiary.com/2023/04/how-to-connect-to-microsoft-graph-api-from-powershell.html
johnjohnPter 1,546 Super User 2024 Season 1 on 20 Apr 2025 at 20:06:02

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Cannot Update a mail-enabled security groups and or distribution list.

@w.p

I need the service to be called using URL, as inside our service desk we need to call this end-point,, so not sure how i can call power shell script from power automate? is this is possible, then yes i am open to this option,, thanks

Is it possible to remove a member from a security group using power shell? also i am open to use azure function..
w.p 4,163 on 20 Apr 2025 at 01:03:08

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Cannot Update a mail-enabled security groups and or distribution list.

@johnjohnPter

Just putting the option out here—have you considered using PowerShell or Power Automate Flow through PowerShell?
Pstork1 66,114 Most Valuable Professional on 17 Apr 2025 at 17:55:45

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Cannot Update a mail-enabled security groups and or distribution list.

The Azure function would be using the same API so I would assume the limitation would still apply.

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Blog: https://www.dontpapanic.com/blog
johnjohnPter 1,546 Super User 2024 Season 1 on 16 Apr 2025 at 21:54:01

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Cannot Update a mail-enabled security groups and or distribution list.

@Pstork1 ok thanks for the info. so let say i created an Http azure function, which can be called from power automate, will i be able to do this inside my azure function?
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Pstork1 66,114 Most Valuable Professional on 16 Apr 2025 at 20:28:38

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Cannot Update a mail-enabled security groups and or distribution list.

Check the note in this documentation. Learn about groups, group membership, and access - Microsoft Entra | Microsoft Learn. Distribution Lists and mail enabled security groups can only be managed in Exchange. Currently there is no way to do it from Power Automate or MS Graph.

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If this Post helped you, please click "Does this answer your question" and give it a like to help others in the community find the answer too!

Paul Papanek Stork, MVP
Blog: https://www.dontpapanic.com/blog