Are nested groups inside azure active directory work in SharePoint online

Question

Are nested groups inside azure active directory work in SharePoint online? so if we created a nested azure active directory group, can we add this nested group to SharePoint site permission?

In other words, let say we have 2 AD groups; Group-A & Group-B.. and we added Group-B inside Group-A.. then we added the nested group to a SharePoint site >> then will all users inside AD Group-A and AD Group-B get the permission on SharePoint? Thanks

Answer 1

• As per what you said, nested groups are a subset of the larger groups they are a part of, ie, nested group members can be a part of multiple member groups and other nested groups of which they are originally a part of. And since you are talking of Azure AD groups, they are of two types, viz., Microsoft 365 and Security. I tried to give permission to groups created in Azure AD, both Microsoft 365 and Security groups to Sharepoint site through 'Site Permissions' option and was successful in adding the groups to the respective sites for Sharepoint access.

Also, these groups are nested as specified by me above and I didn't encounter any such issue in accessing the Sharepoint site through them. Please find the screenshot below for reference: -

Of the above, 'Test_group' and 'All Users' are Security groups, so they cannot be added in the 'Grant Permissions' list or they won't be invited whereas the other two groups are Microsoft 365 groups, so their users who have Office 365 license enabled will be invited and be able to grant the required permissions. Thus, nested Microsoft 365 Azure AD groups are only allowed for Sharepoint site permissions. For more information regarding the groups, please refer the below link for more details: -

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/create-groups/compare-groups?view=o365-worldwide