Permission & Access Issues

How to Prevent Members from Changing Task Due Dates in Microsoft Planner

Tauseeq Magsi Oct 10, 2026 870 views

Question details

The user wants to restrict task assignees or team members from modifying the start and due dates of tasks in Microsoft Planner.

How to Prevent Members from Changing Task Due Dates in Microsoft Planner

Product: Microsoft Planner
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Managing project timelines and task assignments within a team using Microsoft Planner.
Observed behavior: Task members currently have full access to edit task fields, including changing the start and due dates, and there is no obvious way to lock these dates.

Before you start

Because Microsoft Planner utilizes a flat permission structure tied to Microsoft 365 Groups, be prepared to rely on team communication and email notifications rather than a strict system-level lock.

Solution 1Recommended

Monitor Task Changes and Communicate Team Guidelines

Since Planner does not offer granular field locking, the best approach is to track changes via notifications and establish clear rules for task modifications.

Microsoft Planner and Microsoft To Do currently do not provide a setting to lock task start or due dates from members. Any member of the underlying Microsoft 365 Group has edit rights to the plan's tasks.

Enable task notifications

Click the Settings gear icon in Planner, select 'Notifications', and ensure that notifications for task assignments and updates are turned on so you receive alerts when changes occur.

Set intended dates and assign tasks

Create the task, input the strict start and due dates, and assign it to the responsible team member.

Communicate ownership rules

Use your team's communication channel (like Microsoft Teams) to explicitly state that project deadlines and task dates are managed exclusively by the project owner and should not be altered by assignees.

Monitor Task Changes and Communicate Team Guidelines

System Limitation: Because all members of a Planner group have equal edit permissions by default, administrative workarounds are currently the only way to manage date compliance.

Solution 2

Submit Feature Request to Microsoft

Provide feedback directly to Microsoft to help prioritize the development of granular permission settings in future Planner updates.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make a Microsoft Planner board read-only for certain members?

No, Microsoft Planner does not currently support read-only mode or guest restrictions. If someone is added to the Microsoft 365 Group associated with the plan, they inherit full edit access to all tasks within that plan.

How do I know who changed a task's due date in Planner?

Unfortunately, Microsoft Planner does not feature a detailed version history or audit log that shows exactly which member changed a specific task date. It is highly recommended to rely on task update notifications to monitor general activity.

Can I assign a task without giving the user edit permissions to the whole plan?

No, assigning a task to someone in Planner requires them to be a member of the underlying Microsoft 365 Group. Becoming a member automatically grants them edit permissions for the entire Planner board.

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