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Fix Cannot Assign Office 365 A1 or A1 Plus Licenses to a Group
Question details
Administrators are unable to assign Office 365 A1 or A1 Plus licenses to groups because the Microsoft 365 admin center returns a 'No Results Found' error during the group search process.
- Product
- Microsoft 365 Admin Center
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Attempting to allocate Office 365 A1 or A1 Plus educational licenses to a group for bulk user provisioning.
- Observed behavior
- The system displays a 'NO RESULTS FOUND' message when searching for any new or existing group name during license assignment, despite the A1/A1 Plus licenses appearing active and without an expiration date.
Ensure you are signed in with Global Administrator or Billing Administrator privileges, and verify that the target group is either a Security group or a Microsoft 365 group, as Distribution lists do not support group-based licensing.
Verify Group Eligibility and Reassign from Azure AD / Entra ID
Check your group type eligibility and attempt the license assignment through Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) if the primary Microsoft 365 admin center search fails.
Group-based licensing requires a specific group type to function correctly. Additionally, temporary synchronization issues in the Microsoft 365 admin center can sometimes cause the 'No Results Found' error, which can be bypassed using the Entra ID portal.
Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to 'Teams & groups' > 'Active groups', and ensure the group you want to use is categorized as a 'Security group' or 'Microsoft 365 group'.
Navigate to the Microsoft Entra admin center (entra.microsoft.com) and log in with your administrator credentials.
Go to 'Identity' > 'Billing' > 'Licenses' > 'All products'. Select the 'Office 365 A1' or 'A1 Plus' license, click 'Licensed groups', and select '+ Assign' to search for your group and apply the assignment.
Contact Microsoft Support Regarding A1 Plus Policy Changes
Reach out to Microsoft Support to investigate backend tenant restrictions, as ongoing changes to the Office 365 A1 Plus program may be blocking new group assignments.
Try WPS Office as a Hassle-Free Alternative for Your Organization
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the Microsoft 365 admin center say 'No Results Found' for my group?
This typically occurs if the group is a Distribution list rather than a Security group or a Microsoft 365 group, which are the only types that support group-based licensing. It can also happen due to temporary admin center synchronization delays.
Are Office 365 A1 Plus licenses being retired?
Yes, Microsoft announced the retirement of the Office 365 A1 Plus program for educational institutions. This phased deprecation may restrict your ability to assign these licenses to new groups, even if they still appear active in your tenant.
Can I assign Office 365 A1 licenses to users individually if group assignment fails?
Yes, you can bypass the group assignment error by navigating to 'Users' > 'Active users' in the Microsoft 365 admin center, selecting multiple users, and manually assigning the A1 license directly to their accounts.
