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How to Change the Owner of a Microsoft Planner Plan After an Employee Leaves

Steve K Oct 20, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to transfer or assign a new owner to a Microsoft Planner plan because the original owner has left the organization, leaving members unable to manage the plan.

How to Change the Owner of a Microsoft Planner Plan After an Employee Leaves

Product: Microsoft Planner
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: An employee has departed from the company, leaving their associated Microsoft Planner plans without an active owner to manage memberships and settings.
Observed behavior: Remaining team members are unable to manage plan membership, invite new members, or assign a new owner because the plan is locked to the departed employee's account.

Before you start

Ensure you have Microsoft 365 Administrator privileges or contact your organization's IT department, as transferring ownership requires admin access to the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Solution 1Recommended

Assign a New Owner via the Microsoft 365 Admin Center

Use the Microsoft 365 admin center to locate the associated group and assign a current employee as the new owner.

Microsoft Planner plans are deeply integrated with Microsoft 365 groups. Therefore, ownership and membership must be managed through the associated group rather than directly inside the Planner interface.

Access the Admin Center

Navigate to Active Groups

In the left-hand navigation pane, go to 'Teams & groups' and select 'Active teams and groups'.

Locate the Connected Group

Use the search bar to find the Microsoft 365 group that shares the exact same name as the orphaned Microsoft Planner plan.

Add the New Owner

Click on the group name to open the details pane. Navigate to the 'Owners' tab, click 'Add owners', search for the current employee who will take over, and assign them the owner role.

Assign a New Owner via the Microsoft 365 Admin Center

Temporary Account Restoration: If the departed employee's account was already deleted and you cannot locate the group, you may need to temporarily restore the deleted user account to recover group ownership details.

Solution 2

Reassign Associated Microsoft To Do Tasks

Manually reassign tasks that were individually assigned to the departed employee, as task ownership does not transfer automatically.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can a standard member claim ownership of a Planner plan if the owner leaves?

No, standard members do not possess the necessary permissions to elevate themselves to an owner role. A Microsoft 365 administrator must make this change via the admin center.

What happens to a Planner plan if the owner's Microsoft 365 account is deleted?

The plan remains accessible to existing members, but they will be unable to add new members or alter core plan settings until an IT administrator assigns a new owner to the connected Microsoft 365 group.

Is it possible to transfer ownership directly from the Microsoft Planner app?

No, Planner plan ownership is tied to Microsoft 365 Groups. You must manage ownership through Outlook Groups, Microsoft Teams, or the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.

Do Microsoft To Do tasks transfer automatically when a new plan owner is assigned?

No. Microsoft To Do tasks assigned to the former employee do not automatically transfer. The new owner or team members must manually reassign those specific tasks on the board.

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