Microsoft has announced the retirement of the Public Preview of the memberOf rule operator in Microsoft Entra dynamic groups. The feature will be retired on November 3, 2026, meaning organizations that still rely on it should begin planning their migration.
What is the memberOf Rule Operator?
The memberOf rule operator enabled administrators to create dynamic groups based on the membership of another group. Instead of evaluating user attributes such as department, country, or job title, it allowed group membership to be inherited from existing groups.
What Does This Mean?
Since the feature was never released as Generally Available (GA), Microsoft is retiring the Public Preview. After November 3, 2026, organizations should no longer rely on memberOf-based dynamic group configurations.
If your tenant has ever used this preview feature, review your existing dynamic groups and replace any configurations that depend on the memberOf operator before the retirement date.
Recommended Actions
- Review all dynamic groups using the
memberOfrule operator. - Migrate to attribute-based dynamic membership rules wherever possible.
- Redesign group-to-group membership workflows using supported options such as Microsoft Graph or provisioning-based automation.
- Complete testing and migration before November 3, 2026 to avoid disruptions.
Final Thoughts
The retirement of the memberOf rule operator is a reminder to regularly review preview features in your Microsoft Entra environment. Migrating to supported alternatives now will help ensure your dynamic group management continues to work seamlessly after the retirement date.