Unable to add students as members

JAM 0 Reputation points
2026-01-27T19:35:10.2366667+00:00

I am currently setting up TEAMS for my second semester classes. When I add a student, normally I get a drop down where I can select Owner or Member. I am the owner and generally make the students members. For some reason now when I select a student's name, I do not have the option of selecting member and It automatically makes each student an owner. How can I fix this?

Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams for education | Settings | Other
0 comments

2 answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Kai-L 18,970 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-01-27T21:36:11.6966667+00:00

    Dear @JAM,

    Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum.

    I understand that you’re experiencing an unexpected issue with Microsoft Teams when adding users. As a moderator, I truly wish I could directly access your environment to diagnose the issue for you; however, our scope here is limited to providing general guidance and troubleshooting steps that can be applied on your end.

    I attempted to reproduce the behavior, but I’m able to add users as members normally. Please try the following steps to see if they help resolve the issue:

     

    1.Clear Teams cache

    Before you start, ensure you have Quit Teams completely. Do not just click the "X", right-click the icon in your Taskbar or Dock and select Quit.

    1. Type settings in the search box, and then select the Settings app from the results.
    2. Select Apps > Installed apps, and then type Microsoft Teams in the search box.
    3. Locate the New Microsoft Teams app from the results, select the More options button (...) on the right, and then select Advanced options.
    4. In the Reset section, select Reset.
    5. Restart Teams.

    For reference: Clear the Teams client cache - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn

     

    2.Try using Teams on the Web

    1. Log in to teams.microsoft.com using a web browser (Chrome or Edge).
    2. Try adding a few students there.
    3. The web version often refreshes the "Member/Owner" logic faster than the desktop app and may restore your dropdown immediately.

     

    3: Check the "Team Type"

    The available role tabs depend on the type of team you created.

    • Class Team: You should always see the "Student" and "Teacher" tabs. Students added to the Student tab should default to Member.
    • Staff/PLC/Other Team: If you accidentally selected a different team type when creating this semester's group, Teams may default everyone to Owner if it thinks you are in a "Professional Learning Community" where everyone is an equal.

    Sometimes this issue occurs due to a delay between Teams and your organization’s directory. If the team was created recently, it may take up to 24 hours for role assignments to stabilize.

    If none of the above solutions work, let me know in the comments for further investigation. Please note that our initial response does not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution. Thank you for your patience and understanding. I'm looking forward to your reply. 

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it.

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread. 

    Was this answer helpful?

  2. AI answer

    2026-01-27T19:36:19.0266667+00:00

    It seems that you are encountering an issue where students are being automatically set as owners instead of members when adding them to your Teams class. This behavior can occur if the setting UsersPermissionToReadOtherUsersEnabled in Microsoft Entra ID is set to False. To resolve this issue, you should change this setting to True. This adjustment should allow you to properly assign students as members instead of owners.

    If you continue to experience difficulties, it may be beneficial to check for any updates or changes in your Teams settings or consult Microsoft support for further assistance.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

    Was this answer helpful?

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.